Adventure Magazine Cover — page 90: what you’re looking at

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

80 kitchen; and I thought you didn’t like me any more, and—and wouldn’t have any more to do with me and that it was my job to do something to help out the family— Please! Racey! I can’t breathe!” Another interval, and she resolutely pushed his arms down and held him away from her with both hands on his shoulders. “Tell me,” said she, her blue eyes plumb- ing the very depths of his soul, “‘tell me you don’t love anybody else.” He told her. “There was a time once when I thought you liked Luke Tweezy,” he observed lazily. Later. “How horrible,” she murmured with a slight shudder as she snuggled closer. And that was that. “T think, dearest,” said Molly, raising her head from his shoulder some twenty minutes later, ‘‘that it’s light enough now to see what’s in the sack.” So, in the brightness of a splendid dawn, snugly hidden on the tree-covered flank of one of the Frying-Pan Mountains, they opened the bran sack and went through - every paper it contained. There were deeds, mortgages, legal docu- _ ments of every description. They found - the Dale mortgage, but they did not find the release alleged to have been signed by Dale immediately prior to his death. “Of course that mortgage is recorded,” said Racey dolefully, staring at the pile of . papers, ‘‘so destroyin’ that won’t help us any. The release he’s carryin’ with him, an’ I don’t see nethin’-——’ “Here’s one we missed,” said Molly Dale in a hopeless tone, picking up a slip of paper from where it had fallen behind a saddle. The slip of paper was folded several times. She opened it and spread it out against her knee. “Why, how queer,” she muttered. “Huh?” In an instant Racey was look- ing over her shoulder. When both had thoroughly digested the meaning of the writing on that piece of paper they sat back and regarded each | other with wide eyes. “This ought to fix things,” breathed Molly. “Fix things!” cried Racey. got him like that.”’ He snapped his fingers joyfully. Molly reached for the bran sack. “You only shook it out,” she said. “I’m going “Cinch! We _ just a-burnin’ the ground.” - Adventure to turn it inside out. Maybe we'll find something else.” . They did find something else. They found a document caught in the end seam. They read it with care and great interest. “Well,” said Racey, when he came to the signatures, ‘ ‘no wonder Jack Harpe an’ Jakey Pooley wanted to get ‘into the safe. No wonder. If we don’t get the whole gang now we're no good.” “And to think we never thought of such a thing.” “I was took in. I never thought nothin’ else. An’ it does lie just right for a cow- ranch.” “Of course it does. You couldn’t help being fooled. None of us had any idea “T’d oughta worked it out,” he grumbled. “There ain’t no excuse for. my swallowin’ what Jack Harpe told me. Lordy, I was easy.” “What do you care now? Everything’s all right, and you’ve got me, haven’t you?” And here she leaned across the bran sack to kiss him. She could not understand why his return kiss lacked warmth. Bf A > 9) “SUN’S been up two hours,” he announced. “An’ the hosses have had a good rest. We gotta be goin’. | “What are you climbing the tree for then?” she demanded. “Tf wanna look over our back trail,” he told her, clambering into the branches of a tall cedar. heap of ground last night but you never can tell.” Apparently you never could tell. For, when he arrived near the top of the cedar and looked out across a sea of treetops to the flat at the base of the mountain, he saw that which made him catch his breath and slide earthward in a hurry. “What is it?” asked Molly in alarm at his expression. “They picked up our trail somehow,” he answered, whipping up a blanket and sad- dle and throwing both on her horse, “They’re about three miles back on the flat “Saddle your own horse,” she cried, run- ning to his side. “‘T’ll attend to mine.” “You stuff all the papers back in the sack, That’s yore job. Hustle now. Ill get you out of this. Don’t worry.” ~*~ “I know we covered a whole comichbook (E@)