Page 19 - Adventure Magazine, 1921, July 18th

Children of the Road . 13

Russian eyes· of the man. A low plaintive to look back over his shoulder at the vicious
whimper escaped his pouting lips. He stood Ref boy and to place a daring and contu-
Tooted, unable to inch on a step. He melious set of fingers to his nose.
whimpered again and his leaden-hued baby The Kid's eyes sought, in further plea,
face worked and, contorted with the agon- the full-grown hoboes about him. The
ized endeavor to struggle nearer those bleak-faced fellow alongside, who had fol-
knotted suspenders. He came on at last lowed the Swede Kid's departure with
obliquely, circling forward like a cringing fearful longing, was rolling a cigaret as if to
dog. keep sight of the beating from his eyes, as
He halted within striking distance of the if indeed pondering deep thoughts. An-
uspenders. The man rai ed his arm; the other was looking on with a dull, almost
boy cringed lower in affrighted anticipation bovine interest, as if for lack of something
of the blow; the knotted suspenders better to watch. The third, however, was
whistled through the air. evincing a real and visible pleasure in the
The Frisco Kid flinched himself at the sight. .
weight of the blow. The knot on the sus- His wide-spaced eyes were pretty bnght,
penders weighed them down and caused and he 'Yas nodding his head at each cruel
them to curl tightly round the boy's bare blow to lend encouragement to Strong-
legs. The boy shook with pain in every Arm-as if, to tell truth, tp.at old Ref boy
fiber of him. He squealed aloud. needed any one to egg him on1 in his bru -
The elastic in the gaudy strands stretched tality! Perhaps the fellow hoped thus to
with the weight of the knot, then con- curry favor with the strong-armer. .
tracted quickly as the strands curled round The Kid knew. The hoboes stood_ in
the boy's legs. When the suspenders mortal dread'---of the Black Finn. Not one
lifted again in the air, the flesh showed white of them would interpose to save the boy.
where the suspenders had curled, then red He knew he' could do naught himself to
wheTe the elastic in contracting had torn interfere . Those three blown-in-the-glass
away the skin. about him would not-allow him to interfere .
Again the suspenders zipped through· the The boy, Chick, belonged to the man
air; again the savage r~d welt spra;g up on who was beating him. He was Strong-
the boy's thin legs. Five times. Then the Arm's road-kid, his prushun. It was the
boy began to dance about in his agony and Law of the Road that the man should beat
scream shrilly in that thinness of voice him whenever he so minded, however cruelly
common to the very young. · \ he desired, and that no one should step in
The Frisco Kid clutched the dog to him. between.
The little mongrel was trembling; he himself Besides and above all, the brute who was
was breathing hard. He knew what that administering the whipping in this case was
screaming, dancing boy was suffering. a notorious and vicious strong-armer. Plain
Had he not been beaten, often and ·in- to see, under his left arm, wa that revolver
humanly, by Frisco Red when slave to that in its shoulder-hoLter. The hoboe about
brutal hobo? the Frisco Kid were afraid of that nan and
He looked, in a kind of plea, at the Portu- especially of his gun. In fear for them-
gee Kid beside him and at Cigaret Jimmy selves they would not suffer the Fri co Kid
just beyond, They were all that were left to interfere.
, of the push. Portugee's swarthy face was Suppose thev were to allow the Kid to
stiff with poorly restrained emotion, his interfere, what could he do? trong-Arm
amber Iberian eyes dark with anger and an was little bigger than the Frisco Kid, true;
excess of fear. There was a dangerous but trong-Arm had a gun. The Fri co
curve lo Cigaret Jimmy's thin lips. He Kid' knew hi type. He would use that
was raging inside and growing more reck- weapon a.t the first how of interference from
lessly furious each moment. any one of them. The chances were, if the
f As the Frisco Kid noted his working Kid interposed at all, he would slug him
lips, he saw Portugee reach over and tap over the head ,vith the gun, then return
his hand. Portugee nodded jerkily toward with redoubled vigor to the beating of the
the darkness beyond the fire. In implicit boy.
obedi nee Jimmy rose to his feet and slid The boy was creaming continually. H
out of the firelight. But he paused once was dancing about, leaving thi k d