The Argosy, Vol. 82 No. 2 — page 63: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

GETTING AWAY FROM THOMPSON. his horn. The dog, gazing at them still, wagged his tail understandingly and moved slowly to the side and— “Oh, dear!” Jane screamed. With a jerk, Mr. Farnham brought his car to a standstill forty yards ahead. “Did I—hit him?” “You went right over his neck!” Hap- worthy reported breathlessly. ‘You rolled him up in a ball, Farnham.” “Well, the poor pup!” muttered the large young man. “I wouldn’t have done that for a thousand dollars! He’s deader than a doornail!”’ Jane, whose lips were pale, smiled faintly. “Tt was an accident, poor doggie,” she said. “Nobody could have avoided it or—” That was where Jane ceased speaking; that, indeed, was where all hands forgot the ill-starred canine! For Mary Callum, emerging from a trance-state that had held her rigid for sec- onds, drew her breath in a great, noisy, choking gasp. Round eyes dilated with hor- ror, clutching hands aloft, Mary tottered for another second on the edge of that mys- terious wall which divides sanity from a less happy condition. Then, piercingly, Mary screamed: “Oh, the dog! The little dog! The little dog!” And the woodland rang with her peal of maniacal laughter! CHAPTER XII. A SUDDEN STOP. UP in the trees, birds fluttered excitedly. Jane Fayre clutched at Mr. Farnham’s sleeve. Oddly enough, Mrs. Hapworthy clutched her husband as she shrank away from Mary Callum, and even Aunt Hettie turned white for a moment. Only the unfortunate dog remained un- affected as Mary finished her first peal of laughter; even he might well have stirred when the second split the stillness. Because, to Mr. Farnham’s mind, while the first laugh might have been mere hys- terical excitement, the second was plain dementia! : “Ha! ha! ha!” shrieked Mary Callum; and again: “Ha! ha! ha! ha!” There she stopped abruptly and looked at Aunt Hettie. A clawing hand dragged at either side of Mary’s head, tearing loose her motor bonnet and setting free her hair 245 as well, so that it floated suddenly about her shoulders and added the last needed touch to her expression as she said hoarsely: “The dog! The little dog! He killed the little dog! He—ha! ha! ha!” ; This time Mary’s merriment ended with a scream that chilled Jane’s blood. Mary looked at Jane for a moment and shrank against Aunt Hettie; she tore herself away and gazed around wildly; then she burst into laughter again and laughed and laughed until a rain of tears came suddenly and sent her huddling into the corner of the seat. ‘“T—T guess it’s over!” Mr. Farnham said faintly. ‘““I—” Panting, Mary faced him. Her hands clutched her cheeks and she drew farther from him and still farther, gazing at Mr. Farnham as a condemned soul might gaze at its tormentor! “Oh, you! You! You! YOU!” screamed Mary Callum. “You killed him! You killed him!” “Well, I didn’t do it on purpose!” Mr, Farnham stammered. “TI couldn’t—”’ His words died, for Mary, with another dreadful cry, had thrust her head behind Aunt Hettie and was beating that lady’s lap with no gentle hands. Color, however, had returned to the chaperon’s cheek; she smiled grimly at Mr. Farnham as she said pleasantly: | “T don’t know whether you were born without brains, young man; I’ve suspected it since having been trapped into riding be- hind your driving. But one doesn’t argue with a girl in Mary’s condition!” ‘““W-what’s the matter with her?” Hap- worthy stammered. “Hysterics, of course.” “T know, but what does one do for it?” Farnham asked. “We can’t let her go on like this.” Aunt Hettie’s smile became even more grim as she restrained Mary’s beating hands. “Generally a little ammonia or a dash of cold water will do,” said she, “but it will not do for this child. Her very life has been frightened out by the ride, Mr. Farn- ham, and that dog settled her. We'll have to get her to a doctor as soon as possible, of course.” It may have been wholly heartless. Again it is quite possible that, with eight hundred thousand dollars at stake, one naturally minimizes a solitary case of hysteria. At any rate, the glance that passed be- DTOOKS COMMUC (C@