Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 146 No. 4 — page 89: what you’re looking at

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

the susceptible Bill, it was clear- ee te by his sex and haul his fellow man out of the deadfall. That was as far as Royce got with the affair. A test pilot on a busy field has little time for indulging in moral conflict. And Royce was then engaged in the dangerous task of trying out a scout plane that flew at the heavenly rate of one hundred and eighty miles an hour, but could only be landed at the hellish rate of eighty-five. Thursday arrived, despite his absorption. Royce, scrambling for words, found him- self being introduced by Bill to an alto- gether indescribable young lady. Her very handclasp and smile warmed his heart de- spite his efforts to gaze upon her icily, as a mere object which was to be stunted vig- orously and fooled outrageously. While he fought to conceal from her by words the fact that he liked her from the top of her pretty little turban to the small soles of her shoes, resentment against Bill McClellan surged upward within him. So this blue-eyed, angel-faced little girl was the unscrupulous vampire Bill claimed had entrapped him. And here was Bill himself beside her belying his words by holding her arm, by smiling down upon her with a most offensive air of proprietorship, and in other delicate but obvious ways assuring her that all he desired in life was that she would be his. How else could any girl interpret his manner? With mounting indignation Royce dis- carded the nefarious scheme of Bill Mc- Clellan. He would do nothing that would hurt to the heart this gentle, pretty stran- ger with the soft voice. In fact—Royce threw a murderous glance at the monstrous _ Bill—he would be her ally. If she wanted so worthless a thing as Bill McClellan for a husband she should have him. Here his thought was halted by the voice of the oe! “T think we had better look over the ship : together, Royce,” Bill, the ingrate, said, _ making jborrible faces and stealthy gestures ROYCE ASSISTS. 559 “T’ve tried out the controls,” Royce an- swered, gazing coldly at the frantic signals. “You take a look at the guys. Go ahead! See if they’d stand a little more tighten- ing.” Bill went, somewhat puzzled, and even more sulky. Millicent, with a look in her eye that renewed Royce’s anger, watched him walk to the machine in the hangar. “He’s a good flier, too, isn’t he?” the girl asked softly. “He is,’ Royce answered violently and treacherously. “Oh!” said the girl, smiling gratefully but briefly up at him. “The pup!” said Royce grimly to him- Self. “‘ She’s too good for him.” He waited silently, wrinkling the corners of his eyes over the problem of delivering into her hands the scapegrace person of Bill McClellan. Bill came back in an incredibly short time. “Everything O. K.,” he reported, and they waited while mechanics trundled the big machine out of its shed. Royce looked on morosely as Bill, with great care, got the girl into a leather coat, and even went so far as to fasten the leather thong of her helmet under her chin, a thing Royce had contemplated doing himself. “The conceited pup!” he muttered. “Thinks she wants him, so he’s trying to wriggle away, is he? I'll fix him! But how?” Bill made an attempt to talk to Royce behind the girl’s back, but the pilot ignored him. Royce explained at great length to Millicent the excellencies of the Flamingo. He showed her everything, including the rear cockpit in which he was to sit alone. ‘“* How would you like to ride back here?” he said to the girl. ‘“‘ The machine has a dual control system so that either of the two seated in the rear cockpit can take con- trol. Ill let you hold the stick when we’re up high enough.” ‘No, I think our original plan is better,”’ Bill interfered hastily. “And Royce! Don’t stunt. I mean it.” Royce snorted indignantly at this last bit of acting. Millicent was handed care- fully to the front csi e%T.