Adventure Magazine Cover, February 3, 1921 — page 78: what you’re looking at

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

3 inclining the arrow so that after rising some thirty feet it completed its parabola by curving toward the trappers. A stac- cato shout greeted this evidence that the war medicine was urging the Utes to con- tinue their raid against the Arapahoes. But even as the arrow commenced its downward flight Reason was on tiptoe, knife in hand. It fell near the edge of the river and within ten feet of the white men. With the agility and padded softness of a moun- tain cat Reason recovered it. He punc- tured his finger with his knife-point, smeared with his blood the head of the medicine ar- row, which was of white quartz. ‘Then, tak- ing the shaft between the tips of his index fingers, he sent it like a dart up toward the dying sunlight and in a graceful curve that ended close to the fire. 4 the arrow. It ee to have an its way back to the medicine man from the bed of the river, and the sound of many hands clapped to the mouth to regis- ter great astonishment reached the trappers and permitted them to visualize what was going on behind the boulders. Then fol- lowed yelps of dismay when it was discov- ered that the head of white quartz was dis- colored with fresh blood. The trappers began a stealthy retreat, knowing that the medicine man would make an effort to overcome the superstitious fears of his tribesmen. Either the Indians would accept the return of the arrow as being the angry disapproval of their war-god and would abandon the path; or else they would suspect a trick and rush down the cafion to find the perpetrators. Moving noiselessly, the trappers fell back to the bend. Already the cafion was filled with darkness, and the sky was taking on the deep purple tone of approaching night. The confusion of voices beyond the rocks continued, so Joe decided that the Utes would retreat without questioning the phe- nomenon further. Reason was compla- cently agreeing with this conclusion, and was briefly attributing all the glory to his snake medicine, which he declared had in- spired him, when a circle of fire surmounted the boulders and advanced downward and toward them. It was the medicine man, venturing to investigate alone by the aid of a torch sw ung around his head. Adventure As he reached the spot where the white men had stood he swung the torch more fiercely, keeping it in full bloom, and shouted loudly for his medicine to stand by him. Above him grotesquely painted heads began showing as the warriors found cour- age to observe him. “He can’t find a sign,’ boasted Rea- son, slowing up his retreat. ‘Th’ last oilin’ I give that skin brought out th’ full strength. Hi! See him dance an’ swing th’ torch! ’Fraid it’ll go out an’ leave him in th’ dark. In a second he’ll be hoofin’ it over th’ rocks, an’ then they’ll all scatter like mountain sheep an’ never stop runnin’ till they reach home.” But the medicine man had courage. He persisted in his quest, and began sweeping the torch close to the ground. Like the thrust of a knife came his yell of discovery. A warrior was bold enough to scramble down and join him. ‘Then the others came until Joe had counted thirty. And each in turn dropped on his knees and held his face close to the rock, while the medicine man kept the torch alive and chanted. “What th’ ——!” softly exclaimed the puzzled Reason. “They’ve found blood drops where ye bleeded yerself,”’ hissed Joe. “‘Why’n thun- der didn’t ye hold yer hand out over th’ water? Huh! See thate” This as the medicine man_ suddenly darted a dozen feet in their direction, yowl- ing exultingly as his torch revealed more spots on a flat rock, left by Reason in his retreat. Calling the men to him, the medi- cine man assured them the war-god had not colored the arrow. For had that been the fact he surely would not run away from his children, dripping blood as he ran. Unable to imagine the real cause of the arrow’s return, he ingeniously proclaimed that the arrow in falling had hit a prowling Arapaho scout, and that his, the speaker’s, personal tutelary had thrown the arrow back to the fire to betray the presence of the skulker. No result occurs unless caused by some agency, either human or superhuman, ar- gues the red man; and this explanation of the double trip of the arrow was thoroughly logical and entirely satisfactory tothem. A general rush was made for the weapons left behind by the fire. Reason raised his rifle as the tempting targets stood clear cut in passing the crest COMMICLOOOKS (C@