Argosy All-Story Weekly, December 2, 1922 — page 146: what you’re looking at

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

616 stared into the beautiful color a moment, frowning, before he drank with the man. Could it be that he dared plot any villainy against John Peter Warriner? He dared, but he knew that he would lose too much, Warriner decided; so he raised his glass in acknowledgment and drank. ‘It must be something good to repay me for driving: in that woman’s go-cart,” he said. “I prefer a horse’s back between my legs.” “You'll see, Mr. Warriner! Five min- utes more and you'll be thanking me, sir!” Snarg took a candle from the table and fitted it to a pewter stick. Then, with a nod and a smirk, he went out into the hall and up bare stairs that creaked as though in protest at his presence there. He stopped before a door on the second floor and in- serted a key in the lock, while the candle dripped tallow upon his boots. Warriner felt for his pistols, but Snarg preceded him fairly enough into a bare room, dusty and echoing. He walked to one side of the room and ran his hand along the wainscoting. A little rectangular panel, at the height of a man’s head, slid noiseless- ly back. Snarg looked, then beckoned and stood with his finger on his lips. With one hand resting upon the grip of a pistol War- riner went up to the opening and looked through. He found himself gazing into a chamber similar to the one in which he stood, except that it was rather crudely furnished. In the middle of the room a girl knelt before a high - backed, splint - bottomed chair as though it were a prie-dieu. She was dressed in a simply made gown of some dark ma- terial. Her unbound hair, black and wav- ing, fell over her shoulders and down to her waist. Long, black lashes swept cheeks touched with rose; her profile was clear and delicate against the light. She held a rosary and prayed in French. “ Hail, Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with thee ’’—Warriner’s glance flashed about the room, there were heavy bars on the window—“ pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Warriner turned away from the opening in the wall and looked into the grinning face of Snarg. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, ‘ Ain’t she a little beauty, Mr. Warri- ner?”’ he whispered as he closed the panel. ‘What devil’s work is this, Toby?” “A thousand dollars takes her!” Snarg balanced back on his heels complacently. ‘I can see you’re hard hit!” “Ah!” murmured Warriner. ‘‘ New Or- leans, perhaps? A touch of the tar brush? Slave-running, Toby?” ‘No, sit!” Snarg wagged his head em- phatically. ‘“ She’s pure white, pure French, and I shouldn’t wonder if she was eddicated, too! That’s the trouble! I got her on my hands and I got to get rid of her some way. When my boat was coming up the St. Lawrence last trip this gal and another one was out on the river. They got upset, and the other gal was drowned, but my crew picked up this one. So fur, all right. But Cap’n Nippy Smith was drunk that day and what does he do but chuck this gal into his cabin and lock her up and forget all about it. When he come to, a couple of days later, they wa’n’t nothing to do but keep her. So Cap’n Nippy brought her along to me, durn him! I made up my mind to turn her into money. She’s as good as dead as far as Canada goes, and they’s many a young blood, and old ones, too, that will pay for a gal like that. Give her some gowns and rings and she’ll quit praying and quiet down.” ‘““Who else knows about this, Snarg?” asked Warriner. ‘““ Nobody but Mr. Alexander Thorne. I didn’t intend to have him see her, but we was drinking pretty hard here last night, and you know how wild he is, Mr. Warri- ner. He was running all over the house, and he tried her door and she screamed. Then I had to show him. He ain’t got a shilling to his name or he’d have bought her. He was clean crazy to have her.” “Why offer her to me, Toby, in prefer- ence to any one else?” ‘‘ Fair question, Mr. Warriner, and I'll tell ye. You don’t get crazy drunk like some gentlemen we both know. You don’t talk. You got the money to pay cash. I had plenty experience with gentlemen’s notes. It’s turrible risky for me to keep her now anybody knows she’s here. Thorne ’Il be back. He begged and threatened. If ComicoookS. COnn