Adventure Magazine Cover — page 91: what you’re looking at

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

The Heart ot the Range “T’m not worrying—not a worry,” she said cheerfully, both hands busy with Luke Tweezy’s papers. “I’d like to know how they picked up the trail after our riding up that creek for six miles.”’ “T dunno,” said he, his head under an up- flung saddle-fender. “TI shore thought we’d lost ’em.” She stopped tying the sack and looked at. him “How silly we are!” she cried. “All we have to do is show these two letters to the posse an’——”’ oe pose now the posse is led by Jack Harpe an’ Jakey Pooley,” said he, not ceas- ing to pass the cinch-strap. Her face fell. “T never thought of that,” she admitted. “But there must be some honest men in the bunch,” : “Tt takes a whole lot to convince a honest man when he’s part of a posse,” Racey de- clared, reaching for the bran sack. “They don’t stop to reason, a posse don’t, an’ this lot of Marysville gents wouldn’t give us time to explain these two letters, an’ before they got us back to town, them two letters would disappear, an’ then where would we be? We'd be in jail, an’ like to stay a while.” “Let’s get out of here,” exclaimed Molly, crawling her HOTS even quicker than Racey did his. : Racey led the way along the mountain- side for three or four miles. Most of the time they rode at a gallop and all the time they took care to keep under cover of the trees. This necessitated frequent zig-zags for the trees grew sparsely in spots. “There’s a slidé ahead a ways,” Racey shouted to the girl. ‘She’s nearly a quarter- mile wide, an’ over two miles long, so we’ll have to take a chance an’ cross it.” Molly nodded her wind-whipped head and Racey snatched a wistful glance at the face he loved. Renunciation was in his eyes, for that second letter found caught in the bran sack’s seam had changed things. not marry her. No, not now. And yet he loved her more than ever. She looked at him and smiled, and he smiled back— crookedly. “What’s the matter?” she cried above the drum of the flying hoofs. “‘Nothin’,”’ he shouted back. He hoped she believed him. And bitter almonds were not as bitter as that hope. | phen the wide expanse of the slide was be- He could ; SI fore them. Now some slides have trails across their unstable backs, and some have not.. Some are utterly unsafe to cross and others can be crossed with small risk. There was no trail across this particular slide, and it did not present a dangerous appearance, Neither does quicksand till you step en it. Racey dismounted at the edge and started across, leading his horse. Twenty yards in the rear Molly Dale followed in like manner. At every step the footing gave a little. Once a rounded rock disledged by the forefoot of Racey’s horse bounded away down the long slope. The slither of a started rock behind him made him turn his head with a jerk. Melly’s horse was down on its knees. “Easy, boy, easy,” soothed Melly ceax- ingly, keeping the bridle-reins taut. The horse scrambled up and plunged for- ward and almost overran Molly. She seized it short by the rein-chains. The herse pawed nervously and tried to rear. More rocks skidded downward under the sheve of the hind hoofs. To Racey’s imagination the whole slide seemed to tremble. Molly’s face when the horse finally quieted and she turned around was pale and drawn, which was not surprizing. “Tt’s all right, it’s all right, it’s all right,” i ai found himself repeating with stiff S COE course it is,” nodded Molly bravely. “‘There’s no danger!” “No,” said Racey. “Better net held hiin so short. Don’t wind that rein reund, yore wrist! S’pose ~he does fall—dewn you’d go too. Here, you lemme take him. I'll manage him all right.” “Tll manage him all right myself!” snapped Molly, up in arms immediately at this slur upon her horsemanship. “You go on.” Racey turned and went on. It was not more than a hundred yards to where the grass grew on firm ground. Racey and his horse reached solid earth without incident. Then—a scramble, a scraping, and a clatter- ing followed in a breath by the indescribable sound of a mass of rocks in motion. Racey had wasted no time in looking to see what had happened. He knew. At the first sound of disaster he had snapped his rope-strap, freed his rope and taken twe half- hitches round the horn. Then he leaped toward the slide, sage out his repe as he went. Gomichbook (E@)