Adventure Magazine Cover — page 114: what you’re looking at

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

104 not a senator. We spoke of some animal, which we might try the machine on. Was it the—er—tom-cat?”’ “Bob-cat,”, says Tip. “We'll find one . atonce. We ought to have some dogs.” “Domestic animals I do not wish for,” states Aloysius. : “You don’t have to wish,” says Tip. “Wishin’ never got nobody some dogs.” “T’ll rent my pack,” offers Mighty. ~ “There yuh are,” says Tip. ‘“‘Mighty’s dogs will find animals if there is any.”’ “T hired you as my guide,” reminds Aloysius. ‘‘As long as I’ve got you I have no use for a pack of dogs.” “Ah-o0-0-00-0-0!”’ howls one of Mighty’s dogs, and away went the whole pack down the side of the mountain. “What do yuh reckon they’re after?” asks Mighty. | “After?”’ grins Magpie. “Qh, nothing. They’re insulted, that’s all.” One thing I can say for Mighty’s pack of dogs, they’re numerous. I reckon that he figured that the more the merrier, and he- sure picked up everything of the dog kind which had four legs, a tail, and a voice. They starts going just like a whip. For instance, the seven greyhounds leave first, then four or five fox-hounds, then comes all breeds and mixtures, the order of their going depending a heap on their powers of smell. ' The last to leave is old ‘Whiskers,”’ a cross between everything doggish from a St. Bernard to a pink poodle. Whiskers sniffles all the time and smells: nothing. He’s the popper on the whip, that’s the way they leaves. That conglomeration of animiles is enough to put the fear of the devil into anything wilder than a fool-hen. We watches ’em go and then listens to their voices fade out. “In Europe,’ says Lord Washburn, screwing his one-eyed spectacle into his eye, “I would say they were on a warm scent. Perhaps it is a fox.” “Fox won't even look at a fox.” ‘‘Ah-00-0-0-0-0-0-0-0!”” comes the chorus, and we listens freely. ‘“‘Ah-00-0-0-0-0-0-0!”” she comes again, and this time she’s a lot closer. Me and Magpie looks at each other. It appears to us that the chase is coming down the trail, and knowing that trail like we does, it’s almost a cinch that the procession is due to come past the cabin. ”’ grunts Mighty. “Them pups. Adventure The trail swings around the side of the cafion, and the hill drops straight off for a danged long ways, and the upper side is almost unclimbable. Lord Washburn walks past the auto- mobile and appears to squint up the trail, and Aloysius walks behind him. I steps over beside the cabin and Magpie joins me. Bettina and mum-maw joins the lord and pup-paw. _ All to once the dogs’ voices swells to a joyful chorus as they make the curve above the cabin. | THEN things begin to happen. I seen Lord Washburn seem to lift right off the ground and come back- wards towards us at an enormous rate’ of speed. Aloysius gets hit, and goes past me and Magpie, spinning Jike a pin-wheel. Something hits me a side-swipe and I goes down only to come up amid a whooping, howling, snapping bunch of dogs which ‘swamp me, and I goes down again. When I awoke, I feels some one kisSing me, and I looks up into the face of Whiskers. I shoves him away and sets up. There is Magpie, with his back braced against the cabin door, digging his heels into the dirt to keep upright. Mum-maw is sitting with her back against a wheel of the automobile, while Bettina is sitting straddle of the engine-end of the machine, clapping her hands like she was encoring that buneh of dogs, et cettery, to make another appearance. From the body of the machine appears the head of Aloysius. He looks all around, down at his better half and then at his daughter. “Stop applauding, Bettina!’ he says, hoarse-hke, and she looks foolish-like at him. Then he looks all around again. “TI ask every one to cease cheering.”’ From on top of the cabin comes a voice, and we looks up to see Tip, with one arm hooked around fhe ridge-pole and both feet up on top of the cabin. He’s hanging on tight. ‘“‘Animiles!”’ he squeaks. ‘Said you’d see ’em, didn’t I? Didn’t I say you would?”’ Aloysius squints at Tip and nods. “YT did—a fleeting glimpse.” “Well, dang it, I didn’t agree to stop ’em, did I?” “Heaven is my home!” gasps mum-maw. ‘“‘What happened?” e CO MICLOOKS C©