Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 5, 1921 — page 64: what you’re looking at

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

350 “Vou see,” she went on, with the faintest quiver in her voice, “I am anxious for him to return, because— someone ——- someone — is coming out—- soon—from ‘home; an old friend—and uncle must be here then.” “‘T see,” said Billie Stranger. But this was a mistake, for he did not see. If Jack had heard her he would have explained that when a woman speaks of an old friend with a tremble in her voice, she always means a lover. But Billie only grasped the fact that the ranch family might be augmented by an- other member. The prospect was dismay- ing, but he answered politely. ‘‘Some more of your folks want to learn ranchin’?” “No—and yes.” She hesitated, then looking straight between her horse’s ears, “Captain Derwent is not a relation, but—- he is coming out to live here, I think. He has been badly injured—he was in the fighting from the very first, and has only just been dismissed from the hospital. He is anxious to leave England. The surgeons think a change would be good for him.” ‘‘T_-see,” This time Billie, did begin to see; the faintest glimmer of the mean- ing behind her words came to him. Someway ‘he had never thought of another man in connection with her. She was too proud; too remote for such speculation, but when she spoke of this Captain Der- went who was so old a friend and who had been wounded when he, Billie, returned from the war without a scratch, the bright- ness began to go out of the day. Billie had looked upon English officers from the ranks of the doughboys in France. He knew them, brave, cool, un- concerned in the face of danger. He had a swift mental picture of himself in contrast to the debonair figure her words conjured up—— ‘He is not able to ride—-he will walk with a crutch for a long while, I am afraid,’ the soft voice continued, and he banished jealousy with shame. And then she told thim all about her young officer, and how he had been so full of plans for a big, active future; how he had wanted to be an explorer, a hig game ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. hunter, a pioneer into untried fields. Then when the war came on, how he had. met it gayly, and being stricken down had fought against death again and again, con- quered and gone back to the fight, refusing to take the freedom that might have been his. 7 -She told the story simply, speaking of heroic things as though they were but passing events, not complaining of the misfortunes which had robbed her and her kind of what their hearts held most dear, but admitting them calmly as if speaking of a stronger enemy. Billie was not jealous any more; he was unutterably blue and depressed. The re- cital made him feel his poverty, the lack of anything worth while to offer in lieu of what the other man had given. He had been to the wars but he had never fired a shot; had come back ridiculously well -and strong, with money in ‘his pocket and all his quota of armssand legs. He had no wounds to display or ‘hero stories to tell; he was just plain Billie Stranger— nothing to brag about. She noticed his abstraction, but was far from fathoming its cause. “Tl race you to the willows,” she cried gayly, and was off. Billie pounded along, keeping Widow Green a yard or two behind the other herse. He would have considered it highly impolite to overtake or defeat a lady in any game of her own choosing, and Geraldine, panting and windblown, drew rein at the willows, an easy winner. But she was not deceived by her victory and turned a re- proachful face to her contestant ‘You didn’t try to win,” she accused him. ‘ You held the Widow all the time.” But he had no answer for this. His horse stopped beside her own in the fringe of willows, but he had forgotten the horse race almost before it ended. He heard what she said, but the importance of their play was wiped out in something much bigger——a startling thing that drove all other thoughts from his mind. The willow outlined a water hole that was located near the boundary Jine of the Three Nines; just beyond were the foot- hills, rising rugged and-hare,; GHOOKS CO