OCR Text |
Show Candy Man. Say, it' freat to lee you." Sha hugged him and they talked remembering the llama of their past love which had finally flickered flick-ered low for Candy. But suddenly Candy looked over her shoulder. A man was standing there, with eyes like marbles in the smooth facade of his face. He spoke to Gold Dust and motioned mo-tioned to a gambling set-up nearby. "That table's coolin' off. Take over." With a long flinty look at Candy he left. "Who's that?" Candy asked. Gold Dust spoke briefly. "Brazos Hearn. He owns the town." Candy didn't like him. He had never liked snakes. Now his thoughts made a pattern. He had taken to Yellow Creek. He'd make the place take to him. There was plenty of gold comin' out of the ground here and he wasn't goin' to stake a claim to get it. There were other ways. Now a sardonic smile came to Candy's lips as he saw a familiar Deal me In." Now Candy showed that thera were six empty chambers in gun. But he was putting in oniy one bullet. "I spin tne barrel gentlemen gentle-men and let the hammer fail wnei a it may." No ons had any way of knowing when the gun would shoot or when it would click. The "game" began. Brazos called heads and got the gun. There -was sweat on his forehead as he put it to his head and pulled the trigger. An empty click. Brazos sighed with relief. It was Candy's turn. Another click. Finally, there were only two shots left. Now it was Brazos' try again. He was shaking. Candy spieled softly, "Pick it up man. It ain't gonna bite you ; beore you squeeze the trigger . . ." He added, "You can throw in your hand if you want to . . . only it'll cost you five thousand dollars." Without taking his eyes off him, Brazos said, through his teeth, "It's a bet." He motioned to the roulette banker. "Let him have it Blackie." But it was with those words that Brazos lost his throne. He was no longer kingpin in Yellow Creek and he knew it. S A , - ' ; f ' ' -v J is "Now, honey, ain't you overdoin' this wide-eyed business?'- V.j' Adapted from the Metro-Goldivyn-Mayer Picture by FRANCES BARBOUR CAST OF CHARACTERS Candy Johnson . . . . Clark Gable Elizabeth Cotton . . . ., . Lena Turner Judgt Cotton . . . . . Frank Morgan "Cold Dust" Nelson .... Clair Trevor Brazos Hearn . . . . Albert Dekker Rev. Mrs. Varner ..... Mariorle Main The Sniper Chill Will world and respected no one. "I'm afraid you think I dropped it on purpose." Her voice was cool. "The last thing I'd do is speak to a strange man." Candy shook his head. "Now honey, ain't you overdoin' this wide-eyed business?" busi-ness?" Quite confidently, he sat down beside her. She must have a story, he suggested. All girls did. Her father was probably a preacher and maybe she'd come from Vermont Ver-mont or Ohio and Candy backed to the door with the Judge and Sniper. Then hs pulled the trigger twice. Again, two empty clicks. "Think of the dough you could've saved, Brazos," he called and disappeared. Outside, the Judge was dumbfounded. dumb-founded. "But I saw you put a bullet in that gun." Imperturbably, Candy shook his head. "You just thought you did." He made a motion. "You're forgetting forget-ting that the hand is quicker than the eye." 'ihey celebrated and quite a bit later, the Judge, listing to starboard star-board asked, "When'm I going to get my cut of the job Candy?" Candy took his arm to steer him home. "Tomorrow when you can Bee to count it." At the house, the Reverend Mrs. Varner looked at them both disapprovingly. dis-approvingly. "Say Judge, you might've let your daughter get her duds unpacked before you rolled in like that." As the Judge staggered upstairs, a brilliant idea came to Candy. He turned to Mrs. Varner. "You know, seems to me it might be nice for this town to have a litt'i mission house. And maybe you could run it Mrs. Varr-.r, seeing as how you're the widow of a preacher." Her bright honest eyes raked him over. "You don't look to me like a man who'd help the Lord beat the Devil to the draw." "Can't tell by looking, honey," Candy said. She caught her breath as he threw her a roll of bills. "You build that decent place for folks on Sundays and I'll build one for 'em on week-days." Yep, he was going to have a saloon that sold good liquor and honest gambling. gamb-ling. It would be a place that would give every sucker a square deal. Mrs. Varner smiled a little. "You know, feller like you reminds me of a piece of side pork. Screak of fat, streak of lean. Streak of good and streak of mean." Candy laughed and went to the door. "I'm going to sit on the porch," he said casually, "If Miss Cotton comes down tell her I'm outside." He knew she'd show up. She did, a few moments later, with fire in her eyes. "Listen Mr. Johnson," she said abruptly, "I think you're on the wrong side of town." "Oh I dunno," Candy returned "I could always move, couldn't I:' "Not with my permission." Scor.'