Adventure Magazine Cover — page 63: what you’re looking at

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

4 _ - Silver Zone of the light to get a shot at its owner. At “Hop Sing,’’ he called. the distance he could not miss. Dal -went into action with a single flip of - the wrist, and fired from the hip. The cow- boy’s finger quivered nervously on the for a moment, while his face grew blank: but he seemed - to lack the muscular reaction necessary to plunge the hammer down. Then his legs buckled and he col- lapsed. The light disappeared, but Bradley’s _-yoice Sounded calm and unruffled: “Purty work, Showalter. I owe you my bacon.” There was no more shooting, and each fight seemed to be developing a crisis as one - or the other side got the better'of the argu- ment, Bradley passed from group to group with his flashlight, playing it upon the strugglers on the ground until the cowboy, or cowboys were disarmed and helpless. Members of the posse outnumbered the » cowboys two to one, and their victory was complete. When the round-up of the cowboys was finished, anda count made of them in the bunkhouse it was found that of the thirteen, two had been killed—the fellow who had first opened a door, and “‘Bonanzer,” the cowboy whom Dal had cut shert in his at- tempt to assassinate Bradley—three more were wounded, and eight were more or less bruised prisoners. But Hasbrouck and Kutch had escaped. Dal had been hustled into the bunk-house with the rest of the men. Now he saw that the posse was composed of sheepherders and camp-movers, grim, bearded men actuated by a stern ferocity. For once they _ had been victorious over their hereditary enemies and they wanted to take full ad- vantage of it. Dal found himself treated as a cowboy by these fierce, implacable men. “Go out to the corral and find these fellows ropes. Right here is where Sawyer’s two murdered sheps’ get even,” ordered a big, black bearded sheepherder. Dai glanced anxiously at Bradley but the _ detective only smiled, coldly dispassionate. “See here, Bradley,’’ Dal remonstrated. “T object to bein’ held in the society of Hasbrouck’s gang.”’ . “All right. Come away from ’em. But ~ ‘re under arrest for murderin’ two asque sheepherders up in Idaho—don’t fore that,” Bradley said coldly. | Dal smiled. Presently out from under a bunk crawled an impassive, stoical Chinaman, looking as | unperturbed as’ if he had pean crawled ae under there to mop the floor. _ “Bring those papers, will you, Hep Sing?” 2 ae Dal asked. “How did you manage to raise that posse — | ce so quick?” Dal -asked the detective curi- ously, while they .waited for Hop Sing’s return. . “T replevined that old pinto - horse of ae yours,” Bradley grinned. “I rode him far _ and fast to collect these sheps’, He’s a — reg’lar hoss all right.” There were other things Dal wanted to ask but Hop Sing had returned, and also the _ - sheepherder with the ropes. Until he knew how the detective would react to the evi- dence against. Hasbrouck he could do | nothing. First to be settled, however, was __ Bradley’s ability to control his posse. This point the detective settled with a word. “Wait,” he ordered without the slightest a raise of voice. _ Aready the herders were getting busy with the ropes. solitudes, unused to being commanded. Also they were strangers to any’ sort of organized effort. At that word of command they hesitated. Had they been used to acting together a word fromany oneofthem — -might have overridden Bradley—but they © : : remained silent. After several minutes of hesitation each man seemed to understand that the delay was a tacit acceptance of Bradley’s leadership, and henceforth his orders would be obeyed.° : Bradley ran swiftly through Hasbrouck’s papers with no word of comment until he ae eK had finished. “There’s a lot of evidence here, all phe: a ES but it ain’t necessary against any of ’em but this man Cutler. That raid on Silver Zone last night was enough to hang the rest of — ’em, an’ there ain’t no use doin’ more than that to a man—we got to be reasonable,” Bradley said dryly. “But look here,” Dal argued. “These letters show that Hasbrouck was in the busi- be ness of killin’ people in cold blood here. He _ has a ranch up in Topaz which nobody knew about here. He has a ranch here which nobody knows about there. Ain’titreason- able that if he was crooked an’akillerhere he’d be the same thing there?- ie “TI can show that he had more motive for ; = ae =-= COMICHOO They were men of the — : ss “of Te - ed et se we , <i 3 es, .