Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 124, No. 2 — page 94: what you’re looking at

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

276 in your aimlessness and let them suffer? Why don’t you do something? I—I should be too ashamed to ever hold up my head again if I were in your place and failed to make amends.” _ There came a lull in the girl’s denuncia- tion. When Zach lifted downcast eyes from the toe of his boot, Miss Mirabelle had vanished. He sat there, miserable and ut- terly squelched. He spoke to his team in a mechanical fashion and drove back to the ranch in a stupor of despair. His dull eyes took scant heed of Benson and the man who accem- panied him when they came out to the barn where he was unhitching the team. “Zach, the sheriff wants a word with you,” said Benson harshly. The sheriff stepped forward. ‘‘ What do you know about this circus business, Zachr From what I can gather you are responsible for this mix-up. What have you got to say for yourself?”’ ‘‘ ?Pears to me I’ve raised hell, all. right,” groaned Zach, leaning heavily against one of the horses, “IT fetched ’em over the hill, sheriff—I’m guilty of that much. I don’t know nothin’ about Crane’s beatin’ it with the money. “IT reckon you could arrest me for what I done, but I want you to lay off. You gotta give me time to think—give me till to-night and I'll talk to you straight.” The sheriff had been summoned by an in- dignant committee representing Crumpled Creek Valley; the circus gentry had also poured their treubles. into his ears, and, in a measure, the situation appalled even the sheriff. So Zach’s pleas resulted in the sheriff granting him time for reflection. Zach started for the barn—he would throw a saddle on Pete, his good old cow- pony. He could think and act better when astride of Pete. At the barn door it dawned upon him with crushing poignancy that Pete was no longer his. Zach turned away from the barn and cor- rals and struck out for the timber; he walked till every muscle in his body ached, but he could not get away from Miss Mira- belle’s stinging words—nothing else seemed to matter—nothing did till the germ of an idea stirred in his brain. -was swelled all out of shape, thinkin’ ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. He was miles from the ranch, but weari- ness suddenly left his storm-wracked body. He breathed deeply, vigorously, for there evolved from this first vague germ a plan ~which caused Zach to throw back his head and let forth a lusty, ringing whoop. The sheriff and Mr. Benson awaited him at the ranch-house and they looked relieved when they saw him. Zach swung toward them, presenting a far different front than that of a few hcurs previous. He ad- dressed the men frankly and with convic- tion in every tone and gesture. — ‘You reckoned I’d skinned out, didn’t you? Likely I would ’a’ done it, too, if somebody hadn’t showed me what 2 no- ‘count cuss I’ve bin. I guess I ain’t ever growed up till this here circus party went plumb to smash. And Saturday night I I'd pulled something fine and foxy. Every- body a slappin’ me on the back and givin’ me the glad hand and tellin’ me how smart I was. “Great dope, you bet, when you makes good even at a big bluff. Say, I wouldn’t ’a’ swapped last Saturday night for all of Crumpled Creek’ Rancho, had you asked me—last Saturday night. That’s how much I was growed up, Mr. Benson. ‘* Well, it ain’t the same when your props git kicked out and you hits the grit and there ain’t nobody to stick out a paw. And when them what you’ve rode with and bunked with and drank likker outa the same bottle with—when them lets you lay where you flopped, what kin a guy expect » from the rest of you all? “ Look at them circus folks! Didn’t you all holler your heads off and laff fit to bust your sides when they was givin’ you your money’s worth o’ fun? But old Crane beats it and leaves ’em flat busted—they’s down and out. Nobody recollecks they’s got human feelin’s, jest like you and me. ‘Forgits that, and all they wants to do now is to hand ’em kicks, spit on ’em, herd ’em off’n this range and let ’em starve on some other guy’s stampin’-ground. “It ain’t fair. feels like to stand up and have bokays throwed at me—and [I ain’t ever gonna for- git the bricks, either. I’ve took my tumble COMIC DOOIK I’m not forgettin’ what it — (COLNT