Adventure Magazine Cover — page 60: what you’re looking at

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

46 Adventure you left yore jackasses. On up the cafion?” “Yeah, on up the cafion,” resumed Henry. ‘On up about a hundred yards. You'll see it—ledge crosses the cafion floor; sticks up "bout a foot all along. My stakes are on the right side. Take all you see to the left. There’s a million there.” “Come on, men!’ Spade turned to go. “Let’s start!” Carver and Moore, without a word, fell in behind him. Only Obadiah tarried. “Thank you, Mr. Blane!” Obadiah spoke fervently. ‘“Thank you ever so much. I just feel that this is my chance. We thank you ever so much, Use the house while I’m gone.”’ Pao) OBADIAH had to run to catch up An: with his late companions. Hearing : his footsteps, they turned. Spade appraised Obadiah scornfully. “Why, hello, Jehovah!” he drawled in- sultingly. ‘“Where’d you think you're goin’?”’ “Why, w-w-hy I’m—I want to go along with you, boys,’ stammered Obadiah, an anxious look clouding his face. Spade cursed viciously. So did Moore and Carver. “No! No! Ye poor nut,” protested Car- ver hastily, “‘it’ll be an awful thup. You’d niver git more’n half-way there. You’re too—too weak, parson.” “Sure, weak!” raged Spade. “Why if that dried up little apostle can hike out to where we’re goin’ I c’n walk to Jerusalem an’ back inan hour. Why, you little wart” —Spade glared down at Obadiah—“this is a he-man’s game. ‘Trot back to your Bibles, pronto!”’ “You'd never make it, preacher,’ added Moore pacifyingly. “It’s a hundred and twenty miles of the roughest, hottest going this side of No use your even want- in’ to go.” “Oh!” Obadiah’s tone expressed real agony. ‘Oh, boys, let me go along! Please! Let me try, anyhow! I won’t ask any favors. If I can’t make it Ill drop out quiet-like. J’ll take my chances with the rest of you. Just let me go along, please! Then we'll all be together and can stake out the claim in all our names and we'll all have plenty. It’s my only chance to make good. I just feel es “Shut up, chatterbox,” growled Spade menacingly. “You can’t go. We can’t pack no cripples or babies along. We'll have all we can do to make it ourselves, Come along, fellers.”’ ‘““Spade’s right, parson,” added Moore, as they turned to go. ‘You wouldn’t be much force. We'll count you in on it, anyhow. Just keep yore mouth shut about where we went er you’ll wish yuh had.” But Obadiah Higgins was not te be so easily talked out of his one great oppor- tunity. He followed, terrified lest he lose his one golden chance to make good. He grabbed Carver and Moore by the sleeves of the soiled undershirts they wore. “Tm going with you! I’m going too!’ he panted, eagerly appealing from face to face, hoping to find a gleam of kindness. Their faces were expressionless and hard. His heart sank. ‘I’m goin’ with you,” he insisted doggedly. Spade Gowdy struck Obadiah’s none too firm chin with something like two hundred and twenty pounds back of the blow. Obadiah came up, dusty and weeping with rage. Wordlessly he attacked the aston- ished Spade with a hail of futile blows that at best reached no higher than Spade’s thick, hairy chest. “Haw,” sneered Spade, “you’re too white around the gills. Git away!” With that he heaved with his open hand against Obadiah’s meager stomach and doubled him sobbing in the dust. “Now, here, Obadiah,’’ Carver bent over the cramped little figure. “You gotta go aisy if you hopes to finish out the natural course of yer existence. You're goin’ to git hurted if you continue buttin’ into this party in this manner. Now [ll tell ye what we'll do. If you’ll go home now an’ get yer pack ready we’ll call along in about ten minutes and git you and we'll all go together. But mind, if you say a word about this to a soul, now or ever, you’re a oner!”’ “Oh, I won't! I won’t tell! VU go right home and get ready to go along. Oh, I’m so glad!” rejoiced Obadiah, the light of supreme happiness written all over his face. ‘‘You’ll never be sorry you took me along. Why, Ive tramped lots and I can stand the hottest kind of sun. You know I’ve worked steady around Oro the last six months, and I’m tough as whang leather. I’ll go right home and fix up my outfit. I been in lots of stampedes, too, and I know just what kind of a. pack [ll need.” cComicbooks.co mn