Argosy All-Story Weekly, June 13, 1925 — page 122: what you’re looking at

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

og4 North—enough, he felt sure, to lead swiftly and easily to the discovery and recovery of priceless Master Jules. He must decide im- mediately on one or two courses. Was he to go ahead with this fellow Jeff, or had he better go after Jules? Thanks to the glow in his veins, he felt no doubt as to the re- sult of a meeting with the might man from st. Pierre. He would win him to compli- ance, that was certain, either by kindness or threats of the law. And as talent to be ex- ploited, Jules was worth two of this big boob Jeff. He could see that Jeff lacked the heart (‘“ guts’ was the expression In Mr. Mumphy’s he-man mind), to be first-rate at anything; and that he fell far short of Jules even in the matter of sheer muscle. But which course would he take?—go ahead vith Jeff or go after Jules? He decided to devote a minute or so to an attempt to learn Something more about Jeff before making the greater decision. So he went over and sank to his knees beside the unconscious giant and gently frisked him. The first thing he found was a wallet of black leather containing one hundred dol- lars. This sum demands an immediate ex- planation in the light of Jeff's urgent re- quest to Jules for money made and an- swered some time ago. The truth is, Jeff possessed that paradoxical streak of shrewd- ness that is so often to be found in the most reckless and blundering of men if they be cowards as well as fools. And that’s what Jeff was! He had held out on Dora and he had lied to Jules. Dora was ignorant of the fact that he had robbed his father. Had she known of it she would have objected violently, though not on moral grounds. To hopelessly estrange a rich parent for seven hundred dollars would have seemed to her the act of an imbecile. Her ambition was to have the spending of Lem’s money some day; and for this she had run away with Jeff when he had to move in a hurry, rather than lose touch with him. She believed her- self to be clever enough to return with Jeff to the paternal roof in a little while and pose to Lem as the savior of Jeff and of the family respectability. For Jeff himself she cared nothing. Jeff had held out on her from the first as far as his infatuation and vanity had permitted. He had given her ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. one hundred dollars immediately upon their arrival in the great city; and her speed and Style of disposing of it had been a warning to him. But she had soon blandished an- other hundred out of him. She had asked for a third and been refused it; and there had been an unpleasant scene. Then he had told her that he had written to his father; and, a few days later, that Lem had sent him one hundred dollars and a promise of that sum every month until such time as he could return with impunity and his bride to the Porcupine Brook country. Jeff had made a good story; and Dora had believed it. She had felt relief and security in this seeming proof that her father-in-law was as great a fool as her husband; so, in the light- ness of her heart, and remembering certain approving glances of the elder Stalvart, she had blown most of the hundred and _ in- structed Jeff to write and tell papa that she was ill and required a nurse. Jeff had written to Jules. Jeff had found out a gambling joint and tried to turn one hun- dred dollars into a thousand, with the logi- cal result. He had tried to discourage the Jady’s appetite for glitter and wine and jazz, and had been called a tight-wad, a farmer and a fool for his trouble. He kept up his pretense of receiving money from Lem. Dora made friends of whom Jeff disap- proved and at the same time stood in awe. One of these told him of an easy way to make money; and it had cost him fifty. In Mr. Mumphy poor Jeff had seen a golden hope, a way out of his fast-gathering diffi- culties. With Mr. Mumphy he would make more money then he would tell Dora about and thus would be able to keep up the story of paternal generosity indefinitely. Otherwise—he had a terrible suspicion that if Dora knew that he had queered himself irrevocably with the old man he would lose that fascinating creature forever. But even when signing the agreement, drunk as he was, he had held out on Mumphy and sworn that sixty dollars was every cent he had in the world. When Mumphy came upon the sum of one hundred dollars in Jeff’s wallet, he very naturally glowed with righteous indignation at the realization that the rustic giant had already lied to him and attempted to do COIN (Cc DOOKS CO@