 This is the story of a man who never belonged anywhere, whose backyard is the world, whose ways of life are the dreams of escape for those who want action but never find it. The man John Steele adventurer. When you look into a mirror, you see yourself exactly as you are, at least you think you do. But the image in the mirror is different. It's backwards. Your right hand is a left in the image and so on. Confusing? Well, the image came to life for me as a killer. In a story I like to call reversal print. The easiest way I know to find adventure is to accept commissions, which is another way of saying you'll do anything legal for somebody for a fee. So when I got this assignment to go to number five camp up in the northwest, it smelled of trouble from the start. What I knew about a sawmill and logging operation, you could write on the back of a postage stamp. But the boss said go, and the job's a job. The Freeman's number five sawmill was up in the Red Rock Mountains at the other end of nowhere. And it took me a day and a half on a jerky lumber train to make it. I didn't have to worry about missing my stuff because it was the end of the line. We made it. All around the track were piles of lumber drying out, and the forest looked like there'd been a war going on. That's what a sawmill does, I found out. They go after big stuff and crush the small growth, getting it out. When I swung down from the train, I saw there was a store and a bar on the other side of the tracks. I was heading for the bar when a short guy with a hawk nose saw me and hurried over. Wow, you got back quick, huh? I didn't expect you to maybe face me. I don't get it. Now look at that mustache. What's wrong with it? You're a little big boy, season. Look, mister, you know who you're talking to? Oh, I know who I'm talking to, he says. Where'd you get some fancy clothes? The city sure took care of you, Benny. Hey, who do you think I am? Ah, Benny, take it easy. Take it easy. That was just kidding you. Can't you take a little kitten? I'm not Benny. That's Benny, sis. Yeah, let's go and have a drink. Now, wait a minute. I told you that I... You've got plenty of time, haven't you? I gotta get to the middle if I'm gonna... I know, big boy. Let him wait. Let him wait beside Sal's there. Who? The city noises make you deaf. Sal. Oh. Come on. Sal. I wouldn't want you to get in no fights just when you come back from the city. Maybe I like fights. Yeah, you wouldn't be funny if you didn't. Look, I am not... This book's good enough. Eh, but big boy, I'll be surprised you're coming back so fast. Look, let's get this straight once and for all. When I got off the train, you took me for somebody you know. No, of course I know you. You think you do, but you don't. You don't know me. I'm a guy named... You're getting high hat, Benny. What? What's all this talk about knowing you? Maybe you can explain to this guy, lady. No, I'm lady. I don't know what this is all about, but... You mustache, new clothes. I'm glad the city couldn't make any other improvements. Ah, Sal. That's no way to greet a fellow just back with shrimp. Get the drinks. He may look different, Benny. But I bet you got the same rotten little mind. No, wait a minute, sister. Get the drinks, now. Get the drinks and make it this special for Benny. All right. I'll get them. You? Sit still, sit still. Somebody beat some decency into you down in the city? I told you I'm not your Benny and now I'm telling you. Do something nice for anybody and I'll believe you. I'll get the drinks. No, not Benny. You'll get them, Sal. Benny's gonna... I want it toward to Benny. You, you, you set him up. It's your party. Hurry back. I will, but not for you, Benny. I bet you didn't find a better looking down the city, did you? She's got what it takes. Yeah, that's what you always say. Don't worry, nun. Don't worry. She'll start liking you more these days. You work up at the mill? Of course I do. I run the cut-off. You know that. What's your name? Look, Benny, this is me, Shug. Shug? Yeah, you started calling me that yourself because I used so much sugar on everything. Did you get hit in the head? I may look like you're Benny, but I'm John Steele. I work for an outfit that... Come off it, Benny. Come off it. I've been working with you for over a year now. Well, at least you got to think up some kind of joke. And you're the only one who gets a laugh. It's about time somebody told you that jokes aren't funny. Here. Thanks. Well, here's luck. What do you call that stuff? Tastes like... Rat poison. You're not kidding. She's kidding. Ain't you found? Yeah, I'm kidding. I've tasted worse stuff, but I don't know where. Right here. Last week. Now, lady, I want you to tell me... This lady's business. You picked that up in the city, too? Uh, Sal. That's your name, isn't it? That's her name, he says. Don't start it, Benny. I'm not Benny. Okay, you're John something or other, but don't start it. We'll start what? You know what? You tell me, get a drink and you have to fight your... It's hot in here. It's just you and them city clothes, Benny. Maybe, maybe so. Oh. What are you looking at me for? What's wrong? You don't want me to look at you? That's... That's hot. Well, that drink must have hit me. You never could hold him, Benny. No, I'll tell you I'm... I'm not Benny. One other drink, eh? No, no, I... Can't look at my arm. It's just too heavy. What you... What you looking at me like? Like that you... It's not good. It's not good. Now, that drink is shook. It is good, kid. It is good. Now you deliver. The door's on him somewhere. Just give me the hundred, you promise. Yeah, it's not this cold. It better work fast. We'll be over here soon. You must have it in the money belt. Let me see. Look, even there's a wallet with a name on it. John Steele. Yeah, the door's gotta be on him. It's a letter too. The room is beginning to spin. I'll let my head rest on the table. First time out in my fall for one of the oldest tricks in the business. A Mickey in the drink. A couple of drops and one drink in the room tilts on its side. I could feel the guy's shook going through my pockets but I couldn't do anything about it. It was led to my arms. The bench was sliding sideways and I was sliding with it. Down to the brown to black. Brown to black. Brown to black. Black to black. Beginning of danger and a piece of the unknown. There's much of these when in a moment we hear more in the story of John Steele. When it got clear, my head, I mean, I realized a sound came from the mill somewhere nearby. Each time the saw hit enough, the noise sent me to the pain through my throat. There had been a strong Mickey in that place and my face was wet. I thought it was wet but when it splashed into my ears, I knew it was wet. Someone was pouring a pail of it over me and slapping me in the face. Come out of it, Danny. Come out of it, Willie. Quick. Come on. I want you about drinking a little punk, will you? Quick. Can you hear me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where's the dough? I... Dough? I'll snap out of it, will you? I'm... I'm all right. Oh, sure. You'd be still on the floor at Lowe's if you hadn't brought your bank. The sugar. Yeah, yeah. What'd you do with the dough? I... I haven't got it. I know that. I've been through your clothes. I'm not. Didn't you see Sanders? I didn't see Sanders. Twenty thousand bucks now, where is it? You got me mixed with another guy. Huh? My name is John Steele. I wake a day and a half for you to wake up and you give me jokes. All right. So it's a joke. Now, Benny, no more kidding. Didn't you get the 20 grand? I... No, I didn't. Why? Well, I... I know. You hit all the bars in the city. Then somebody poured you onto the train. I... I don't know. I... I don't remember. No, I figured you wouldn't. You're not going to get away with it, Benny. Now, listen... Now, listen to me. I'm going to phone Sanders down in the city. If he says you didn't pick up the 20 grand, then I'll know you never got past the bars down there. Maybe this Benny did get your... Quit playing games. If Sanders says he did give you the dough, you better deliver and trap it. I don't know what you're up to. You can kid all you want, but don't kid with me. Now, I want that 20 Gs. Go ahead. Pwn your guy, Sanders. Get your 20 Gs. My headaches. Lay me alone. I should have never sent you in the first place. I don't know better. Oh, let me sleep, will you? Oh, no, you don't. Now, get out of here and over to the middle. You're on the rip. Hey, chef! If you brew that dough, I'll stashed it away to cross me up and eat. Watch out. I'll take care of myself. Yeah, you always do. You want me, big boy? Yeah. Get Benny here over to the mill. Put him on a big saw. And look to see he don't fall over. You're leaving me, big boy. The city was too much for him. I know. Yeah, kid her. And Benny... Benny, I'm talking to you. Yeah, yeah. Don't pick up any more jokes. All right. Shave off that mustache. If I want to wear it... I said shave it off. Okay. Okay. Come on, Benny. Boy, I don't like my fashion. That scar on this lip... Ow! Ow! No, smart guy. What was the idea of the Mickey? You're gonna tell me? Sure, sure. Then why the Mickey and my drinks on the clothes? Mickey. Oh, that dumb... I don't know about no Mickey. You and the girl. Yeah, maybe Sal. She put it on you. She went after the drinks. I know who she was going to. No, no. You were split when you got off the train. Remember? You was planning to make us think you were somebody else's. Some joke. Yeah. Some joke. Yeah, you even had a billboard with this other guy's name in it and a letter. How'd you know that? It dropped out of your coat pocket when I carried you up the hill to the mill. Where is it? I got it right here. I was saving it to give to you when you come around. Yeah, yeah. And money's all I count at 60 bucks. Where's the letter? A letter? Oh, yeah, a letter. Give it to me. I haven't got it. Must have lost it along the road somewhere. Don't hand me that. That's funny. You lost it. All right, all right. Let's get to work. Hey, where are you going? The mill's over this way. What? Yeah, yeah, I know it is. I still got a hit on me. It's not Mickey, I guess. You never could hold your drink, Benny. No, I never could. When I worked that day, I had a chance to think over what happened. This guy, Benny, must be a dead ringer for me. Or maybe I really was Benny myself. And all the life with John Steele was a dream. Anyway, it served very nicely. I fed it into my plans to meet a feeder spending for the time being. I didn't make any slip. The real Benny didn't get back too quick. I could get my job done and go home. Then I got to thinking about the girl, Sal. And when we quit that night, I washed up, shaved off the mustache, and headed for Lou's place. Lou himself was behind the bar, and he didn't seem happy to see me. You again? That's bad, huh? I'd pay you to stay away if you take it. What's the matter? Don't I spend enough money? You're trouble, and I don't like trouble. Where's Sal's over there in the booth? Thanks. I'll be here watching you. Can I sit down? You mean you're asking me? Well... Want a drink? No thanks. Good. That makes two of us. I don't believe it. What? Passing up a drink. All right. Well, a guy can change. Not you. I learned. And I don't like Mickey's. Oh. You did it very smoothly, lady. Very smooth. Thank you. Now, suppose you tell me why. Why? That's right. I don't mind telling you. For a hundred bucks. Who gave you the hundred? I didn't get it. Sug? Might be. What do you need with a hundred bucks? We won't go into that again. Yes, we will. If you wanted that much, you should have come to me. How many times have I asked you, what do I get? You didn't even remember. Here. Twenty. Forty-five. Five-fifty. I'll give you the other half on payday. Well? It's another joke, Benny. It's no joke. No strings. Not a one. I've told you what I wanted it for. Uh... Yeah, sure you have. You're still giving it to me? There it is. You all right, Sal? No, look. Benny just gave me fifty. And he's going to give me the rest on payday. What's the catch? None, Lou. He wanted it, so I gave it to her. Well, you might change your mind. She's not going to have to wait on payday. I'll get the other fifty for you right now, Sal. Lou. You want a drink, Benny? No, thanks. On the house, it'll be. I'm going all right without it. If I didn't know you better, I'd say you wasn't... Well, there's a train to town tonight, Sal. We'll get you on it. Oh, you're swell, Lou. Guys just don't change. That's all. They don't change. Not a time like that. Thanks, Benny. Forget it. I don't understand it. You're too good to be stuck up here in the hills. That isn't what you said before. Can't you forget all the rest? I wish I could. I don't see how you got here in the first place. What? I said it's hard to figure why you came here in the first place. Are you sick, Benny? No. Why? You don't remember my dancing act? How the show broke up six months ago? Your promise of a job? Oh, yeah, yeah. I know all that. Well, then why the Innocence Act? Well, I... You got the money. What else do you want? What happened down in the city? Nothing. Yes, it did. You're different. It almost as if you're not the same person. Sal, I want to tell you something. Don't tell me anything, Benny. Tomorrow you'll be your own grimy self again. Cruel, thoughtless... Sal. I'm not the guy... Don't spoil it, Benny. I remember that you had just one little moment of decency in me anyway. Goodbye. So long, Sally. Suspense and action. One leads to the other. The result will hear in a moment with the climax of another adventure with John Steele. I went back up to the road to the sawmill under the bunkhouse and slept. The next morning I was at the mill handling the big saw, slicing up the timber dragged in by the big cat tractor. When big boy came down the trail from the office, he motioned me off the platform as I slept down. The sand is on the phone. Where's the dough? I said he turned it over to you four days ago. He did, huh? I'm not going to play with you, Benny. You put a rifle bullet into me, you'll never get it. I can play some so they won't kill you. The first couple times, nice guy. I'm nice until I'm crossed. Let's see you talk. Well, I got rolled for it. What? They slipped a Mickey in my drink. You let city punks pull an old cat. I wasn't in the city. I was up at Luz right after I got off. Luz did