Adventure Magazine Cover — page 84: what you’re looking at

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

74 “Men up north of the Clearwater still talk about the ’Forty-five immigration and the Lost Diggings,”’ said Hale, eying Old Idaho narrowly. “Something about a man going to look for cattle and finding gold. The story goes that he found curious looking rock and brought back specimens to the wagon-train along with the cattle, but was too much of a tenderfoot to know he’d been tramping over a fortune. The story has it that he tossed the specimens—some of it almost free gold—into the tool-box. Some say the train reached Oregon before the man learned it was gold.” “Lies! All a pack of derned lies!’ whis- pered Old Idaho, his beard wagging vio- lently. ‘Every new country is filled with them kind of lies. Wade and Miner started to find them Lost Diggings two years ago and made the rich strike on Jordan Creek. So if ever there was any Lost Diggings they’ve been found in the Owyhee country, and the men from Placerville relocated ’em when they pounced down on Discovery Bar.” “Of course,” murmured Hale. ‘Well, I'll be gitting after my mare.”’ “I’m just a vegetable farmer. . Never hankered for digging gold. I ain’t no miner,” persisted Old Idaho. “Vou don’t need to tell me that—or any- thing. Keep the little girl close to home. Now that the Oregon and Washington troops have been mustered out of border service the Indians will be making free of this basin. They’ve suffered too much not to strike back. And they have horses and guns and ammunition. And they can fight. What’s worse than Indians are some of the men from the ‘left wing of Price’s army’ that are wandering up and down the basin.” “T can take care of my own so far as any white scum is consarned, but I can’t lick a whole tribe of Injuns. They all oughter be shot.” “They probably will be in time,” was the morose rejoinder. ‘The old treaty of Fifty-five ain’t been lived up to. The new treaty ain’t been confirmed by the Govern- ment. Settlers are living under the terms of the new, and the Indians are clinging to ~ the terms of the old. Eagle-from-the-Light is ready to swap war-pipes with the Black- foot and Crow nations and kill all whites in Idaho and Montana. If the trouble ever gits started you want to clear out of this valley on the jump. Until it breaks you Adventure won’t be harmed by Shoshoni or Nez Perces so long as you stick here at home. Look out for white men, who are worse than Indians.”’ “T know how to handle whites. Run one dandified feller out this early Summer, who come down from Idaho City to pester Harry.” ‘So? What’s he called?” “Patterson. Gambling feller.” “Ferd Patterson? The skunk! I knew of him in Oregon and Washington. Don’t warn him off if he comes again. Kill him on sight. He’s got a blood record the whole length of the Coast. He scalped his woman in Portland. And he’s in Idaho City? Can’t have been there long.” “Don’t know nothing about him ’cept he’s a gambling feller. Dresses slick and is just the sort to turn a fool woman’s head. I’m shy of my girl meeting any strange men. Reckon there’s queer yarns about almost ‘every man one meets out here.”’ He punctuated the last with a thrusting glance at Hale. Hale smiled weariedly. “That’s all right,” he said. “Be suspi- cious of me till you learn something about me. I won’t even say that I’m half-way decent. But be suspicious of the other fellow, also. Of course the girl must meet men some time and they’ll be strangers till she gets to know ’em. It’s for you to get acquainted with ’em first. As to talking about me I’ll-only say this: they don’t to my face. Old Idaho grinned maliciously and _re- plied— “They don’t talk to Patterson’s face, either.”’ Hale mulled this over for a few moments and then slowly said: ‘Perhaps it would be better if there was more face-to-face talk. I believe I’ll start the good example. Yes; I’ll make it my business to meet Patterson before I go back north. Il meet him in some public place, where there’ll be witnesses, and I’ll tell him what I know of his record.” “And die in your tracks,’”? Old Idaho jeered. . “Tt don’t think so. But that’s a risk a man takes if he tells certain truths out here.”’ “Tf you ain’t killed by him you'll be killed by some of his pards. He has a gang close at hand all the time. No one will be pun- ished for killing you. There’s a lawless set of hellions loose along the Boise and in GOMIIGoOO S (©)