Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 4, 1922 — page 94: what you’re looking at

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

404 “There'll be na trooble,” said Davies with a grin. “ Ah coomed t’ th’ decision twill na be best.” “Then you think that you can hold the men? I know you’ve done nothing to stir them up so far?” “ Ah’ll try domn hart—wi’ promise 0’ other entertainment. Twill be na trooble —whiles Ah ha’ a plan.” Then, chuckling still, Davies disclosed the secret of Belle’s strategy—or, as much of the secret as he knew. The men agreed that Belle’s diplo- macy was good. ; “ There’s one thing, though,’’ Hugh add- ed thoughtfully. ‘ You’re in no shape to fight—still, I don’t know—”’ “Tis neither here nor there,”’ proclaimed Davies with the touchiness of injured pride. ‘“‘Fe’ll do the wark, that plan, and us ’ll ha’ na killin’ o’ miners or smeltermen. Will ye ha’ more nor thot? Ah’m lookin’ na furder for myse’n.” ‘¢ All right,” said Hugh. ‘‘ We'll play it as it lays. I guess you'll take care of your- self, one arm or two. Limpy, here, can get word to Kowalski—any time before noon will do.” Then they began speaking of other things. The talk became a curious jargon con- cerned chiefly with ‘strata,’ ‘“ faults,” “ dips,” “fissures,” and names of strange ores ending in “ ite ” or “ tite.” When com- pounded with the clipped syllables of Corn- wall, and Limpy’s broad vowels and gut- turals, it might as well have been Sanscrit in the ears of William. After a while he departed quietly, stroll- ing down from the cabin through the street littered with débris from the celebration of the day before. Here and there a patched window and broken glass strewing the board sidewalk testified to the activities of the night. But for the most part both miners and smelter- men were absent from the street, and the town seemed to slumber in a state of truce. Which only meant that the clans were not yet gathered for the expected forays, or not sufficiently imbued with the spirit of the occasion thus early in the day. William spent no great amount of time with investi- gation of the battle’s wreckage. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. Near the top of the flight of stairs that led upward past the Copper Butte Hotel he met Margaret, to whose home he had been going as directly as his feet would carry him, even though his strolling might have appeared to be without direction. Margaret, laughing, and a little out of breath, had just succeeded in capturing a truant, red-cheeked youngster, Hanley’s son, known to all of Hobart as “ The Kid,” whose grimy hands and stained overalls showed recent and intimate evidence of earthy pursuits. Margaret gathered the youngster in her arms. ‘“ Don’t you know, Buddy, that you mustn’t run,around this way?” . She re- ferred to the condition of his clothing, that was, to say the least, not quite presentable. She greeted William with a little smile and nod, accepting him as a third of the trio. ‘“T been a-diggin’ me a mine,” Buddy announced, submitting graciously to cap- ture. ‘‘ Out back of my house I betcha I got fourteen or nine feet already—it will be awful deep when I get done.” ‘“‘ Aren’t you tired, dear, with all that work?” Margaret asked, smiling. ‘““No, I’m not tired,’’ he declared man- fully. ‘But my dog, he got tired, and he runned away. And daddy hasn’t got home yet, and that woman, she went to the store, and she told me I mustn’t go out of the yard, so I saw you coming and runned to meet you then.” Which was not strictly true, for Buddy had been making for the stairway straight as he could run. Margaret chose to ignore the indirection. “That’s not really running away, is it?” the child demanded with all innocence. ‘Not if we go to your house and get a cake?”’ Buddy, it may be seen, was an incorrigi- ble little adventurer, a vice in which he was sadly encouraged by all miners and smeltermen; the life of “ that woman ’? who was good Mrs. Pratt, Hanley’s housekeeper, was made miserable by Buddy’s vagabond escapades. *““1’m afraid,” chided Margaret, “ that is running away.” Her tone took the sting from the admonition. Buddy, with his thoughts fixed on cake, would probably COMmiCbMooks.Gom