Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 4, 1922 — page 139: what you’re looking at

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

~ THE BLOOD-CALL, hills there is a water-hole and ten miles farther on over the divide there is a range with grama grass and some sheep ranches. We can get outfitted there with a grub- stake and three cayusses—perhaps a mule. We'll hit right across for Arizona.” A long, hot ride across the plain brought them to the rugged slopes of the foothills and the horses lagged. Sand hardened to sandstone, sandstone to rock. Cactus gave way to patches of scarlet sage and thickets of buckbush. Then higher up the two rid- ers followed a trail through woods. A half an hour later the horses stumbled to a slow walk and they arrived at a pool of creamy yellow water. The walls of the pool were steep, crossed with red and yellow strata. At the upper edge a jet of crystal sprang from rock. Quade cupped his hands and let the water flow into them for the girl to drink. The two mounts were led to the upper edge of the pool where the water was not so bitter with alkali. “They won’t carry us much further— those mounts!’ Quade remarked. _“ They must—Taurog is coming. kill us.” “ Are you still afraid?” ‘“We’ve only ridden an hour,” the girl began, but then as she looked up into Quade’s face, she added quickly, “ No, I am not afraid.” “ You're going to forget about killing his dog—and about the ‘ terrible revenge "—and He’ll _his chasing us and all that rot?”’ “When you are here I am not afraid. But Taurog will not just sit down and for- get. He was beaten in the fight. He had arranged so that he would not be beaten. That was something I did not know. You beat him then, but he will not forget—no matter if I tried to myself.” “You say you did not know he was fram- ing me?”’ ‘Why, no, of course not! No one knew —except of course the man who let the jack-dog out to get at you. That must have been Trilles.” “Tf you did not expect the fight to end that way—in a frame-up—you did some pretty fancy shooting—lI’ve never seen any one think as quick as you thought. The 9A 449 yellow dog came flying at me through the air—I heard a shot—and that was the end of the fight.” : ‘I wasn’t entirely sure it wouldn’t be a frame-up. You see, I had a holster and six-shooter on me. And I had the maga- zine turned with a loaded chamber opposite the bullet—they don’t generally carry a gun like that around here. It is customary for most of our men to load every chamber except the one opposite the trigger.” ‘* And there were the two horses—” ‘IT expected a fight if you won.” ‘Why did you do it?” ‘* Do what?” ‘‘ Make all those arrangements—to save me?” “It was one man against five hundred. You needed somebody to help you.” ‘‘ You’re pretty game—to line yourself up with one man against five hundred—just because—”’ ‘For the same reason that I wanted to see you win when you were in the saloon at Lava—”’ ‘“ Just because you have the woman’s in- stinct for sympathizing and protecting the loser? Not at all. There’s no such instinct in a single cell of your body. An instinct jor creating life and worshipping it—and an abhorrence for death, yes. That is in you—in every cell of you, and that instinct takes the form of love. Everything you said last night—in that saloon-booth and on the ride home was the truth. You thought it was a lie. You thought you were telling me you loved me just to entice me to my death. You couldn’t do that. There are some women who can say those words glibly—-but not you. I felt the truth of them—even when I was clutching you to me—there was the fire of truth which I felt in the heat of your breath against my cheek. You thought you were lying.” “No! I knew I was not lying—when you followed to the mouth of the gorge and said you would follow me further—into death because you wanted me to know you were giving me your life to do with as I pleased!” ‘‘ Why is it that then you broke out and said you hated me?” ‘You were coming to kill Taurog. What COmiclbooks.Gonmn