Adventure Magazine Cover, June 18, 1921 — page 130: what you’re looking at

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

120 ““G-gone!” he stuttered as I rocked his head back and forth. “Gone? Where? With whom?” I thun- dered. “With them—Ganner's men. They thought me dead Ganner. Why could not the poor child have found a bullet and have fallen by the side of her old father? I heard Captain Posby talking, not drawling, but speaking with clipped words that made for brevity and action. Under his sharp prodding Tom had no chance to relapse into mental agony. With jerks of the head or with monosyllables he answered the _ rapid queries. “Ride to General Marion. Tell him your story. He will send men. If you kill your horse you'll kill your sister. First, hand over those two pistols. [’m unarmed. Now go and ride decently. Come, Jim, come!” His peremptory voice aroused me and I began to sense the realities of the situation. As Tom resumed his journey to Snow’s Island I made to halt him, but Posby yanked my horse about and in the direction of the cabin, and harshly cried: “T know everything the poor fellow can tell you. The girl, so far as he knows, is alive——”’ “God pity her!” “and unhurt. This beastly Ganner will only think of getting back to his hiding- place. The old gentleman has been done in. The other youngster, Dick, may be dead and he may be alive. Lead the way to the cabin. We'll follow those chaps. If the boy doesn’t lose his head your General Marion will be swarming up this way to beat before sunset.”’ My head was suddenly filled with acon- suming desire for revenge. I took the lead and proved I had not lost my head by the manner in which I favored my horse and coaxed the miles out of him with the mini- mum loss to hisystrength. Posby watched me closely and then congratulated me: “You'll do, Jim. The dead can’t be helped, don’t need any help; but there’s always something we can do for the living. How near the creek would this Ganner person be making his headquarters?”’ He had ranged the southern and western parts of the State and this was his first visit to the creek. It was plain to me he was shifting his base to the north, beyond Adventure the Pedee. The Chewar district, with its evil reputation for feuds and butcheries, and no-quarter fights between Whig and Tory, would afford him an ideal hiding- place. In all South Carolina there could be no better stamping-ground for a devil of Ganner’s occupation. “He'll make for the Chewar Hill coun- try,” I replied. “Good! If I remember headquarters’ maps it’s quite a ride. He’ll have no time for love-making. He must know this crime will bring your general after him. A body of men can’t travel as fast as two men.” “Two men!’ “Don’t be an ass! Didn’t I borrow two pistols from the young duffer? I’m in your charge. And by the gods when it comes to hunting chaps of this Ganner person’s kidney I'll never quit you—I believe I can smell smoke.”’ IN A few minutes we sighted the ; smoking ruins. We dismounted by ¥<a¥ the side of old Angus, who lay on his back near the charred walls, a very peaceful expression on his strong face. His rifle, stock shattered, lay nearhim. He had been shot through the head and through the body and either of the wounds must have killed him instantly. Near by were stretched out three rough fellows we identified as being Ganner’s men. Their pockets were turned inside out, proving that their comrades, while lacking time to bury them, had taken time to rob them. On one of the dead men Posby found two pistols and a supply of powder and balls and he added these wea- pons to the brace taken from young Tom. I spared only a glance for the dead but raised my voice and called Dick by name, giving my own. From a thicket of bushes came a faint response. I ran into the growth and tumbled over the dead body of an outlaw who had pursued the lad to mur- der him. A few rods farther on I found Dick. He was white from loss of blood, but had managed to tie up his wounds which were in the thigh and side. He was able to talk. Before I could put a queues he was explaining: ‘“‘Ganner and forty men—did this. Tom knocked cold—Daddy used his rifle like a club— Killed some— I killed one with a table-knife. Got one that dogged me in here—Ganner grabbed Elsie. They tied COmiclboo oN ) C©