Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 145: what you’re looking at

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

ny gosh! Remilled! You know when I tarted there were crooks in the provision _ line, but the wooden nutmeg was about the _ top of their speed. The best in those days __ Was plain best, but now there are a hun- dred fancy ways of petting the extra cent out of people. Good apples went by the barrel, but now good apples have to be wrapped and packed individually and shined up. I have a plot of land out west of town here that I’ve been cutting up and selling off, and those lots have been moving about as fast as molasses in January. But across the road a smart Aleck puts up a pair of brick pillars and calls his place Runnymede Manor and sells lots as though they were hot cakes. Where’d you get this idea of re- milled?” “It was Kitty’s idea mostly.” * Thank God for that,” said Osborne de- voutly. “TI could never look myself in the face again if I had let a footloose bum like you beat me out. And you still think you had rather be riding brake rods than living here with a good job, pay day every Satur- day, and no cops to look out for?” “Td rather be the deadest bum,” said Springtime solemnly, “ than the livest mil- lionaire that ever lived!” That statement seemed to take all the crispness out of Osborne again; he became aimless and vague, and after he had figured back and forth for five minutes he shut the book and tore up the promissory note. “Hell!” he said. ‘‘ Let’s forget it. If you'd been going to stay here I would have stuck you for every cent you owe me, but since you're going back to the jungles you'll need every cent. You know there might be __ a market for a small hand power bean sorter like that one you rigged up.” “You can have my share of it,” said Springtime, rising. “ That’s a contract,” returned Osborne but seemed on his part loth to rise. nbled with the papers on his desk and id in a hesitating way: ‘‘ You don't 1 tike to stay and do that other at him with a rasta a ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. nothing of her face, for the reason that she That brought Osborne out of his chair as _ open the Brose eatin ball be fa it!” Bateway and said: “ Beat The wanderer looked into on half-shut eyes for a half minute, sweat him glare for glare: he looked 80 hard Phas as he backed out of the gate he bumped Into some one, and whirling, saw that he was facing Mrs. Osborne. Back of her was Kitty, flushed from the nip of the cold northwest wind, wearing fallen-leaf brown, with a small terra cotta hat pulled down over her brow and ears. At sight of them something had occurred to Osborne, for he reached out, and seizing Springtime by the arm, dragged him back into the inclosure, then spoke a few words to his wife and to Kitty—words which came to the wanderer, muffled and distant. Osborne swung open a glazed door marked “ Directors’ Room,” and when he had ushered his wife and Kitty within, pushed the unresisting Springtime after them. Mrs. Osborne instinctively chose the chairman’s place and came to rest there as a full rigged ship comes to anchor. Kitty took a place close to a window with her back tq the light where she could look at Springtime, who stood near the middle of the long table. When they were all within, Osborne shut the door and advanced to the head of the table and pointed a short finger at Springtime. “Do you know what that damned fool has just done?” he said. “ Do you? After getting around the dismalest job that man ever undertook and showed that, after all, he had some sense, he turned down a prop- osition that any man in the village between the ages of nine and ninety would have jumped at! I offered to put him to work at anything he wanted, and he knows what that means. Turned it down—after get- ting five cents more a bushel for beans than any man in the history of the world ever did get. And now he says he is going back to the railroads to get himself beaten up by fly cops! Can you beat it?” Springtime’s eyes, which had wandered to Osborne when the banker began to speak. turned toward Kitty, but he could make Eom icbooks. 4