. fully, she looked him over. "Yo know, I don't know what it is bu I dislike you more every time i see you." "I get the general drift," Candy said, "you're crazy about me." With a sudden roughness he pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. White with fury Bhe stood away. His kiss had shaken her, had shattered shat-tered the protective wall of something some-thing called resistance. "Don't ever do that again. Stay away from me Mr. Johnson and stay away from my father." " Alone, Candy stood there for a long minute. He thought of many things. But most of all he thought of that day and hour that was going go-ing to cone when Elizabpth Cotton would walk into his arms and like it. (It Candy being overconfident in his plans or can this big, nervy fellow with the gift of gab really make the future sit up on its hind legs and take orders? Be sure to read the next thrilling chapter.) Printed In TT. O. A. Copyright '191 by Loew's Too. Chapter One It was the first time Candy Johnson had ever fallen in with a tarring and feathering party. He hoped it was the last. Moses, all he had done was try to show 'em how to pick the best card out of three and win money on it. Sure, they'd lost and now here they were practically the whole population of this little burg, all murder mad. Ho and his side-kick, Sniper had been heading for Yellow Creek when this had happened. Out that way, they were takin' the gold out of the ground with a knife and fork. Candy had felt in his bones that it would be real sucker territory ter-ritory for a good "con" man like himself. "Peel off them pants," the fat man with the gun was saying. But he didn't know Candy. Candy had his steam up. Now he began to let go with his line of spiel, telling them how fine it would be If tlwy knew the card trick just to show off in the parlor now and then, of course. They were fascinated birds look-ins: look-ins: at the snake. One by one they put their money up, and Candy brought out the cards and talked. "Watch closely now, watch closely." The man with the gun was edging up. "You'll be amazed when I show you. Yo'll be astounded. astound-ed. You'll regard it as the miracle of the century . . ." Panting for riches, they were all off guard. Like lightening, Candy moved. He snatched the gun from the fat man, then with Sniper made for the door. "Good-bye gents," he called back, "and maybe may-be you ought to tip your hats to us, huh?" He shot three times and three hats sailed through the door. Then he and Sniper were off. They were still buttoning their Blurts as they sprirwed after the train and swung aboard the rear platform. Candy sent a ' mocking . kiss backwards. But as they walked walk-ed through the car his plans were already arranging themselves in order. He was tired of bein' run out of somebody else's town. He was going to find a town of his own. He was going to be the gent who said Go or Stay. He voiced his thoughts and Sniper was appalled. "Goin' to turn honest?" "Goin" to turn smart," Candy retorted re-torted and stopped to buy a small bag of sweets, his favorite food, from the vendor. He stopped. A lace handkerchief was in the aisle. The girl who had dropped it was sitting there looking out of the window. With a wise smile, Candy appraised ap-praised her. She was dressed simple enough. That little bonnet made her cute as a white kitten with a blue ribbon around it. And yet, there was somethln' about her that brought a man's blood to a boil. And Candy was sur she knew it He picked up the handkerchief, sniffed it and presented it with a bow. "Smells kind of good for such an old trick." Miss Elizabeth Cotton looked at him. In this stranger's eyes she saw a checkered past; on the mouth a smile that embraced the figure at the bar. He walked over. "Kvening . . . Judge." In a frightened way, the