Argosy, Vol. 112, No. 2 — page 79: what you’re looking at

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

a ks yf Shy Se nee eet ee ee >= oa ae THE YELLOW EMERALD. 245 The head was almost completely covered, except the mouth, nose, eyes, and forehead, with a perfect mane of tousled, matted iron-gray hair and beard, which materially increased the fellow’s leonine aspect. His arms, Tarton noticed, as they hung by his sides, were very short, the hands immensely broad and powerful. Altogether, he gave a tremendous im- pression of irresistible, concentrated, blind, brute force—a power which, the young man felt instinctively, he would not hesitate to use with utter ruthlessness, if occasion came. For perhaps half a minute he glowered at the intruder without speaking, then took a step forward. ‘“Heh!” he grunted. ‘ Who are you, coming in this way—alone, in darkness, without ringing? Without being ad- mitted?” His voice was deep and guttural, with a sort of raucous snarl to it. The accent was unmistakably hostile and just as certainly foreign, but of what nationality Tarton could not pretend to guess. “T rang twice,” said the young man. “Then I looked in and saw the light. I thought possibly they did not hear—”’ ““They did not hear!” interrupted the other. ‘“ Who did not? You mean I did not—suppose I didn’t—suppose I did—that ' gave you aright to come in, eh? I know— you are a spy—a—a burglar! I am going to kill you! The law says a man can pro- tect his house—”’ “ Your house!”’ blurted Tarton, and bit his tongue. “My house—yes, why not? you mean, young man?” The hairy man looked at Tarton more severely, blinking and coming several steps nearer. “How long have you been in here?” he demanded. . Tarton could see suspicion’ leaping and growing in his eyes. “Where have you been—what have you seen—eh ?” “Seen? Nothing. I just closed the door as you scratched the match. I haven’t moved a step. “ And as for my being a burglar—per- What do haps I ought not to have come in, but you—somebody here—asked me to call.” ‘““Asked you to call?” cried the other, “You lie! No one is asked to come here. But you did come. You have been inside a long time. You have been seeing—too much. I shall—” Tarton took the reply to his advertise- ment from his pocket and held it out. “Look at that, then. I received it in answer to an advertisement. It asks me to call at 497A Pearmain Court. You can see for yourself. This is the number, isn’t it?” With a movement of pantherlike quick- ness, astonishing in view of his great bulk, the hairy man snatched the paper from his hand, and holding it close to the light, read it through. When he had finished, he crumpled it and thrust it into his pocket. “Well!” he grunted. “So you're the fellow, are you?) I remember. I did write that. I had forgotten. You’re curious, it seems, about matters that don’t concern you. Curiosity is dangerous. It has been the death of a good many men. If you—” ‘“Are you threatening me?” interrupted Tarton evenly. ‘“ Because if you are, I may as well tell you that I am armed, and I won’t hesitate to—”’ The big man burst out laughing loudly, Wave after wave of mirth swept over him, He gave himself up to it, bending half over in paroxysms of merriment, thwacking his great hams of hands down on his knees, and finally suddenly stopping to wipe the tears from his eyes. | “So you’re suspicious, are you?” hé bantered, suddenly swinging round to stab at Tarton with his brilliant, snakelike eyes, A loathsome expression played over his features. ‘“‘ You thought you were going into an_ evil neighborhood and you would protect yourself. You have an automatic under your coat in your rear pocket. If anything goes wrong you plan to use it, Good! Ha-ha! You are another young fool yet. If I wanted to harm you I could do it in a thousand ways so clever that neither you nor any one else would ever guess what had occurred to you—h-m— like that poor fool, D’Arcy, down at Wadi Halef—that I remember. “But never mind. You advertised fom, ‘comichooks.cc