Adventure, December 3, 1920 — page 55: what you’re looking at

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

The Law Comes to Singing River Lang raced down the steep slope for his horse. - He knew he would not have time to make a dash out of the draw for the trail up the divide even if he could succeed in passing the gunmen in front; but at the head of the draw he would have one advantage. He would be trapped, but the attacking party could approach from but one direction—up the draw. The sheer cliffs and sharp,-jagged crags above could not be scaled without enormous risk, and the sides of the draw were veritable walls of rock at the upper end. He whirled his horse about and dashed up the draw. He_-tied the animal in a clump of young pine-trees on the north side under a ledge of rock just above the cabin. Then he ran to the prospect-hole. Before it was a barrier of earth and rock, part of which had been thrown out by the original locator, part by Condon when he started to clean out the hole, and much of which had been piled up and scattered by the blast of a few days before. Meanwhile Bransom had joined the party led by Thornton. ““He’s shot Miller!” he exclaimed. He overlooked explaining that Miller, who had wished to ask Lang if he knew anything about the missing cattle, had made the mistake of drawing his gun. “He shot Miller first thing,’ continued Bran- ‘som almost gleefully; ‘an’, he’s in there alone. I was watching him. He went down an’ saw your girl—called her up an’ tried to talk to her until she ran away from him back to the house. He sent the other fellow out with the cattle, must be, an’ came back to see the girl an’ get some things. Probably* wanted her to run away with him; he’s that kind, I,tell you “Hold on,’ roared Thornton. “That’s enough of that: Is Miller hard hit?” “Shot in the leg. He’s down by the river fixin’ his wound.” “Who’s up there?” asked Thornton, pointing up the valley above the mouth of the draw. “Milt Burns, who was helping us look for the cattle over on the west slope.” “‘Where’s Frued?” asked Thornton. “T sent him down below town on the west slope,” said: Bransom uneasily. “He'll be up here pretty quick. There’s enough of us with you and these boys to get that Yat in there.” Thornton looked at the armed men about him and patted the rope which hung from his saddle-horn. “All right; we'll go get him,’’ he said; and, spurring his horse, he led the party into the draw. Lang heard the horses and watched from be- hind the rocks in front of the prospect-hole. Directly before him was an open space which ex- tended across the draw, which was very narrow here at the apex, from the wall on either side. To the right was the clump of trees which 45 concealed his horse; below this was the little grove which screened the cabin and the spring; farther down, the pines stretched across the draw except for a small gap where the trail led through the timber to the lower meadows. ‘To reach him the men in the attacking party would have to cross the open space which Lang pro- posed to make a dangerous piece of ground. Lang had forgotten everything except his fierce, burning, instinctive resolve to sell his life as dearly as possible. He had been betrayed by Condon when he thought he had won ‘the other by his friendship and confidence; and the girl? At this moment John Thornton rode boldly up the trail and halted his horse in the little gap between the trees. Lang could hear others at the cabin and near the spring. They had searched the rest of the draw and knew he was entrenched in the prospect-hole. “Lang Rush, come out here!” rang Thorn- ton’s voice. Something ‘in Lang’s flame. Thornton knew his}name! The girl had told him all, His capture meant money for her father and for the men with him. And his life was at stake. “John Thornton, Ill kill the first man that comes closer than you are.” Then Lang’s gun spoke and the hat was whipped from Thornton’s head by a bullet. The still air vibrated to the roar of guns and lead spattered against the rocks which shielded Lang. ‘Thornton drove his horse back into the timber as Lang shot at a spot where he had glimpsed the smoke from a gun. He reloaded hurriedly. A builet splintered against the rocks beside him and a piece of lead tore through his sleeve. He crouched lower and waited. It hardly seemed likely that the men would try to rush him because they knew he would get some of them as they crossed the open space. The bullets continued to spatter against the rocks. The direction from which came the reports convinced Lang that those against him were shooting from the protection of the cabin on one side and of an outcropping of rock on the other side. They evidently hoped that one of the bullets might find a crack between the rocks or splinter in such a fashion as to reach him. He heard some of the bullets strike into the rocks and clay behind him. And then his blood chilled as he remembered. The dynamite! He had cached it in the rear of the prospect- hole to have it away from the cabin and where heart burst into it would do the least damage if it should be ~ set off accidentally. It was there behind him. A chance bullet COPMICOOOKS (C@