Adventure Magazine Cover, December 10, 1922 — page 142: what you’re looking at

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

136 | found them. He simply did not care for a stranger’s company. He left the trail and descended the slope stealthily, keeping under cover. His first assumption was shattered when he beheld other figures, six in all and all afoot. They were now near the mill and cabin, and there was a strong hint of secrecy in their movements. Instead of following down the bank of the creek where the’travel- ing was more open they clung to the edge of the growth, reminding Beach of Indian tales by their way of flitting from tree to tree. On reaching a point opposite the corral he worked down to the foot of the ridge and found concealment in a clump of spruce. His isolation vanished, and Virginia City was brought very close as he found himself staring at a bearded face showing for a few seconds from around the end of the horse- hovel. The man ducked back, but not with the manner of one believing that he had been discovered. Beach shifted his gaze to the cabin and found more sinister evidence. Two men were lying behind stumps, aiming their re- volvers at the closed door. Jumping his vision to the smithy, Beach decided that the intruders had planned their movements well, for one man was stalking the shop with the sunlight glistening on his two drawn belt guns. The picture was completed by the two men stealing toward the mill. Beach shivered as he realized how only an impulse had placed him across the creek and out of the visitors’ murderous reach. It was purely by chance that the impulse seized upon him, this day of all days. His first reaction was to remember that he was safe, for they could never find him on the spruce-covered slope. His second thought was more disturbing; even though they went away he never again could feel secure-in the little cabin. Day and night he would feel their presence and imagine them to be creeping upon him. Then he remembered the small bottle of dust in the cabin cupboard and felt out- raged that his gold should be endangered. Never before had he so strongly condemned crimes against property. He might have stolen away without mak- ing a fight So long as only his life was in danger. But the few dollars’ worth of gold which he had dug held him in his_hiding- place, his mouth drawing down in a snarl. Adventure The man at the corral was intent on stealing the horses, or to prevent any es- cape by means of them. As yet none of the six had eyes for his side of the creek. He crawled closer to the stream, taking advan- tage of the scattered trees and the frequent boulders. The man nearest him, the one behind the horse-hovel, was a stranger. Those at the smithy and mill now were keeping to cover, and he had occasional glimpses of them only. He recognized none of them. But one of the two men before the cabin im- pressed him as being some one he had met, although the reclining posture made a posi- tive identification impossible. Then action succeeded stealthy delibera- tion. As if by some signal the mill, the smithy and the cabin were rushed. The only man to remain inactive was the one behind the hovel. Beach centered his at- tention on the two before the cabin, as it was there his gold was stored. The two, after springing to their feet, had raced to the blind end of the cabin. They seemed to be listening; then one of them pushed open the door. A moment of hesitation; then he sprang inside. He was gone from view less than a minute and emerged to shout some- thing to his mates and to wave something in his hand. Beach felt his temples pounding as he made two discoveries—the fellow was the Wild Cat, and he was brandishing the Dickens story, which he had found-open on the table. The four men up the gulch quickly satisfied themselves that there was no one in or about the mill or smithy, and ran toward the cabin. The Wild Cat ceased waving the book and proceeded to commit the crime of derisively tearing out a handful of pages and throwing them into the wind. With- out a thought for the consequences Beach threw up his rifle and fired. | The bullet must have clipped close, for the Wild Cat gave a screech, dropped to the ground and wriggled behind a stump. Even then they would not have known where to look for Beach, for the echoes made the shot ring from every quarter, had not the man by the corral observed the small patch of smoke. This fellow emptied his revolver across the creek and shouted to his companions. Very quickly the five men vanished, working their way behind the cabin and smithy. (e(0) vOOK (E)