Argosy All-Story Weekly, July 1, 1922 — page 60: what you’re looking at

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

850 “My part, I presume, being to say that it’s just lovely to be kidnaped and that I like it and can’t possibly get too much of it,” Myra sneered. “ Tf—if you want to put it that way.” “TY don’t. And I don’t see it that way,” the amazingly calm captive pursued as she examined the pile further and reflected that, beyond question, the champion sandwich maker of the whole world must hold forth somewhere near this spot. ‘“ Go on, please.” ‘“‘There ain’t so much more that I can say, Miss Ramsey. Only you’re a good, common sense girl. You hafta admit you can’t do a thing. We’re three grown men and you're just a kid and a girl. So what you wanter do is just get back in your room, and if there’s anything you want that we can get, you’ll have it.” “‘ And then?” “‘ And then, maybe to-morrow, maybe the day after—I couldn’t just say about that part—we’ll take you and leave you near a subway station somewhere and you can go back to your friends and laugh about it.” “You think I'll do that, do you?” “Why, sure you will, Miss Ramsey. You ain’t going to get hurt if you act right. You’re going to leok back and think this was all a joke!” “Really?” Miss Carson said crisply. “1’m sorry, but I don’t agree with you about that, either. In the first place—”’ The chauffeur—and this may have been because his whole attention had been upon the dwindling pile of sandwiches—stirred suddenly and waved a large hand at his commander. ‘Wait a second, chief—wait!” said he. “'Y’ got the dope all wrong. .This Jane’s handing you the high josh an’ youre fallin’ for it. The kid’s got too much nerve—she dunno what she’s up against here. Listen to me, kid!” he commanded again, with gathering force and a _ lowering brow. “‘ Maybe this might be a joke to you later, but it ain’t no joke now, take it from me. You pull a couple more o’ them highbrow sneers an’ one of us fellers is likely t’ get peevish and hand you a coupla good ones an’ learn you yer manners. Wise t’ that, ain’t you? An’ if one o’ them hands ever hit you—” ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. ‘“Qh, shut up!” the dark man snapped angrily. ‘“ That’s no way to talk to Miss Ramsey. She’s just a nice lady and—” “* She’s what?’”’? Myra demanded. “* Sure y’are, and—” “‘'You’re wrong again! There’s nothing whatever pleasant about me, my man. In fact, if you’d hunted carefully through the whole six million people in this town you couldn’t possibly have kidnaped a more thoroughly unpleasant person than I am.” (Tt? Eh?” ‘“‘And another thing—which is what I tried to say a few minutes ago—I don’t ad- mit for an instant that I’m as helpless as you fancy. There are so many things that an intelligent person like myself can do.” “IT wouldn’t try any of ’em.” “No? Why not?” “ Because it could be that you wouldn’t get out o’ here alive,” the dark person said, and grew threatening on his own account. “And admitting you could work it, we’d get back at you, kid. This ain’t a bunch that lets a little skirt like you walk on ’em!” “* Get back?” The dark one bared his teeth in an awful leer and dropped his voice to a blood-cur- dling croak that was really overdone. ““ How'd it be some mornin’ if you found your papa with a knife stuck in his back?” he queried. Miss Carson merely raised her brows and shrugged. “It would be most awfully painful and inconvenient for him, I fancy, but what hap- pens to Mr. Ramsey is a matter of abso- lutely no concern to me!” she _ stated Strangely, yet with perfect truth. ‘ What he will do to you may be interesting, I should think, but that’s all apart for the moment. I think we’d better stick to the main question: what J can do. For a be- ginning, I can scream remarkably. You really haven’t heard me scream yet.” ‘Kid, before you start any screaming—” the head of the band began, and his color rose suddenly and died out more suddenly. “Oh, but there isn’t any ‘ before,’ you know,” smiled Miss Carson, and set down hér coffee cup, the contents of which had been quite as excellent as that of the life- saving sandwiches. “ I’m starting now!” DOOK C©