The Argosy, November 1908 — page 70: what you’re looking at

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

636 him if he should happen to fall into their clutches. Unarmed and alone, what chance would he have against an inflamed and riotous mob? No, he must get away, must follow the gratuitous advice of Ralph Jones and ‘pull his freight’’; and he could lose no time about doing it, either. But whither might he flee? Where would he find himself safe from pursuit? He was entirely unacquainted with the roads leading out of the village, except the one over which he had come in that morning, and now, in the darkness, all the landmarks pointing to it were blotted out and confused. Besides, he reasoned, knowing of his familiarity with that route, the men would be most likely to seek him there, and he remembered that there was no shelter or hiding-place along it, until one had passed the smelter. The railroad track, which he guessed must be at the lower end of the street, seemed to afford him a better avenue of escape; for there his pursuers must be thrown at fault by the knowledge that he could have taken either one of two ways, and, furthermore, there would probably be station buildings and box cars on the sidings which would still further delay them in their search. His decision was accelerated at this point by another chorus of yells and im- precations from the restrained pack in- . side; .so, without further debate, he started off full tilt upon the way he had chosen—the way toward the railroad, along which Lank Rake’s six men were posted ready to seize him. Ignorant, however, of the greater peril into which he was speeding, eager only to escape the one he knew, Dick plunged on, stumbling through the darkness. He must go now, that he knew. He could not hope to get a hearing to-night from that befuddled horde in their pres- ent humor. But he promised himself that he would not go far, and that to- morrow he would return to exact full reparation for the indignities which had been heaped upon him. Strangely enough, the chief thing which aroused his resentment was the protection which had been extended to him by Ralph Jones. THE ARGOSY. “To think that I should be placed under obligation to that scoundrel,’’ he muttered through set teeth, and at the same time have to endure his gibes and sneers! JI am almost certain, too, from his manner, that he knew the truth. Was there ever such malicious relish in a voice as when he told me to ‘skiddoo. Pull your freight’ ?” “Skiddoo! Pull your freight!” It suddenly struck him that those words were strangely familiar. Somewhere be- fore, he had heard them. Uttered, too, in a voice of the same quality, although with a different intonation—an intona- tion then, not of derision, but of alarm and chagrin. Where had he heard them? Some- where, certainly; and that quite recently, he was willing to swear. In the vengeful ferment of his thoughts, however, his mind did not dwell long upon the subject, but presently was hammering away again at what he es- teemed his especial grievance. “To be indebted for my safety to a crook!” he raged. ‘‘ And to have cut such a pitiable figure before him, too! To-morrow he’ll probably describe it all to Daffodil with embellishments ! “But there’ll come a day of reckon- ing. It’s his turn now; but wait until I return and explode the bomb I’ve got laid up. Then, we’ll see how he stands the gaff. If I am not mistaken, that ugly grin of his will be on the other side of his mouth.” Meanwhile, Dick was speeding as fast as his legs could carry him right into the, trap which his enemy had set. Jones’s chief aim in the plot which he had formulated, had been, of course, to clear his own skirts of any responsibility for what happened to the stranger in camp, and he therefore had so arranged matters that in case of any question be- ing raised, he should appear as the law- abiding official, the one person who had intervened to extend succor. It cannot be denied, however, that the project gained a certain cruel zest to his mind from its feline and deceptive qual- ity. All the time that he, was holding back the mob, and pretending to give the fugitive a chance, he was secretly exult- ing in the knowledge that Behan, strain his energies as he might, was as com- comicloooks.conn