Adventure Magazine Cover — page 43: what you’re looking at

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

- Sitver Zone ie ae eee Dal eee as he had never. sprinted before. Matt Wells was an old time cattle- - man with a reputation for marksmanship and ruthlessness. Just as he reached the edge of the brush Wells fired. The bullet grazed the side of his head, just above the eye, and he went down on all fours under. the impact. There was a triumphant, gloating yell from the mob like a wolf pack at the kill. Curiously enough Dal’s sole thought at the instant was how murderous angry that in- human yell would make Thad Thompson. He was not badly hurt but he was a little dazed. It did not occur’ to him to stop; neither did he think of getting up. In- stead, he crossed the twenty feet between himself and his horse on all fours. Possibly because of this unusual manner of arrival, or perhaps on account of the blood streaming down the man’s face, the ex-wildhorse surged madly back on the rope. Had Sport been tied to anything solid the _ rope would surely have snapped; but as it was the willow bush gave to his pull, and the . instant he slackened up it straightened back and led him forward, Three times this was repeated while Dal tugged at the bow knot he had so carefully tied. The horse was already nearly frightened out of his wits by the shooting and yelling, and now this bloody apparition in front of him added the last measure to his terror. ' Only the: whites of his eyes was visible, _and his shrill whistling sounded above the ‘clamor of the mob. In desperation Dal drew his knife, but he was cautious enough to fling himself on to the horse’s back before he cut the rope. As the severed strands of the rope popped back Sport whirled and fairly flew back along the trail he had come on. Dal yelled and waved his hat derisively in the faces of the pursuing horsemen, who, now that they were mounted, were miraculously trans- formed from a mob into a posse. So confident was he of the gray’s ability that he made no-effort to short cut to the place he had left old Spot. He wanted to make the posse think he was escaping to the north and all he had to do was gain such a lead that he could double back up some of the numerous ravines without being detected. Sport was running like a scared wolf and in three miles had “gained a lead of a half-mile on the posse. _ Dal was now looking for a place to turn. side but ere on the other. This, “he decided, was the place to alter his course. — He let Sport sweep up the slope without slackening speed. Any horse but a cayuse or mustang would have been badly winded — by the effort, but Sport’s breathing was deep and regular. Dal figured that by the os Ss the posse reached the top of the ridge he would be lost in the intricacies of the wash- board and it would go on by, cacy thinking he had disappeared over the next - ridge to the north. -On top of the ridge, however, he pled his horse toa,stop. He was in full view of — the posse, but in the gulch at the foot of the — ridge, directly in his path, was a big band — of cattle resting on trail in charge of four cowboys. To go down among them at the speed he must maintain, with his head and shoulders bloody from his wound was to— 3 = announce himself as a fugitive. Any cow- boy, whether friend or enemy, would de- Bs EP = : mand an explanation. On the other hand, to turn in either direction in full sight. of He hesitated but an instant before urg- ing his horse down the side of the ridge. — It was not more than three hundred fate to the bottom and Sport fell off itin tremen- — dous leaps. But before he was in the cattle the four cowboys had spread out in a semi- circle to receive him. He leaned low. over Sport’s neck, his six-shooter clutched firmly, his eye watching every move of the cow- boys. He recognized the men | quickly as Has = brouck’s riders. He flashed one wae # 3 _ glance at the cattle and among them he saw many of his own. The cattle he had owned he had acquired slowly and by dint — of much sacrifice. Naturally he knew every dot and spot on every one of tliem. Comprehension dawned upon him instantly... This was a bunch Hasbrouck was driving to the railroad to ship, which accounted — for their presence there. For an instant escape and pursuit were = forgotten in a just rage at seeing his own cattle being stolen before his very eyes. He spurred his horse further among the cattle and began to reply to the bullets that were: already beginning to hum. He dropped along Sport’s neck facing two of - the cowboys just as their guns spoke, | a 5 ~~ ood A curse from the other side told that one :