Adventure Magazine Cover — page 161: what you’re looking at

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

The Weight of Reputation approach he could command a view of the front doorway which would prove of tac-° tical benefit in the event that the miscreant attempted a dash for the open. He dragged the screen to a position op- posite the north wall of the structure, pushed it cautiously out into the open, and dropped on hands and knees behind it. He crawled slowly forward, pushing the boughs eahead of him. The northern approach to the dwelling possessed other virtues as well as that of commanding the front entrance. For one thing the ground was broken here and there by detached growths of small shrubs, and his mobile bough-screen should not be so readily detected among them as upon the bare earth of the other points of ap- proach. He crawled on with extreme cau- tion, keen to the fact that the success of -his expedition depended upon intriguing the watcher within the house into considering the screen as one of the stationary growths about him. Ranger Randolph knew the house well. During the preceding Winter he had been - a constant caller at the White homestead, sitting through the stormy evenings before the big fireplace pursuing a courtship of Florence White, the daughter of the house. He felt a positive sense of satisfaction at the knowledge that the Whites were not at home. The Homestead Law permitted settlers to absent themselves from their holdings for a portion of each year, and the White family had gone to the distant city where Florence was attending a school of stenography. He was quite content that his pursuit of the present task was unobserved by any of his acquaintances. Disrepute had already attached itself to his name in the district. He was far from approving his method; he knew that the limited traditions of the * Service which tolerated his membership demanded more rigorous treatment; he should have taken his chance at storming the stronghold without waiting for the pro- tection of darkness. He was thoroughly glad that Florence White was far away from home. Half-way to the northern wall of the building the shrubs ended, and with added caution he pushed out beyond. Inch by inch the screen advanced before him. He thought he detected movement in the win- 147 dow and quickly ceased his progress. After a time he gave the screen a tentative push; then with the suddenness of a thunderclap flame spurted from a rifle-barrel at the win- dow. Randolph halted and crouched low. An- other flash illuminated the clearing and another ball tore with a whine through the hazel boughs. Fifty yards separated him from the near wall of the house. He real- ized that by all that was sacred to the Ser- vice he should make a dash for it. ae} HAD he acted upon impulse the Mew task would probably have been easily performed; but he hesitated, éonsidering the prospect. His ready imagi- nation conjured up a lurid and forbidding picture of flame and shot; he was appalled. by the possibilities of the situation for dire results. -He accepted this imagined esti- mate of the possible danger as accurate— he had never learned the great truth. His habit of caution asserted itself at once, and he sprang to the nearest clump of shrubs, thence to another and so on until he gained once more the protecting shelter of the pines. He paused a moment for breath and to consider how very grateful he was for Florence White’s absence. He made his way to his waiting horse and led the animal over soft ground so that the quarry might not detect his retreat. When he had gone a safe distance he swung to the saddle and urged the mount at top speed toward town. As he swayed through the sharp night air to the stride of the animal he repeated to himself that there were other, more effec- tive, methods of accomplishing his end; he could obtain help in town. The quarry would not dare leave the cabin for fear of ambush. With assistance he would be comparatively easy to take; he could not well sustain a defense of the house when attacked from two or. more sides. Why risk his neck, the ranger considered, when it could be done with positive ease and safety? He found his superior, the district rang- er, in the little room behind his office, preparing for bed. As he listened to EI- mer’s report he. swore beneath his breath and said not a word, though an expression of disgust, not unmingled with pity for the young ranger, came upon his face. He saddled his horse at once and the two (e(6) JOOKS MAG 1 (E(0)