Adventure Magazine Cover — page 126: what you’re looking at

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

I20 The stream trickled along at the foot of a ridge, the flank of which testified to- the deadly work of the lightning. In an area of less than two acres Dinsdale counted a dozen pines split or smashed flat by the bolts. The stream led him into a thicket of hazel, birch and alders, and sud- denly discouraged further exploration by diving down into a narrow gorge. Walking in the water he descended a short distance into the gloomy tangle, then turned to go back, A hornbeam branch clutched his coat sleeve, and as he paused to free himself his attention was attracted to a bit of feather caught on a twig. He secured it and ex- amined it curiously and decided it came from the feather of a golden eagle. But that lover of heights and solitudes would never become enmeshed in a lowly ravine thicket. This conviction was followed by the recollection that the Sioux love dearly to wear such feathers in their hair. He crouched low in the cover and pulled a belt-gun and darted his glance at the screen now surrounding him. Finally sat- isfied he was not marked for ‘immediate death he devoted his attention to the moist borders of the stream. Not more than.a yard ahead of him and pointing to the left- hand bank was the faint mark of a mocca- sin. The wearer had been careful to step on a rock but the moccasin had been wet and the moist outline had not had time to dry. An Indian wotld not enter the thicket and work down into the gorge unless driven by some urgent cause. Did he wish to drink he would have done so on the open bank above the mouth of the gorge. There was no point in a savage penetrating into this secret place unless he had feared discovery and had had no other choice of a hiding-place. “He worked down in here to get out of my sight,’ Dindsale told himself. “He worked clear of it and is now up on the flank of the ridge. If he had had a chance to pot me I’d be dead now, but the bushes were too thick for him to throw lead or shoot an arrow. * Of course he’s waiting for me.”’ Instead of retracing his steps up-stream he followed the course indicated by the single track, and with an entire absence of his former carelessness his progress be- came a model of cunning woodcraft. Keep- ing close to the ground he passed under many of the obstructions, and when vine Adventure or creeper caught at his arm or leg he was very patient in releasing himself. On com- ing to the bank of the gorge he found he must climb some fifteen feet. He waited a minute, seeking to catch some telltale sound. Yet reason told him the Indian would not expect him to find the sign of the moccasin and take this course, and, there- fore, would not be waiting to shoot or stab him as he climbed over the top of the bank. Working carefully, and with a revolver thrust in advance, he reached the top of the bank and again waited. Crawling under the growth for a few yards he reached a point where he could survey the somber desolation of the fire and wind swept slope. He could discover no further signs of the red tracker; and trailing his rifle and with his Colt cocked he glided swiftly to a pine. He could not tell if the Indian was above or below him, but he feared the former. If the savage realized the excellence of his opportunity he would be maneuvering to catch Pyrites unawares while the prospec- tor was alone and engrossed with his pan. Dinsdale formed his plans rapidly and ascended the slope still farther before turn- ing to move parallel to the stream. He purposed to make a point consider- ably above the camp and then descend to it and take the savage from behind were he lurking there. In his anxiety for Pyrites’s safety he covered the distance rapidly, and at last could look down on the smoke and catch the motion of Pyrites’s figure as he industriously washed the bank gravel. Dinsdale kneeled behind a tree and sharply scrutinized the bits of cover be- tween him and the tent. The trees were too scattered for even a Sioux to hide among if he would steal close to the camp and not reveal himself to sharp eyes up the ridge. Concluding that the wearer of the golden eagle feathers was not between him and his partner Dinsdale took time to ex- amine the slope above him. He did not expect to find the Indian in that advantageous position, else he would have had an arrow or a bullet in his back before this. He moved down to another tree and switched his attention toward the stream below the camp. Then he saw him, or rather detected something moving along the base of the ridge and making toward the smoke. It was like a shadow appearing and disappearing, and all so quickly as to leave the fact in doubt. CORNICLOOO© (E@