Judge whirled. His emotions were mingled. ming-led. He was embarrassed at seeing Candy, a little afraid of him and yet heartily glad to renew an old friendship. Candy listened interestedly as the Judge explained his position. He had been put up as Justice of the Peace by Brazos. But the money that was collected as fines was split among Brazos, his gang and the Judge. Now the latter was out on a very shaky limb. People were beginning to wonder where those fines went. "And," he ended up, Tm twenty five hundred in the hole Candy. You haven't got it have you?" Candy had heard everything but his eyes and mind were roving. "Not on me. But I will have." Over in one corner Brazos was giving giv-ing a couple of the gamblers the bum's rush. They had been squawking squawk-ing about being cheated. With every nerve alert, Candy leaned against the bar and said loudly, "A house has got no call not to be on the level. It's got the percentage working for it and that's enough for an honest gambler." gamb-ler." There was a murmuring among several of the men. Two of them spoke up. "You're talkin' for me too Mister . . . He's talkin' for a lot of us." With the quick agility of a cat, Brazos came over to Candy. He put a cheroot to his mouth. "Light me." "I don't carry matches," Candy said easily. "They make fires." There was a loud guffaw from the men. "Maybe you ought to," Brazos returned. -His gun fingers were creeping toward his armpit. Candy rhook his head. "It takes too many hands. I like to keep mine where they can do the most good." Suddenly, his gun was out. It spit fire, knocking Brazos' gun from his hand. Now, covering Brazos, Candy addressed the crowd. He was speaking for every man jack of them he said. He didn't believe in one guy having everything every-thing his way in a town. If they stood to lose at cards Brazos ought to getca crack at losing too. He turned to Brazos. "We're going to play a little game called committing commit-ting suicide. One of us shoots himself. him-self. And the other laughs his sides off." Brazos nodded at the coin on the counter. "I'd like a good laugh. there was sure to be a mortgage on the old homestead , . . But he grew a little puzzled as she gave it back to him just as smooth, telling him how she was from Boston and her father was a Judge out here at Yellow Creek. And how her great grandfather had been a real man like her Dad and fought at Bunker Hill. She took a deep breath. "You're a very slick person Mr. Johnson and something tells me that you and I just aren't the same kind of people." It left Candy flatfooted. Now the train had pulled in. He stood there on the platform. Then his lips pursed in a whistle as Miss Cotton ran up to a fine looking old man. About him was an air of gentility and at the same time alcoholic decay. Candy nudged Sniper. "Well look who T)ad' is. Old Boozer Tom." Sure, Candy knew Old Tom from back in Idaho and Texas and all over the map. He'd been one of the best "con" men in the country in his prime. Now Candy edged over. He said, affably, "Howdy Mister. Glad to see you again. How did you leave Dodge City?" Sniper grinned. "Fast I bet." The Judge was blustering but Elizabeth said witheringly, "Don't be angry Dad. This is just another an-other clumsy attempt on Mr. Johnson's John-son's part to be friendly." "Well, well," the Judge put In, "it's easy to make mistakes Elizabeth. Eliza-beth. Maybe he thought he did know me." He chuckled uneasily, then looked at Candy with meaning. mean-ing. "It's people who make mistakes mis-takes that keep me in business. I'm Justice of the Peace you see." Candy went poker faced. "I see. Well, excuse me Judge. Sorry I troubled you. Come on Sniper." As they walked away Sniper said indignantly, "Why ddin't vou call that old drunk's bluff?" Softly, thoughtfully, Candy replied, re-plied, "Why? Why muss up that respectable front? It might come in real handy." Now he and Sniper reached the Placer Saloon. There was music and raucous laughter coming from inside. Just at the door though, Candy stared. A yellow haired girl sat at a table. Her lovely legs, encased in the cobweb tracery of black net stockings were crossed. She reached reach-ed into her fancy garter for a cigarette. Candy approached her. "Hello honev. What's doing?" With a delighted grin, Gold Dust Nelson jumped up. "If it ain't the |