Adventure Magazine Cover — page 29: what you’re looking at

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

— ale ee -. mall —- tt on = — iw Leet Me Oe a Se awe > — = i —— . ‘= os i oo, PIS Sa PT aN a Se a TG en EO ge PN Tg OI Oe FD SN PEE ea OE RR ” > a > “. —— At) - ’ > ’ - NON Ry 2 cs De ? ; - e ; - - = . ilver Zone 275 they got it in for you about?” Sawyer won- dered. “Search me,” Dal ‘said truthfully. “All I done in here was to take up your little quarrel, an’ they fall on me for it; but love -you like a brother.” “What’s queer out at Silver Zone?” Sawyer quizzed. : Suddenly Dal saw it. Bently had said Hasbrouck also was hunting for Lonesome _ Jim’s lost silver-mine. Now it appeared that Cutler was in cahoots with Hasbrouck. The the desert. He was starting out to carry the war to Hasbrouck. He would have taken the hired horse, but — he had promised to send the animal back the next day by Sawyer, and he hated to : _ Nor did he care to make break a promise. explanations to Sawyer. He was dog tired to start with, for the hired horse had been = a rough gaited one, and Dal had had no real rest the night before. But having definitc- ly decided to take the aggressive he was willing to stand any amount of physical hardships for the advantage of taking the tee ay rai | i 0 bar ber. tM : ‘ +¥ ‘ ! Sa hh: | CEA ‘ F 7 PAM EYES) , pt poor fools doubtless believed he was at Silver Zone hunting for the mine, and natur- ally they felt their own chances would be enhanced if he could be got rid of. It was _ laughable. “The people are queer,” Dal smilingiy replied to Sawyer’s question. enemy by surprize. Secs It was past eight o’clock when he started, and though he walked until his legs felt ike —_ stilts and he was compelled to shove them — along like so much lumber, he kept dogged- ly to a pace that he was sure averaged three WP aeien ie te on s i 7 on OE ey aan ce * tite «Ne J rt +e Vincie’s first question when the two men rode up to the cabin at Silver Zone was, “Why, where is Sport?” “T lost him—let him get away from me,” Dal confessed. “Oh, what terribly hard luck,” she con- doled. “Oh T’ll get him back all right,” Dal said with feigned confidence. | SAWYER was delighted with the : range, and with the location of the Sims} spring. Dal-had rightly sized the sheepman up as a born gambler, and after having been beguiled by the range he was ready to take long chances on holding it. - He assured Dal he would give five hundred dollars for the use of the spring if the papers showing Bently’s right to hold it were clear, ~ saying he would recommend a payment of that amount to his company, with reason- able certainty that it would be approved. But some time must elapse before he could pay the money. It must first be shown that Bently could fulfill his end of the agreement. _.After supper that evening, which Vincie made something of a banquet compared to the slim rations they had been living on, she and Sawyer went into the room where her father was, to discuss the papers allowing Bently’s homestead application. 7 Dal told Sawyer where his blankets were and invited him to use them that night. He excused himself, over Vincie’s protest that he was working too hard, on the plea that he must hunt coyotes all night. But once out of sight of the cabin he cached his rifle, and struck out on a trail along the edge of . outbuildings. miles an hour. - the swift approach of dawn. He plodded on grimly until he stood on ~ = the rim of a plateau overlooking a flat, wild-grass meadow. Nearly a quarter of a mile from him; near the north end of the meadow, was a cluster of low buildings, and a conglomeration of hit-and-miss corrals. This was Hasbrouck’s headquarters. As he looked there was a flicker of light in the largest building, a sign that some- 2 body was getting up to build a fire. A mo- ment later a curl of smoke came out of the stove pipe. Dal shivered. In spite of his long walk he was cold. Even on the desert the hours just before daylight are bitterly He hurriedly began walk- — cold in the Fall. ing down the slope toward the buildings. When he was close enough to see clearly — he saw that only two of the buildings were used to live in, the rest being stables and One of these two was along, — rambling structure that resembled a bunk- house. mountains twenty or more miles away it was not strange that the buildings were not more commodious. There was no sign of life in the smaller building and Dal shrewdly suspected that — it was Hasbrouck’s private domicile. It occurred to him that if he could get in there When finally he came to a fence which marked the boundary of Hasbrouck’s ranch there were dim, red _ streaks in the eastern sky which heralded It was the one where the light was burning. The other habitable building was a neat log cabin about twelve by sixteen feet. Considering the fact that the logs for — the buildings” had to be hauled from the comicbooks. * a i iene