Adventure Magazine Cover — page 156: what you’re looking at

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

¥F46 storm, Boyer turned his face back into the blast to discover that he had lost the Giant’s trail. He retraced his steps for a short dis- tance but could not bring himself to deter- mine that the almost imperceptible dents in the wind-tossed surface of the snow which led southward were the Giant’s tracks: If this was indeed the Giant’s trail it would be entirely wiped out by wind ‘and snow in less than an hour and Boyer did not dare leave the ridge which he was following. He could feel when he stepped one way or the other to the more even surface of the flat for the crest of the ridge was studded with sandstone outcroppings common in the region of the Little Belt Mountains. Thus if the ridge held until Two Corrals was reached Boyer would at least be safe, for there he could find shelter. At Two Corrals he expected to find the Giant. It would be utter and senseless folly for the Giant to attempt to cross the remainder of the plateau in the storm with nothing what- ever to guide him. The man-hunter, accustomed as he was to putting himself mentally in the shoes of the men he traced, felt certain that if the Giant had reached Two Corrals he would wait in one of the shacks there until the fury of the storm abated. Boyer plodded on along the ridge. The snow was getting deeper and deeper, retard- ing his progress. And now he had a new factor of the storm to reckon with. He stopped frequently and rested the rifle in the snow while he fanned his arms and hands about him to stimulate circulation. He was feeling the cold—the bitter, biting cold of the north country that often drops to forty degrees below zero. Boyer knew it now was ten or so below zero, perhaps twenty; and he hadn’t reckoned on being out in the storm. His gloves were not the mittens necessary for protection against such weather. He was in danger of freezing his hands and even his arms. His face was numb where it was exposed to the blast. At times the wind even bit through the thick woolen fold of his mackinaw. It seemed to him that the end of the day must be at hand when after a vigorous hand-pounding he drew a sandwich from a pocket and ate the cold, hard bread and meat. When he resumed his battle with the storm he came to the end of the ridge. Adventure The gentle rise flattened out and Boyer found to his dismay that the faint lime- stone outcroppings did not extend to Two - Corrals. He was caught in the blizzard without means of guidance to the safety which he felt was near at hand. Somewhere ahead, at no very great distance, were the shacks used by the sheep-herders at Two Corrals in the Spring and Fall when the sheep were taken into and from the mountain-range in the forest-reserve. ‘Boyer could retrace his steps back across the part of the flat he had covered to the mountains; but to return to the mining- camp by the Pin-point Trail in such weather would be impossible. And dark- ness would most certainly overtake him be- fore he could even reach the mountains. Safety now lay in only one direction— © ahead, in the teeth of the storm. Boyer stooped down and unwound the laces from about the tops: of his shoe-pacs. With numb fingers he tied the ends together. This might aid him to regulate the length of his steps—prevent his taking shorter steps on one side and walking in a circle, perhaps. Somewhere he had heard of this being done. Anything was worth trying in such an emergency. After restoring the circulation in his hands and arms as much as he could he started ahead, stepping the length per- mitted by the fastened shoe-laces. For his only guide he kept his face as near as he was able into the wind. He tried carrying the rifle in the crook of his left arm and jamming his gloved hands into his macki- naw’s side pockets but this did not restore warmth to them. It became darker and darker and when the dusk amid the swirling flakes had nearly deepened to night, Boyer felt something across his chest and legs. His heart stood still as he groped with numbed, nearly frozen fingers and felt the strands and barbs of a wire fence. He had reached the site of Two Corrals. geet TO FIND the location of the shacks peti >} Boyer had only to follow the fence but this proved a considerable task as he did not know whether to start out to the right or the left. He decided upon the left and made his'way with difficulty to the northwest corner of the corral. There was a second corral, Boyer understood, east of CoMmicbook C©