Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

No—just nothing.” “It’s all wrong, Emile—I got to do some- thin’. Here I am trying to run a nice, re spectable business, and along comes Jake and loads me up with trouble.” Emile made no reply. “It’s all wrong,” Connors continued. — Emile shot a long, bony finger to within an inch of Connors’s nose: it was as square as a piece of hemlock joist. “Tt serves you right for mushing around with one of vour relatives,” he announced. “ Hold on there, Emile. He ain’t no hon- est-to-goodness relation of mine. Jake slid into the family album on a wedding. He's just the smell that sticks around wit’ th’ onion-—that’s all.” All right—sooner or later Jake will eat the onion. ’ iere Emile paused and glared at Con- nors as if such profound logic could not possibly fail to make an impression. Then he leaned forward. ‘“ Know what?” he finally asked. “I'm listening,’ was Connors’s laconic reply. ‘ Four sailors who said they came to New York on Captain Jake’s schooner were in here to-night looking for you.” The news was evidently disquieting to Connors. The truth was he regretted the opportunity which had been given to Emile to talk to with these men. * What did they want?” he finally asked. “ Said they intended to get their share of big money, as promised by Jake, or hold you responsible.” “Me!” exclaimed Connors. ‘“Yes—you. They say that ”—here his voice sank to a low, vibrating treble—“ a certain foreign gov’m t would give a million dollars to know what Jake brought into this port. ’ ‘“ Emile,” said Connors with a splendid show of disinterestedness, ‘“ you ought to get a job telling fairy stories in some kinder- garden.” ‘It would be soft compared with handing facts to some people I know of. For in- stance, here is a nice, fat, little fact for you. Those sailors know that Jake hid his ques- tionable cargo right here in the Cracker Pot, and they say that you are his partner in the meane Connors’s flé glow. The versatile Di it was bad enough to disc Jake’s buccaneer crew KneW the possible value of the daring far more disquieting to learn tha knew. He did not trust Emile, ¢ came the question—-how much informs did he really possess, and to what exten he twisting it for his own personal ¢€ He also wondered what Emile knew con- cerning Captain Jake’s recent movements. — However, he was not to be tortured for any great length of time on the rack of — suspense. ~ “ When this smelly relative of yours left — New York last Monday where do you sup- — pose he went?” asked Emile with a most €X- asperating sneer. 4 The question was a revelation to Connors, who supposed that he alone possessed knowledge bearing on Captain Jake’s secret mission and the day of his departure. It also filled him with apprehension. To ig- nore Emile completely would be folly, and yet it annoyed Connors to find that he was being roughly shoulderéd by his own bar- tender. If Emile had gained a full, or par- tial knowledge of the monetary rewards that were to follow the successful issue of Jake’s venture, he would certainly demand a share of the spoils—hence Connors’s de- cision to assume a confidential, chatty man- ner for the purpose of drawing the man on. ‘““{ don’t hafta do no supposin’ at all, Emile—I know,” was Connors’s_ reply. ‘‘ Jake went to Washington.” “Yeh!” was Emile’s sneering comment, with a rising inflection that was saturated with contempt. ‘Sure, he went there on big business, Excuse me, Emile, if I don’t draw you no diagram of Captain Jake’s little trip, but I'll say this: he’s liable to see th’ Secretary of State down there. I don’t know—maybe Jake’s going to stay at his house all night, talking things over. or somethin’ like that. I tell you, Emile, it’s big.” ‘“ Down in Washington!” sively wagged his head. * Of course. I oughta know. when I went