Argosy All-Story Weekly, 4 February 1922 — page 56: what you’re looking at

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

_ against his own, staring at him until __ She was sure. Then she fell to sobbing in -_~ his arms. Z = =e ‘He held her fast in thankfulness that made him momentarily forget the murdered -_ man and all else. Yet there was no passion —— — inhis clasp. At that moment it seemed the 28 - most natural thing in the world to both of- 2 them, It was the spontaneous recognition of their comradeship, their common danger as S = their common happiness. Her tears fell ~ on his face, and she could hardly find her “ex voice for a long time. ; oe “JT thought that you were dead, Dean!” ee - she wept. ‘I came in and saw some one upon the bed—a dead man, and Hood: and I was frantic. I kneeled there: a3 could not think; then you came in.” sa “ How long have you been here, Lois?” 3 eS S « A minute. Five minutes. I don’t know, Dean. I dared not move, I had no aes and I was sure it was you. I ssa went mad when Tietjens warned BL pe a « Tietjens?” ee “ He learned of the plot to caer you, -, _ and came to tell me of it. Who is he?” she asked, shuddering, and turning toward | Ese bed. « His face is cold. He is dead— os oh, Dean, thank God it wasn’t you!” | S -. “He is the engineer of the mine. I never saw him until yesterday. He took my bed, and I went to another shack. He anew nothing: he must have been killed 5 aie ” = Se “The cowardly murderers!” she cried. ex Be They murdered a sleeping man whom they ee ‘were afraid to face awake, because they thought that he was you. I know they - were afraid. For a long time they refused ECS to obey their orders, even though these -_-were to kill you in your sleep. I know all their plans, and the rascal who is at the ee back of them and hired them.” = = “ Wimborne?” asked Dean incredulously, ~ because he could think of no one else. “Yes. It was planned weeks ago, though _ the final arrangements were only made the Ey before yesterday. Dean, 1 want your : help, but I must tell you first. I'll be as - quick as I can. I know that nothing but on accident could have saved you. They ent t to the se Jn the Serkoe se 3 aaa WEEKLY, See toes, ee Oe i 1 ~~, a =— *& i - mae - ee —— = _ => (a = = es 4 . d Cor ) r oo ee ES < ., - .. —— ae a ae =? =< = ee s = > ao 2 = aa SS + Soe S—<. a i os ae oe ee =~ i ee an —_—s— Se ‘Newle > - ee OR ale. < =—— — z% oe ee = “~ Se “ z ~ ae - > - - “7 y _ tne =v. . - ox eee fired into his body. And but for this cow- ardly mistake I should have been too la “Van Leenen and Smit?” “Yes, Dean. This is how I know. When my father and I escaped the police made Tietjens a prisoner. He gnawed the ropes with his teeth that night and escaped. He followed Van Leenen’s wagon. For three days he followed it, creeping up every night in the darkness and listening as those men talked of their plans. On the third night they camped in the Market Square of Santa Maria. You were in the town, although _ you did not guess that they were. “Late that night Mr. Wimborne went to the wagon. He told them that he had had a talk with you, and that he thought you meant to take the position. He wanted them to fulfill some compact by which they were to murder you. Do you know why?” Dean shook his head. ‘ Wimborne is no enemy of mine,” he answered. ‘“* Because you are an American with in- fluential connections in your own country. It was planned long ago to have an influen- tial American murdered. Since England withdrew her troops from Batakaland the company has been powerless. The diggers hate it, and are threatening revolt. There is no law here, and the company needs law to protect it. By the murder of an Ameri- can, England would be compelled to inter- vene and police the country.” Dean gasped at the revelation. It ex- plained everything—Wimborne’s eagerness to have him take the post, and Eltzmann’s reluctance. “And Eltzmann was in the game?” he asked. | ““T don’t know, Dean. Probably. They will stick at nothing—none of them, so long as they can secure their hold upon the land which is my father’s.” “I certainly am like the young grass that withereth,” reflected Dean. “ Lois,” he said, “ when I agreed to work for the company I did not know it was they who had persecuted your father.” ‘“‘ Never mind, Dean! Listen until I fin- ish. The men would not consent to kill you, not until Mr. Wimborne raised his offer to five hundred pounds. Tietjens will ; ii E - < 2" See ae = JL} LI o< Pid = — le -