Argosy, Vol. 85, No. 3 — page 178: what you’re looking at

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520 sigh of bitter dejection, ‘‘ Ill go! But I warn you, Berard, that if I give you the money, it will not be an end of the affair.”’ “Get the money and make haste,” muttered the outlaw, -grinning content- edly. “Tt is terrible, M. Eastman, that such a crime should be committed in my house,”” moaned Tournier; ‘‘ but you are wise to yield before there is bloodshed! We know this man, and he has no mercy.” “You see what my dear friends say of me!” exclaimed the outlaw happily. The American, ignoring the brute and his gun, went to his wife and took her in his arms. He whispered encouragement of a sort to her, and begged her to be brave and patient in the ordeal while he went to the town and talked with the United States consul. It might be, he told her boldly, that a way would be found to circumvent the scoundrel with- out risking danger or disaster. “T am a quick shot, and a sure one,” warned Berard. “ Be sure that I will keep my word.” .Eastman embraced his wife tenderly, then sprang away from her and walked to the door. “T shall be back in an hour, if it is possible,” he said quietly. “If the hour stretches out too far,” said Berard, ‘‘ I shall take madame in my arms and console her. I find myself al- ready growing foolish with tender emo- tions.” “Take care that I don’t kill you!” cried Eastman, and stepped forth reso- lutely into the night. Without help from Tournier, he got his car from the shed at the rear of the inn, made certain that the engine and the tires were in working order, and then started at high speed for the distant town, his heart beating faster than the valves of the motor. It was late in the evening, and the con- sul might be hard to find. What then? And if he was in his office, could he cash the letters of credit without infinite com- THE ARGOSY. ing and going and hours of delay? With the money secured and paid to the ban- dit, what would the travelers do then, without means, and so many thousand miles from home? | Thus his mind ran on in a turmoil of apprehension and excitement, and he drove the motor-car over the hard, white road at prodigious speed. Suddenly the throbbing rataplan of the engine stopped, and the car coasted for a thousand yards under the impetus of its speed, then slowed down and stopped. Eastman sprang out and threw open the hood in a frenzy of anxiety. There was a tense moment of inspection, then the man cried out and shouted at the car as though it were a living creature. It might run again after an hour or two of laborious tinkering, but in the present emergency it would not move for any man. He shrieked madly at the thing to have mercy on him and rally to his need, but the machinery remained stolidly in- ert with a sort of grim fatality. He heard, all at once, far off, the faint sound of wheels and a drumming of hoofs, and he cried out in wild expectan- cy. Unable to wait, he ran swiftly down the road to meet the approaching vehicle; and when he was panting for breath and almost exhausted, he came upon a two- wheeled native cart, pony drawn, and occupied by a single man. He tried English words upon the way- farer, and there was an encouraging re- sponse. ‘Turn your cart around and take me to the town, and make your price what you will!” he gasped as soon as he could breathe. ‘“‘ But, monsieur, it is very late, and my own destination is far off,” the driver protested courteously. Eastman explained frantically that he was the victim of a treacherous motor, and that he must get to the town. ‘You will do well to wait until morn- ing, it is now so late,” advised the stran- ger. “ There is a good inn some distance comicloool C©