Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 55: what you’re looking at

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

46 The poor fellow was clean daft, and had not the slightest conception of my iden- tity. So far as I could see, he was un- armed. “IT say, Dick, don’t you remember ‘Shorty McIntyre’?” I asked, allud- Ang to my nickname in college; ‘ we have had many lively times together, and I’m sure you can’t have forgotten them.” The answer to this was as unexpect- ed as startling. Flinging his arms aloft, as if driving a lot of fowl before him, he strode toward me, and appar- ently aflame with rage, commanded : ‘Gol go! Go to the house! ” No one could have obeyed more promptly than I, for it didn’t look safe to dally or hesitate. An extended, bony finger indicated the direction, and cer- tainly Dick Montgomery, lunatic, had no grounds to be dissatisfied with my ready obedience All the same, he was dissatisfied, and quickly showed it. “Walk faster—walk faster!” “ Shall I rune” I asked, looking over my shoulder and catching sight of the tall figure with its extended arms wav- ing like those of a windmill. ‘* No—no—no; turn to the left. Oh, you fool!” In my flurry, I struck my toe against a stone, my hat flew off, and I pitched forward on my hands and knees. I laughed at my own discomfiture, and, as I snatched up my derby and scram- bled to my feet, I glanced around, half expecting to see the old familiar smile and to hear the merry laughter, but a ghost could not have been more serious. I noticed that the ground was grad- ually becoming more inclined, showing that we had reached the base of Rattle- snake Ridge, and were beginning to ascend it. The blind had been left out of sight, and of course the three men who had their arrangements ready for an-exhibition of their favorite pastime of the witch’s parole, had long since disappeared from sight. The wood be- THE ARGOSY. came comparatively free from shrub- bery and undergrowth, but there were plenty of rocks and boulders which compelled me to make many short de- tours around them. The increasing steepness, and my hurried pace, tired me, though it pro- duced no visible effect upon my master, whose relentless tramp almost brought him on my heels. The time soon came when I was pretty well used up, and a broad, flat rock offering an inviting rest, I sat down on it and began fan- ning my face with my hat. “ Dick, I don’t find much fun in this: let’s take a breathing spell.” Had the stone been red hot, I couldn’t have leaped more suddenly from it, for my old friend, as furious as a jungle tiger, looked as if gathering himself to spring upon me. Although with my rugged health and fine condi- tion I could have mastered him, I had - an unspeakable horror of feeling those bony fingers clutching at my throat. My hope was of establishing some sort of a friendly relation with the luna- tic, who seemed to view me with pecul- iar hatred. Indeed, I was in constant fear of his springing like a panther up- on my shoulders from the rear, and I kept almost as close watch of him as he did of me. | ‘“T hope that confounded cabin isn’t much further off,’ I muttered to my- self, as I obeyed another order to turn to one side—“ helloa! here we are!” We had come upon a twin brother of the Auckland home, and had I caught sight of it under any other circum- stances, I should have sworn it was the same. It stood on a gently sloping in- cline of Rattlesnake Ridge, in the midst of a clearing, about an acre in extent, and was surrounded on all sides by mountainous woods. There must have been a path connecting it with the out- side world, but I did not see it, our own route leading through the unbroken wilderness. I hesitated, noticing which Mont- gomery walked around me te the frert, eco