The Argosy, June 1904 — page 50: what you’re looking at

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

D360 of a club numbed his wrist before he — could use the weapon. A pair of hand- cuffs clicked and he was a prisoner. His captors were officers from San Martinez. “ Now then,” demanded one of them, “what have you done with the body?” Punk shut his teeth. “It’s no use,” pursued the speaker, stirring him with his foot as he lay where he had been thrown. “ One of your gang tried to board a train out of the yards after you did the job. He lost his grip, and all that’s left of him is up at the county hospital. He’s peached, and we’ve got you dead to rights, Punk. You won’t lose anything by making it easy for us by telling where you put Holden’s body—you didn’t leave it on the track, because we’ve looked.” Vhe tramp sat upright. “ Body be blowed!” he said. aint no body. De guy ain’t no more croaked den what I am! I been holden’ him for de re-ward. Say, if youse will stand in wit’ me we’ll whack up.” “Tt don’t go,” answered the officer with a hard smile. “ Are you going to tell us where you planted him, or wait until we put you through the Third De- gree?” Nothing exasperates an habitual har more than to be refused credence when he tells the truth. He fumed, protested, and called down upon himself the most horrible afflic- tions in attestation of his veracity. At length, against their better judg- ment, he half convinced them. After viewing the fragments of the bonds which had held the prisoner, they thought there might be something in the tramp’s story after all. And they began a search. CHAPTER XV. CAPTURED. Ox recovering from his swoon, Hol- den found himself alone. It was when Punk lay rolling upon the ground. The editor’s ideas were hazy, and his head still throbbed, but the fixed pur- pose of getting back to Santa Anita which had upheld him throughout his flight still sustained him. PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG “ Dere - THE ARGOSY. Staggering to his feet, he left the shanty and made off up the hill at the back. By the time the tramp could see at all, the fugitive had disappeared over the brow. Left to his own devices, he must speedily have fallen into the hands of those officers who, acting upon the in- formation afforded by the wounded tramp, were already hastening to the vicinity. But no sooner did he appear among the sage brush at the top of the lull than Romeo Powers descried him. Ma- king a détour, he intercepted the editor. “Tie down, Mr. Holden!” he com- manded. “'There’s a couple of cops coming down the track!” | “Ts that you, Romeo? I’m so dizzy I can’t see straight.” “ Yes, it’s me. But lie down, or yowll be spotted! Oh, you ought not to have headed back this way! * “ But I must get to Santa Anita—do you hear? I say I must!” The little man pulled him down. “You don’t know what you're talking about,” he said. “ They'll convict you there, hands down. Your only chance is to lay low until the excitement has died out. If you hadn’t skipped, something might be done, but as it is you haven’t the ghost of a show. “ Say, | been down the line as far as San Diego, and everybody says you'll stretch hemp if youre caught. You don’t know what youre up against. But you'd better be taken in Santa Anita fifty times over than in San Martinez, because the Fiesta is on, and the whole town is crazy drunk!” “ But I can prove my innocence! ” “Jf they get their hands on you in San Martinez, you won’t have a chanee.” “Tm going back if I have to crawl!” “But vou can’t; you’re too weak. Now Vl fix you up the best I can, Mr. Holden, and go back to town and rustle some orb “and whisky. There’s a chance that they won’t find you where Pll stow you away, and if they don’t, Pll come back after dark and set you going. The best thing for you to do is to strike over the range for Barstow and hit the Santa Fe. Come on!” In his zeal he fairly dragged the edi- COMiicsoo S (C@) ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED