Pulp Fiction, 1934 · page 25 of 148
Western Story Magazine, May 12, 1934 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is a **text-only story page** from a pulp fiction magazine, numbered 23, continuing "Outlaws Of Calico Hole." The passage depicts a tense execution scene in the Old West. Sanchez, an outlaw leader, orders a man named Dan (or possibly Jud Tremper) into a grave he has dug. After Dan emerges and makes a defiant statement about his criminal past, Sanchez nearly shoots him with a revolver but hesitates, uncertain of Dan's true identity. When Dan manipulates Sanchez's doubt, the outlaw kicks him back into the grave and orders his men to bury him alive instead—a darker fate than gunfire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Outlaws Of Calico Hole 23 to serve as a period for the letter S, the party stopped. The round grave was four feet across and ten feet deep, with rocks and sand covering the bottom. “Get in,” Sanchez ordered; then, as Dan leaped to the bottom, he tossed down a shovel. “Shovel out that loose stuff.” The men peered down, grinning and wondering, as the man in the grave tossed sand and small rocks clear of the grave. Presently he was down to hard dirt, and the job was done. “Come out now,” Sanchez. or- dered, and make your dying state- ment,” Two men held a short length of rope, and, grasping it, Dan hauled himself out. “Go ahead,” Sanchez directed, “and talk!” “Never mind how I got started on my present trail,” “Nor is Dan Stuart my right name. Who here is going under his right name, for that matter? Now get this; I put in some time in the prison at Yuma; drifted across into New Mexico with some others after a jail break, and was in on the bank rob- bery at Madra.” “Four men shot by the cashier,” Sanchez said sharply. “One got away,’ Dan answered, then continued: “There’s always plenty of money in the bank at Wagon Gap, so I started to figure a way of cleaning out that bank. I thought I’d give it a whirl, single- handed, then, if I couldn’t turn the trick, I'd throw in with you.” “Nobody’s ever robbed that bank,” Sanchez briefly observed. “There's always a first time,” Dan insisted, “and I had a couple of plans. I picked the wrong one—I didn’t figure on the mob that would take up the trail, I got fifty thou- Dan said. sand dollars, but couldn’t get away with it. They threw me into jail, and you know the rest—I sawed my way out and brought Al Ford with me. He’s a good man, and he was dying.” “You're a liar!” Sanchez panted. “You can look a man in the eyes and lie! You’re Tremper, and you’re going to die.” He signaled E] Mudo, and the latter knocked Dan to his knees. Sanchez whipped out a .45. The trigger was secured to the guard, and the weapon could be dis- charged by merely drawing the ham- mer back and letting it go. Sanchez’s thumb crooked over the trigger, and the thumb nail grew red from the pressure. Slowly the ham- mer was drawn back, and the men almost stopped breathing. “Go ahead.” Dan did not speak aloud, but moved his lips, knowing the outlaw would understand. “Go ahead and get it over with, then let time prove you never made good your boast to bury Jud Tremper in that grave.” His lips twisted into a sneer. “And I thought you and E] Mudo were smart.” The thumb trembled, and slowly the hammer was released. Dan did not move, but a sigh swept through the group. “Tf I was only sure! If I was only sure!” the outlaw whispered. “What do you think, E] Mudo?” This, too, was a whisper, but Dan heard, and said: “He’s told you I’m Jud Tremper. That settles it.” “It does _ settle snapped. His foot shot out and knocked Dan into the grave. He got to his feet, awaiting the next turn in this desperate game. “This one dies different,” the out- law ordered. “Bury him alive!” it,’ Sanchez And El Mudo nodded. micbOoks-com