Argosy All-Story Weekly, June 13, 1925 — page 76: what you’re looking at

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

048 ‘No, my dear, not a beast, not a cad, but your very devoted lover. It is true you did not push me from the cliff, as I permitted my mother and the others to be- lieve. I was in a state of ecstatic delirium following the kiss that I stole. It made me forget the cliff. “And that kiss, dear heart, unlike any kiss I have ever experienced at the lips of another girl, was a sample on the merits of which I still wish to place a very large order. Now, before it is too late, I will state my proposition once more—-and for the last time, my dear. Will you meet me in San Francisco and try—trv to learn to love me—a little?” A wave of color had washed into Mar- gery's face. She plucked at Red Wilpin’s sleeve. “Larry, Larry, have you been listening te hime” “Yes, Margie. I’ve heard it all.’ “ And you—you haven’t anything to Say?” ‘“ Honey, I’d pound the yeller dawg into a pulp for what he’s been a saying to you, only if I lift one hand I’d be rid@ed quicker than you could say scat. And if I’m gone yore last chance 1s gone, savvy?” “ But what shall I do, Red?” “Do Hon’? Well, ain’t that largely up to you?” “ You mean—” She stopped and stared at him with wide, alarmed eyes. ‘“ [ mean, Margie, this feller here who re- minds me of nothin’ in th’ world but the sort of things that go scuttlin’ around when you lift up a slab of stone—Well, girl, I guess I mean that this feller can save yore purty little white throat from the noose— if you want to let him.” “ And—iand give myself to him?” “Well, I reckon those would be his terms.” ‘But I—I don’t understand!” she cried. “ T’ll endeavor to make it clear to you, dear heart,” Julius obliged with his cold, confident smile. “‘ Your bandit lover here is shrewd. He has an uncanny gift ol per- ception. He realizes that whether you hang or whether you go free depends on what kind of character you are given by those who take the witness stand. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, “ My mother will take the stand and paint your character as she sees it. And you could be hanged, my dear, on your character as my mother sees it. But when I am called to the stand what—ah, what will I tell those wolves?” “You will tell them the truth or you will be a despicable coward!” she cried. ‘But truth,” he said cynically, “is such an inexpensive commodity, or so it would seem. Any fool can tell the truth, while Wise men occasionally lie to further their own ends. [am not a fool, but I am willing —nay, eager—to let these people know the truth!”’ “For a consideration,” put in Red Wil- pin sourly. | “Yes!”’ Margie blazed. He smiled. “ Am I so offensive, from your fastidious point of view, Margie?” ‘ Detestable!” she gasped. “ Loathsome! You—you're worse than that rattlesnake that was coiling to strike me this after- noon—”’ “ But killed in the nick of time by your bandit lover, I presume?” Julius finished ironically. “Yes! him!” “And you are willing to hang with him and for him?” “Larry,” the tortured girl pleaded, ‘“make him stop. Oh, I loathe him so!” “Honey,” Red Wilpin gravely replied, “it ain’t in my hands any longer. What this here white-faced lizard says is true. Dependin’ on what he says in the witness- stand vo’re a-goin’ to swing from that cot- tonwood or you ain’t a-goin’ to swing from that cottonwood. And what he says on the witness stand depends on what kind of a dicker vou can make with him now.” “Larry, Larry,” she wailed, “oh, you can’t mean that! You can’t mean that, after what we’ve been through together, you’d stand idly by and let me sell mvsetf to him!” “You might live long enough, little girl, to live down the disgrace of that, but once you're a-danglin’ from the bough of a cot- tonwood tree it’s purty hard to retrace yore Steps. Death at the end of a rope, hon’, is somethin’, accordin’ to my way of thinkin’, He saved my life and I—I love CO COMmiicloooe