Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-01-17
ARMS AND THE
~
WOMAN
BY REX z. BEACH
illustrated by George Gibbs.

downright, 1914, by the newspaper En-
terprIse AssociatiOD.)
Here's the point" said Hoffmeis-
ter. IF we send a messenger they'll
know there's treasure aboard. The
stage has been stuck up so often it's
getting habituaL We've got TO use
ingenuity. I've wired to Horn Tor
wo Wells Fargo men. They'll meet
you at the second relay, so you pull
out alone, as usual. and pick EN- up
there
shorty nodded acquiescence.
"AH the same. 1 amt weighed
down with suppressed glee at bein'
auenna for thirty thousand dollars,
even for twenty miles-that is, not in
the immoral vicinities OF this neigh
borhood."
.Oh, there's no danger this side Of
Number Two. It'll be on the Big
Grade if it's anywhere"
LET me impress on you oncet
! and forever that there amt no dan
ger to me in neither piace-I'm the
, driver. Black Bart knows that the
olive wreaths of peace and concord
IS grated on to me, and sproutin'
alike asparrowgrass. It's the messen-
ger that fills the exactin' duties of
dmitatin' the back end of shootin
gallery"
FToffmeister and his companion
drank; the large man wetting the
bottom of his glass with the vitriol,
and tossing 1t off wryly; the other
filling his to the brim, and rolling
Ct in his mouth like a toothwash.
S.T suppose" said the superintend-
emit having coughed the paralysis
from his vocal cords, you saw the
girl that came up yesterday with
Newcomb?"
.sWhatl Girl here?' In this camp"
Shorty showed extreme trepidation.
why, come off UP here on purpose
20 get shed of 'em."
Eyes, 1 only caught a glimpse of
her myself. but what 1 saw looked
mighty pretty"
= The driver groaned. It'll be just
my internal luck to run slap into her,
an if I do I'll stampede like buff
.falo calf, see if 1 don't"
whats the matter with you?"
n well, it's this way. The minute
Il see skirts I go plumb dippy-my
ewes hang out like loose ulster but
tons, an them little hot springs in
4 my mouth goes dry till my throat
feels like | was beatin' carpets in a
closet. My speech splinters up and
sticks in my neck like l was eatin
sun perch in the dark"
A man inserted his head through
The door and yelled: "AlI aboard"
The two men carried the messenger
box from the rear room, lifting 1t on
.sosthe boot. The postmaster tossed a
dyspeptic mailbag into the stage
body, and the driver scrambled to his
throne with dignity. Then, as he
gathered his reins, the voice Of Peg
Leg" the landlord, came to him.
Hey Wait a minute-passenger
Ter you, Shorty"
There was q rustic and scurry, and
: the jehu's widening gaze beheld a
flashing, white-clad, feminine figure,
petite and picturesque. 1t launched
Itself upon him, more dreadful than
plague, and he froze in his seat.
| want to ride up there"
she cried brightly, and Shorty's heart
turned to water. He slid dumbly
along till he crowded the edge, while
she was lifted by willing hands,
settling beside him like a bit of
thistIe-down.
"AlI right. Shortly" said Peg
Leg" "Good-by, miss Come again,
and the populace of Forest Hill
DOTTED felt and fur to sweep the
ground in a Chesterfieldian salute.
The men at the rearing horses heads
watched the driver vainly waiting
1the signal to let go. but his eyes
sswere rowing helplessly. He licked
his. lips and opened his mouth. There
,issped-silence, broken only by the
tramp of the dancing animals.
Theatrically, it was a stagewait,
silent, agonizing, sweat-producing
With a delightful audience grinning
Its approval. He swallowed desper-
ately the precipice of his aesopha-
I gus like an ore-skip diving into
shaft. His body doubled convulsive-
Iy and there came a cough, unher-
aided and sharp-as sudden, metallic,
and loud as the exhaust of switch
engine on a frosty morning. Men
: and horses leaped together, and they
were snatched gathering into full
hight. simultaneously there was a
Jolting crash and a muffled squeak
from the girl.
Oh, lasting disgrace! Shorty had
taken out the corner post of the
hotel porch.
Under her tactful loquacity the
dust dissolved IN ShortyS mouth,
the CONSTRUCTED paralysis left his
larynx, and sounds born of intellect
began to issue, hoarse and unlntel-
ligible at first, but approximating
!. rhetoric of the time
Never in his life had the little man
: been so long in the company Of the
{ unknown sex, and now this unwonted
Intimacy with its most lovely mem
Der, together with the sense of being
In measure her protector stimu-
lated him strangely His chest
swelled round and full and he
thought:
"Grandl II the boys could only see
me nowi / amt sweatin' a Bit Oc-
casionally be stole furtive sidewise
glances, then stared fixedly at the
thirsty road ahead, planting the inn
ptession in his memory that they
might later grow and bloom into mar
telous "reminiscences.
do you always carry a gum" she
Inquired, gazing doubtfully at his
holster. from which protruded a
carved ivory pistol butt smoothed by
much usage.
yep. i learned the habit as a
baby"
TITS an awfully big one, isn't it?'
"Sure, an she jumps like goat,
too First time | shot her she
bucked me through fence an then
kicked at me twice under the bot