ARIZONA ARGONAUTS
ARIZONA ARGONAUTS
BY
H. BEDFORD-JONES
GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING CO., INC.
1924
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
AT
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N.Y.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. Two Palms
II. Shipwrecked Men
III. Bill Hobbs Arrives
IV. Sandy Invests Twice
V. Clairedelune
VI. Deadoak Feels Remorse
VII. Stung!
VIII. Doctor Scudder
IX. The News Story
X. Flight
XI. The Sun Strikes
XII. Scudder Comes
XIII. Untangled
ARIZONA ARGONAUTS
CHAPTER I
TWO PALMS
Piute Tompkins, sole owner and proprietorof what used to be the Oasis Saloon but wasnow the Two Palms House, let the front feet of hischair fall with a bang to the porch floor and deftlyshot a stream of tobacco juice at an unfortunatelizard basking in the sunny sand of Main Street.
"That there Chinee," he observed, with addedprofanity, "sure has got this here town flabbergasted!"
"Even so," agreed Deadoak Stevens, who waswont to agree with everyone. Deadoak was breakingthe monotony of an aimless existence by roostingon the hotel veranda. "I wisht," he added wistfully,"I wisht that I could control myself as good asyou, Piute! The way you pick off them lizards isa caution."
Piute waved the grateful topic aside. "Thatthere Chinee, now," he reverted, stroking hisgrizzled mustache, "is a mystery. Ain't he? He is.Him, and that girl, and what in time they're a-doinghere."
"Even so," echoed Deadoak, as he rolled a listlesscigarette. "Who ever heard of a chink ownin'a autobile? Not me. Who ever heard of a chinkhavin' a purty daughter? Not me. Who everheard of a chink goin' off into the sandy wastes likeany other prospector? Not me. I'm plumb beat,Piute!"
"Uh-huh," grunted Piute Tomkins. "Prettynear time for him to be shovin' out as per usual,too. He was askin' about the way to MorongoValley at breakfast, so I reckon him an' the gorl isheadin' north this mornin'."
The two gentlemen fell silent, gazing hopefullyat the listless waste of Main Street as though waitingfor some miracle to cause that desert to blossomas the rose. At either side of the porch, rattledand crackled in the morning breeze the brownishand unhappy-looking palms which