Argosy, Vol. 147, No. 1 — page 29: what you’re looking at

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

° “ft ABOVE SUSPICION. turnity and then returned to the kitchen with the empty cup. There he found a massive, dusky female clad in a purple silk dress and feathered hat, with a bulging grip on the floor beside her. She was rummaging among the cupboard shelves and turned: with a smothered cry at his entrance. “ Lawsy, man, you done mek mah heart jump right up in mah mouf! Don’t you tell nobuddy you seen me gwine till I’m on mah way! I’m jest lookin’ fo’ mah dream- book—” « Ain’t fixin’ to go away, are you, ’Zep- pa?” he asked mildly. “ Ain’t 1?” She rolled her eyes meaningly at him. “ Jest let me get shet o’ dese here grounds, an’ dere won’t nobuddy see me fo’ dust! Dese ain’t mah folks; I only been wukkin’ fo’ ’em a month, an’ I ain’t lookin’ to stay where dey’s quar’Is an’ murders an’ dat kind o’ ructions—not me! I ain’t cravin’ no ’quaintance wid de_ perlice, neither!” “T ain’t heard nobody quarrelin’,” Geoff observed. *“ Dat’s countin’ you knocks off at dark an’ goes home. Not dat dey was much quar’lin’ till last-night, only Mr. Joseph gettin’ mad now an’ agin, an’ once in a daweg’s age little Miss Millie spunkin’ up to answer him back. Powerful fond he was o’ tellin’ her an’ her ma how much dey owed him! ‘“Cose dey wasn’t none o’ dat atter Miss Sherwood come las’ week—den Mr. Joseph ack like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouf— only last night him an’ dat other gen’le- man, Mr. Lane, had it hot an’ heavy in de dinin’ room.” Mazeppa spoke with her back to him, and Geoff spied the lurid cover of the dream-book peeping out from behind the clock. Quietly taking possession of that choice specimen of literature, he stuffed it into the pocket where so recently his cap and that scrap of soft, black, glossy fabric had reposed, and then remarked: “Reckon you’ve heard folks havin’ words before where you: worked, and that didn’t have nothin’ to do with Mr. Benkard 3 qs killed, because he was all right long Se Hy i - ; _—— ee. ~~. TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. after Mr. Lane had gone back to the ctyin noes that there caro’ his.” ees “ Ain’t sayin’ it did!” Mazeppa retorted. ‘““ Where at is dat book o’ mine, I wonder? | I finished mah dinner dishes long "bout nine, an’ I was jest gwine up to mah room when a Miss Sherwood begun playin’ on de pian- ner, an’ I waited in de pantry to lissen, Lawsy, but dat lady kin play! When she stopped Mr. Joseph an’ Mr. Lane come into aS de dinin’ room right next de pantry an’ shet de do’, an’ straight off dey commenced argufyin’, but low, like dey didn’t want ~ nobuddy should hear. “Den dey got madder an’ madder an’ deir voices done riz, an’ seems like dey was quar’lin’ "bout some lady an’ business, all mixed up togeder. Mr. Lane say he been made a fool of, but he was through; dat ‘she ’—whosomever ‘she’ is — wouldn’t mek ma’iage wid him nohow, an’ so he was gwine queer Mr. Joseph’s deal an’ show — him up, countin’ he’d been played fo’ a sucker. ‘Mr. Joseph try like he’d pacify him, but when he see dat it wasn’t no use he tell © him he’d break him like he did the others, but Mr. Lane say he’d get him first! Dey bofe cussed fluent an’ free, an’ I thought Bu dey was fixin’ fo’ a real scrap, but Mr. Lane ae tuk hisself off, an’ you could hear his cyar jest roarin’ down de drive. Whar in timeis _ mah book at?” a ‘‘ That’s mighty curious,’ remarked Geoff er as he scratched his head reflectively, “I dunno who the lady could be, but ’tain’t any o’ my business. Is this what you was look- in’ for?” He held out the dream-book, and Ma- zeppa pounced upon it with an exclamation of pleasure. Then, picking up her grip, she _ started for the door, but a bulky, thick-set stranger barred her progress. He was in civilian clothes of a light gray mixture, with __ a collar too small for his thick bull neck. The smile that spread upon his beefy coun- __ tenance was significant as he stepped for- ware 3 i longer. es leaves this house till Ts 5 rile ss the word!” aid Go