Fifteen Western Tales, March 1954 — page 81: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

oy ie gripped his gut. x = ,WAR AT SPANISH WELLS — , See : “ - , - ee . : : aha te as i 7 « . ear gl 6n_ these rocks to cook while you sat in the _ Shade and thought of the money you’d use to get out of the territory. Fight your own battle, Mister Clifton.” Clifton leaped forward, thrusting hard. Dane parried..The blades grated together ~ and rose high in the air. Clifton shoved Dane back and slashed at his head. Dane met the blow with one_of his own. The tip of his saber pinked Ciifton’s s chest. He _ © déursed and retreated, weaving a pattern of defense. Dane followed. Clifton stopped and then closed in. The blade ripped high and then dropped to, slash ~. low. Dane parried but the ‘saber grazed through his left sleeve, cutting the flesh. He retreated as the saber gashed his left thigh. _ Clifton grinned. evilly and rushed Dane with a fierce series of cuts and slashes. Dane stopped him with a short thrust that ripped through the left side of his shell jacket. Clifton circled slowly. He touched his left side. His eyes were wild in the bright moonlight. Dane followed him cau- tiously. Clifton closed in, slashing steadily. ‘He brought up a knee intq Dane’s groin and then ‘smashed his saber guard against Dane’s jaw. Dane went down, his saber clattering on the rocks. Clifton, shouted triumphantly.- As he leaped in for the kill,.Dane thrust -his:saber up: The tip of the blade sank through cloth and flesh and grated on bone. Stuart Clifton dropped his saber and He turned slowly side- ways. 7 | “I—I...” he said softly and then pitched forward on his face. Dane got up. He rolled the officer over. Clifton stared sightlessly up at the bright moon. Dane-turned away and walked slow- ly back to the outer rock enclosure. Hank - Mooney was standing beside Marion with -his arm around her shoulders. She ran forward with a cry and held Dane close. The moon was high overhead. The cof- _ fee pots steamed on the fire coals. Dane sat stripped to the waist, bound with bandages. The troopers sat around the fire. Hank Mooney puffed at his pipe. “It was a plan, Dane,” he said quietly. “Colonel Lake told me to go with you to keep an eye on you. That was why I never. wanted to go farther than fifty miles from the Barracks. Clifton was jittery after we left. He wanted Marion to go with him to Yuma and take ship for New York after which he could resign. Marion agreed. ~ Shorrs and Dennehy were assigned to-the escort on purpose.” Schmitz grunted. “What a chance to take with the rest of us, with the Mohaves on the warpath.” Hank waved a hand. .““One thing none of you know—no Mohave will come hear Spanish Wells.” 7 “Why?” asked Marion. Hank grinned. “You see. that inscrip- tion in there? Company C, First California V olunteer Cavalry, 1862?” . “Ves. 99 “T cut that in there. During the war this was a hell of a place, beggin’ your pardon, Miss Lake, for white men. The Mohaves. massacred a supply train here. They shot up every trooper or civilian anywheres around. I guided the company in here one night. We laid an ambush and wiped out _ thirty Mohave warriors including their chief. since.” . “Yeh,” said Trooper Hagan. “But what about the signals, Mooney? Them red dev- ils were all over the place.” Hank shook his head. “Those smoke signals you saw the first day here were probably theirs. The night I went out to scout I set those fires and started a brush fire in the hills to carry out the fraud.” “Yes,” said Kerr. “But you were cut up, you said.” They’ve shunned the place ever . Hank stripped the bandage from his_ | wrist. The wrist was unmarked. ‘My own idea,” he said with a grin. “I figgered _ (Continued on page 111) _ + ii. — ~ * opt, See! — ame See sO books (<()