Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 6, 1923 — page 38: what you’re looking at

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

By JOHN D. SWAIN Author of ‘‘ The Owl-Man,’’ etc. A NOVELETTE—COMPLETE IN THIS ISSUE iker so long that he scarcely remem- bered that he had been christened James; but he was so registered as a voter, registered three times, to be exact, since he belonged to an organization which believes in voting early and often, regardless of weather, thus offsetting those effete citi- zens who, if election day chances to be in- clement, conclude that the result is not in any doubt, and that one ballot can’t affect it anyhow. Every big town seems to have its East Side, where flourishes a primitive form of paternalism. It is highly efficient, over- looking no individual within its precincts. It is intensely practical, reaching down to provide milk and shoes for the destitute children, block dances and chowder parties for those of riper years, coal and potatoes for the aged. By a nicely graded system S ie DUNN had borne his mon- of henchmen, heelers, gang leaders, shyster lawyers, bail brokers, deputy bosses, each receiving verbal reports from the man lower down, and imparting them to the one high- er up, the big boss is in as close touch with every living soul within his domain as the Arab chieftain of a nomad tribe. Itinerant peddlers, pawnbrokers, patrol- men, bootleggers, lodging-house keepers, and plain American citizens, each and all have their pedigrees, qualifications, records, and ambitions filed and cross-indexed, al- though not a scrap of paper may exist upon which non-partisan league, vice-squad, or any of the irritating gumshoe-and-keyhole reformers might seize. In such a benevolent despotism Slapper Dunn had been born, and had always lived. He knew of no other system, and if he ever gave thought to it at all conceived of the State and Federal Constitutions and of in- 820 COMiclooe (©