it, you can't make that stick. Luz wasn't low. It was shook and sad. What? He was onto your, uh, our pitch here. He cut himself in. He took the roll off me when I was out. If you want the 20,000 ass shook, he's got it. You're giving it to me straight, Benny. What else can I do with that rifle in my stomach? Shook, that's sneakin' it in. Come on, we'll take care of that little prank. You slip, Benny, here, a Mickey up at Luz. Now, big boy. You too? Sure, I did. Where's the money you got off of him? I didn't get no money off of him. You wanna plug in your pen? He didn't have none. Where is it? I ain't got no money, big boy. I gave him the Mickey coat. I was trying to help you. More Jag? No, no. Look, look, look. See, he was trying to cross you up. He was. Yeah, that was it. What's this? A letter I took off when he was out from a Freeman company. He was posing as a fellow named John Steele to them. That's what he was. He was gonna send you out to them. What's the idea, Sheldon? Well, you know what the idea is? You was gonna get Benny from the company for telling him about Big Boy. Why, you are a nerd. You're gonna believe him, big boy. You took this off of Benny the other night. I sure I did. Well, Benny, you're gonna believe him. This picture on the identification card is you. The only difference is the mustache. It was a joke. Another joke, huh? Sure. Well, this isn't gonna be a joke. I threw the chair at Big Boy just in time to deflect the shot. I got out the door and ran for the woods as he untangled himself and the chair and came after me. He fired from the door and the shot set the tree just above my head. Big Boy was fast and he could shoot straight. I ran deeper into the woods going off the dirt road and plowing through the underboard. I know I'd have to pull something or he'd be up to it. I doubled back down the hill on a dyagon, heading for the trail leading to the railroad. If I got to lose, he had it done and then it'd be more even. I didn't stop to listen. I just kept fighting my way through. Finally, I hit the trail and started to go to the railroad and lose. I walked because I was too tired to run. If Big Boy caught me, he caught me. I was too tired. I just turned the bend in the trail and I got the shot. There was a guy coming toward me. I stopped and looked and so did he. It was like seeing yourself in the mirror. You're anything like it. You're same build, same eyes. You got my clothes on. They were up in the bunkhouse. Ha ha, yeah. That Big Boy and Shook thought you was me. They did all right. Ha, some joke, huh? A big one. Who are you? John Steele. It's like seeing me. I know what you mean. I heard about it once. Each guy's got another guy somewhere. Just like him. They call it... You're double, Benny. Yeah, yeah. That's us. Double. Ha ha ha. Look, I got him. Here, because she knows I didn't take now 20 grand off Benny when he was out. Is that right, Sam? We just took a wallet and a letter. Big wallet? No. I'll give it back to Benny. Wait a minute, you. Yeah, Big Boy. Did Benny see you after that night? Well, surely. I'm not talking to you. I saw him last night. I mean, I thought he... Benny gave you the dough? He gave me $50. What about the rest of it? That's all there was. Thought you would hold it for him, huh? Yeah, she was packing to catch a train. It's 7. You want me to break you? I don't know anything about it. Where'd you put it? Now, where's the dough? I'll give you one, Big Boy. I thought it... Hold it. I got a gun. Benny, Benny. Give it up, Big Boy. Give it up. I went down to lose, but you weren't there. Shug came after me. Yeah, Lou told me. I took his gun and got up here. What about him? Oh, Big Boy. He'll come around. You'll face a murder rap. What are you going to do with him? Let him be. Where's Shug? He ran into the woods when Big Boy fell. He'll come back. You can't hide in the woods and live. Big Boy knows that, so he won't try it. You're not Benny. No. I didn't think so after last night. When Benny himself got off the train today, I could see the difference. Who are you? John Steele. Freeman Home Office sent me up here to investigate lumber shortages and deliveries. Oh. Big Boy and Benny had been routing extra carloads of lumber to a builder in the city, it seems. All I had to go on was a low output rate. Looking like Benny offered an inside picture, so I took advantage of it. I didn't help, did I? Not much. I'm sorry. I had with a break, actually. What? That Shug tried to cut himself in with a dope drink trick. It gave me time to figure the angle about Benny coming back with a $20,000 payment. Where is Benny? In the woods, with a bullet in his head. Big Boy thought he was shooting me. Benny wasn't good for anybody, not even himself. No, I guess not. We'll have to hurry if we're going to catch the train. Come on.