Action-Packed Western Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 2 — page 72: what you’re looking at

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

‘Phe Arwpako had a reason Conrad Bard; a man it by dead partner were still by be im league with by A. A. BAKER ORT KEARNEY was a hun- FR dred miles behind the blizzarded in Conrad Bard—the one post not disbanded in the vast Powder Riv- er Country, and now a lonely fighting stronghold in the Arapaho country. A tough skinned prey. The Arapaho na- tion was a divided unit as Bleeding Arm and Sagsawan, the medicine man, fought for power. Bleeding Arm’s hon- or was at stake as a signature on the Big Piney treaty, while Sagsawan led the warriors in daily raids against the long knifes. ; The sloping hills ahead of the lone- ly figure of Conrad Bard were a patched snow dirtied sheet. Crystaled ice pushed its glittering fingers up. through the crisp ground as Bard crept carefully, head hunched low on his broad shoulders, circling the white horse. 7 “Jeb—Jeb Riley...” Bard mouthed the words, inching his forefinger along the steel of the rifle trigger and lifting the barrel to point. “Jeb, I long hob- bled the mare. She’s belly high in them willows—you watch them warriors smell her out. Just set tight, Jeb, and T’ll show you how to kill Indians...” - Conrad Bard didn’t expect an an- swer. Slapping the powdered snow from 2 his gloved hand, he pulled the glove free and ran an exploring finger through the crusted wound running from the nape of his thick neck to the - hollow under his muscled jaw. His yellowish sick eyes, glazed now, caught the swift motions of two Arapaho. The mare whinnied and Conrad stepped through the glistening sage and raised his rifle. : . “There now!” he fired. ‘“That’s number one, Jeb. Get the other, damn- it!” Gritting curses, Bard waited a second for his order to be followed, then raised the rifle again and let it lead the running brave, now crowhop- ping through the sage, making a des- perate spurt to reach the willows. _ The warm chamber of the rifle was flush against Bard’s jaw as its sights followed the running figure. For a sec- ond, the action brought sanity to the rifleman and he knew why Jeb Riley wasn’t replying or taking action; then he snapped the trigger and saw the sec- ond warrior disappear. Conrad shucked the shell, knowing he had waited too long. That was Jeb’s target, he thought fuzzily, and Jeb hadn’t even fired! “They'll kill you fast enough!” Bard plodded ferward; kneeling beside the sprawled brave, he made a quick Cire Eomicbooks.com