Hades & Hocus Pocus by Lester Dent

Author:Lester Dent [Dent, Lester]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784084196
Publisher: Head of Zeus Ltd
Published: 2012-11-26T21:48:00+00:00

HOCUS POCUS

CHAPTER I

THE MARVELOUS MERTON

THE ELDERLY ROADSTER WAS running out of gas. The needle was staggering back against the little brass pin on the side of the gauge marked with an E. This had been going on for a mile, which was about the limit. Sure enough, the engine stopped knocking over, the fenders ceased shaking, a cloud of dust subsided, and there sat the old roadster and the battered red trailer which was attached to it. After which anyone who cared to do so could have read the legend painted on the faded vermilion sides of the trailer.

THE MARVELOUS MERTON

The World’s Most Amazing Magician!!

There was, unfortunately, no interested observer. There was nothing at all but a dusty gravel road, barbed wire fences, Missouri corn fields, and several indifferent crows which winged away through the late afternoon sunlight. Apparently the only persons at all concerned were two depressed looking young gentlemen occupying the seat of the old roadster.

They seemed disgusted. This was understandable since their financial condition happened to be acute in the extreme. Also, there was nothing whatever to eat in the old salmon-colored trailer. And now, they’d run out of gas.

One of the two—The Marvelous Merton, in person—stared thoughtfully after the departing crows.

“I wonder,” he ruminated, “if they pay a bounty on crow scalps.”

The Marvelous Merton had a snub nose equipped with freckles, pleasant crinkly blue eyes, and a mouth that was more engagingly ample. He was tall enough to seem a little gangling. His dusty brown suit badly needed pressing. There was a tear in the left knee of his trousers; it was his best suit, his only suit, and he felt badly about that torn place, resulting from a misguided attempt to catch a squirrel for last night’s supper.

The Marvelous Merton ran long tanned fingers thoughtfully through his hair. This hair was by far the most striking thing about his appearance. It was as white as snow, and contrasted oddly with his fresh young face. The white hair stood up in a spectacular mop; and it was the one thing about him which made him look at all like a magician.

The other occupant of the roadster frowned glumly. He was Imagination Daly, the Marvelous Merton’s stooge, or stage assistant.

“Where’s that newspaper, Cal?” he asked forlornly. “My courage feels the need of another shot in the arm.”

Cal Merton—The Marvelous Merton—inserted a lean, muscular hand into the inner pocket of his dusty brown coat and brought out the help wanted page of a St. Louis newspaper.

Imagination Daly grasped the sheet, spread it on his knee, then drew a rabbit’s foot from a trouser pocket and with it feelingly stroked an item in which he was vitally interested.

“Hope springs eternal,” he muttered. “But a little luck won’t hurt, either.”

Imagination Daly managed to get much plaintive earnestness into his words. Imagination had close-cropped hair which stood on end and was redder than the old trailer attached to the roadster. He wore spectacles with large horn rims.

Closer inspection showed an unusual fact.

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