Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 6, 1923 — page 110: what you’re looking at

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

wd) LW LL Oat aig Bh MRA Ue 5 Yiuyel WP ha PI Cpe WHITE ee & 2 PT ay es j Hs Paha MHD iat ye nD Pe: enh eit VA : a ea and a Basque in particular, eS Thad called her in. She was beautiful in ~_ a spiritual sense, her young body—she was — only twenty—without hint of voluptuous- Yes altho “Thad hatred for the Basque was long lived, it in no: way matched his love of the dollar, and it-seemed certain that the arrangement he had made with Angel would line his pockets. That the thing they proposed doing was =e unfair, and less tham honorable, mattered not at all to either. zs The men who had been leasing Thad’s _.- Water were dependent on it. Whatever Value was placed on their ranches was. con- _~ tingent on their being able to renew their __ leases. A ranch without water is about as : worthless a thing as Nevada can beast. Thad and Angel were well aware of this, and it was their intention to buy im these properties at their own figure, fo put what they could of them to wheat and to divide the profits. It was this very business which _- had taken Angel to the Circle-Z this day and as Joseph, with the wounded lamb in hee arms started ace tae ‘Thad Taylor's = Es house, Angel and Thad lingered supper. 3 ~ Little Billy, in his day a round-up cook _ of some renown and now Thad’s chef and man-at-arms in general, was bent on clear- - ing the table. He slipped im whenever it - .. geemed propitious and retrieved a dish er --_ platter. Fhad soon discouraged him, how- ever, for he was an autoeratic, Sicbonne - old man steeped in having his own way. With mere. tact, _ yancher had dismissed his granddaughter, it is true, the old for of all the creatures who trod the earth, - Thad Taylor loved and feared none as he - did Necia. Moreover, he knew that the business he was discussing with Angel would = When they Tad failed wer aches. ness. As she stood in the doorway, her head lightly poised, it seemed incredible that the day would ever come when the ___ purely physical loveliness of her would dim the divine beauty of her questioning, sky- blue eyes. She held her lips slightly parted and Angel glanced at her expecting seme ga Sao to issue from them, more.” ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, Necia. waited, however, for her grand- father to speak and, as he gathered up his papers, she glanced from him to Angel, 3 appraising each in her own way, wondering — what they had in commom, The two men were of aboutcthe same age and shrewd- ness was written’ upom the face of each, but in no ether way were they even remotely, alike, for her grandfather was short, heavy —bald; his ruddy cheeks, amd rounded nose almost giving the lie to his severe, tight: — lipped mouth. Angel was. tall, cadaverous, angular, a great shock of iron-gray hair cascading over his high forehead. Necia had heard: hien reviled many. times, but in the four or five visits he had made _to the Circle-Z she had found him courteous — and patient. She had: been raised, however, in a household where the Basque had been held no better than a Mexiean—her mother, old Fhad’s daughter, had shared this view —and: Necia found it difficult to overcome the prejudice. - ~ Thad glanced at her apprehensively as _ he straightened up, for he had felt her scrutiny. = “Well, well, Necia,” he exclaimed brusquely, as was his habit when trying to cover up, “I can tell you a secret now: We're goin’ to have a real flour mill.” Necia smiled. “ Meaning that some one has lost his. water Dea, eh?” she queried — provokingly. “Never you mind abeut that, % "Thad grinned. “ eS is business. Pm no organized charity. Go on and play those new records for us, will your” Necia shook her head as she glanced. at the wax rolls—in that day quite the last = word in talking machine records. = “They are terrible, grandfather,” ‘she | said teasingly. ‘“—‘ The Bull Frog and. the Coon ’"—‘ Flanigan’s Wake’—” —_Necia made a wry face as. she read the labels — aloud. “ Terrible?” Thad snorted. ‘“ ‘ Flani-— gan’s Wake?’ Why, whem I was a young — buck they wa’n’t no better tune a goin’ than that! But that’s young folks for you!” he went on vehemently, pretending an anger he was far from feeling. ‘“ Old- — time things ain't. —_ enough for them no : : g comicbooks. 2