Argosy All-Story Weekly, March 15, 1924 — page 54: what you’re looking at

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

eee 682 seemed like a long, long time. Fact is, I come to, to discover that. I had been holding my breath, ‘ She’ll be drowned!” Jimmie said that; he must of, for there wasn’t nobody else in sight to say it; but it certainly wasn’t Jimmie’ voice; it was a hoarse, dry, thick voice. I looked at him - and found he was tearing off his coat and had flung his cap down on the ground. He gathered himself for a plunge down the bank, and I declare I felt my own muscles get kind of tight. I expect I would have followed him and broke my old neck in one wild, heroic roll to the bottom, but then there wasn’t no need for heroes. _ - ’ The red cap came into view, far out. It come up slow at first, the crown just show- ing. Then there was a flirt of water and Sadie’s face emerged. She shook her head to. get the water out of her eyes and rolled — over on her back. J never see such grace - in the water. She just lay on top of it, seeming not to move. “Golly,” says I, ‘‘ Sadie is a water dog all right.” “Oh, she can oxi” fimmie agrees. “« She has always lived on the lakes. afraid something had happened to her.” He talked kind of chokey and then he filled his lungs till his chest stuck out like a pouter pigeon’s, and after that let out the air with a long, whistling sound. I expect he had been holding his own breath. The other girls kad come up on the beach and were sitting with their aeeE 1 in the water. “ Who won?” Sadie’s voice came floating in and it was all joyous. “You did,” the other gitls yelled back, and there wasn’t even a tinge of jealousy in their tones.’ Golly, they had got back to nature all right.. They had partook of the sun and the wind when it was blowing and the blue of the sky and—and all the beauties of na-- ture too numerous to mention; and there wasn’t a touch of nothing mean or unkind left in them. They was-having a gorgeous holiday while the big world droned and creaked some place far away. ‘I wish she’d come in,” Jimmie said, uneasy. ‘‘ She might get a cramp.” “I was - ee “ARGOSY- ALLSTORY WEEKLY, As if she had heard’ him, Sadie rolled over and started to swim toward shore. She come in with long, easy strokes, her head half buried’ in the water. When she reached the shallow places she stood up and gave the other girls a good splashing. There was a lot of laughing and yelling as them there nymphs splashed back and forth and then the four girls jumped up and ran along the beach, and Sadie took after them, her legs, which -was whiter than the other girls’, twinkling 1 in the sun. “Lets get out of here,” Jimmie growled. “ Ain’t you going down to see your wife?” I asked. “T am not,” he snapped. . “ Jimmie,” says I, as we trudged back through the cornfield, ‘“ have you and Sadie .. been to the beach this summer?” “Naw,” he says, ‘‘ I been too busy.” “And her a water dog like she is,” I sighed. ‘“ You used to be a good swimmer when you was a boy. Why -don’t you go down and rent a suit and take your wife in with your” “She is happy,” he said, doleful as a sick cat. ‘“‘ Not for worlds would I dis- turb her happiness. - She and I entered into a partnership some time back. In that part- nership I am the truck horse and she sits high on the seat and swings the whip.” ‘Tash cut some, does it, Jimmie?” I asked, for this was close to a whine on his | part and usually he didn’t whine, whatever else he done. “None of .your cussed business, Hill!” he says, only the words he used wasn’t re: fined like “ cussed”; at that they sounded better than the high and lofty sentiment he had just uttered. i CHAPTER V. JAMES THE WALLOPER. 6 W YE spun pretty well over the country- We side that afternoon. At night Jim- mie took me to supper at the res- taurant in our town. I filled up my tray, but Jimmie just took a slab of apple pie and a cup of coffee. He drank the coffee, but only nibbled: at the pie.” COMmMiIiclooe < 5) (ts C@