Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 52: what you’re looking at

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

OO EE i. ff ON THE TRAIL I had been hopeful that my reference to Dick Montgomery would bring out some information concerning him, but it was ignored. And what difference also could that make, when the murder- ous intentians of the miscreants con- cerning myself were unmistakable? Matters had gone thus far when I awoke to the fact that I was making a fool of myself. Still I was in that des- perate mood that I determined to force the issue. ‘ Since you two are afraid to fight me alone, what are you waiting for? ” “T don’t see no use of waiting, Bill,” said Sawyer, the bigger coward of the two; ‘‘ let’s start him on his run.” “You won't start me on any run! I stand right here, and if you want to shoot me down in cold blood, do so!” Folding my arms, I compressed my lips, and, with flashing eyes, confronted the two. My pose was beautiful, and I looked very much like a hero, but candor compels me to admit I was a bogus one. I was scared, and would have shaken im my shoes but for the fact that an instant before I opened my lofty speech I saw over the shoulder of Harbridge, and only a short distance off, the figure of a man coming towards us, and that man was Zach Peters. “It is high time you came,” I thought to myself, “for, if ever a poor wretch needed a friend, the name of that wretch is Joseph McIntyre.” “ Helloa, boys, what have you got there?” called Zach while still ap- proaching. “ Another of them damried news- paper men!” replied Harbridge, turn- ing his head, “ and we was just about to give him the witch’s parole as you came up.” Zach looked fixedly at me, as if I were some wild animal on exhibition. There was not the slightest sign of rec- ognition in his face, and, of course, I was too prudent to betray our acquaint- ance. I fancied there was an expression of disgust behind his beard, as if he had OF A MYSTERY. 43 grown tired of helping me out of scrapes. | “ Stranger,” he said in the hardest of voices, “ hain’t you ever heerd how we treat such chaps as you?” “Yes; I know you gave a friend of mine the witch’s parole some weeks ago.’’. “ Correct; that’s our style of doing business; the papers have been giving” the Baker gang the best of the deal, and we won't stand it.” “And the Bakers complain that the papers have shown all the favors to the Whites and Howards. That’s proof they have been fair and treated both sides squarely. If they call you alla set of murderers they speak the truth.” No more foolish remark ever was made. I had taker it for granted that Peters was my friend, when, in truth, circumstances had rendered him an un- certain quantity. I forgot that he har- bored an intense enmity toward the members of my craft, as I ought to have remembered from the part he played in the taking off of Dick Mont- pomery. * True, he had done me a great favor a short time before, but it involved no risk to himself. It was impossible to repeat it now without risk. What I ought to have done was to insist upon my assumed personality, trusting to the shrewdness of Zach to help me through, but such a thing being the one I ought to have done, was the very one I did not, and not only that, but I had shut off the possibility of returning to this course. The action and manner of Zach Pe- ters were those of a man who resented the ugly words I had just uttered. My first thought was that this was pretense on his part, but I soon began to suspect it was real. After such an outburst as mine, what pretense had he for inter- ceding in my interests? “Wal, stranger,” he drawled in his taunting voice, “ instead of them paper men being right in what they say about the Howards and Bakers, they l'e shout. g eco