The Argosy, Vol. 84 No. 1 — page 105: what you’re looking at

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

DARING THE DANGER ZONE. “Tt is best to take as few chances as possible with that kind of beast,” he mut- tered to himself; then, turning to Nancy, he asked: ‘‘ Have you no protection, not even a dog?” ‘Yes, I have a collie; but he followed Patrick Moran this afternoon when. he went for provisions.” “Don’t let him leave you after this!” counseled Derby briefly. ‘ Where is your gun?” “Tt is hanging on the wall; I did not have time to reach it.” “Get it, and keep it in your belt al- ways-—always, do you hear? Good God! _It is too terrible to think what might have happened if I had not come.” “Who are you, and what kind fate sent you to my help to-night?” broke in | Nancy, gazing up, trembling, at her pre- server. She noticed,. with feminine swiftness, the odd contrast of his rough, torn cloth- ing and clumsy boots, with his well- trained voice and air of breeding. ‘To answer your last question first,” Derby responded, “‘ you can tell me more about what brought me here than [ can. I am a stockholder in the I. O. U. Mine. It seems to me that I have tramped from Seattle to Yucatan looking for it. Is this it?? “This is the I. O. U. Mine,” answered Nancy. - “ I hope—”’ But she could go on no further. The courage with which she had borne herself throughout the scene with West Sym- monds was but a woman’s courage, after -all; and the strain suddenly withdrawn, her overwrought nerves went to pieces. Crossing her arms on the table, she laid her head down upon them and began to sob with long-drawn, irregular breaths. Derby showed his wisdom by a silence as sympathetic as it was complete. He drew out his pipe and lighted it; then sat quite still, waiting for the girl’s storm of emotion to spend itself. At length Nancy raised her head, looked at Derby an instant, and ex- claimed: “I wish you had killed him!” 95 _*“ How like a woman!” thought Gerard; but aloud he said: ‘‘ I wish so, too; but it is too late now—for this time.” There was a grim emphasis on the last words which made Nancy shudder. “Oh, no, no! I did not mean it,” she insisted. ‘“‘ Let us forget it—at least, let us talk of something else.” ‘By all means,” amended Gerard, realizing that Nancy was on the brink of a complete breakdown. ‘ Let us talk of the mine. You were saying that you hoped—”’ ‘““T hope you have not built golden air castles as a stockholder. There is very little here to show, but father and I have hoped and still hope. I’m Nancy Gale, you know.” Gerard did not know; but nodded as if the name had been familiar from child- hood. “You must be our one _ stockholder about whom I’ve so often heard father speak; but no, you cannot be, because father always said that he—” Nancy stopped abruptly, coloring red. ‘“What is the matter?” asked Derby. “What did he always say?” “Oh, I know you are not the one! ° Father said that he was rich as Croesus and mean as a miser; and besides, he must be a man close to father’s age, as he always said he hoped that, as a boy- hood friend, the man would help him.” ‘What was his name?” asked Gerard. “‘ Austin Derby, I think.” Gerard looked at her and laughed. “No, I am not Austin Derby,” he said. ‘But I have probably inherited most of his qualities except his power of making money. I am Gerard Derby, his son.” Nancy looked at him with an expres- sion of frank misery. “Oh, I am sorry!”,,she exclaimed. ‘“* Please — please forgive me for what I said!” “Do not worry,” answered Gerard. ‘Father always was a bit peculiar, so I don’t blame your father for what he thought. Besides, his being peculiar is the reason why I am here myself. He EM PIE YOO KS (©)