Adventure Magazine Cover — page 110: what you’re looking at

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

108 the Merchant’s National of a hundred thou- sand dollars and on whose trail he had been set he owed his life. THAT night after supper, when he was seated in their room be- fore the fire, he tried to express something of the gratitude he felt. “Jim, old man, you saved my life this aiternoon,”’ he began. “I want to tell you Trueman, who was pacing up and down the floor, turned on him with an impatient gesture, frowning. . “That's all right,” he said. “It was noth- ing. Let’s say no more about it.”’ “But if you hadn’t been watching me and got there when you did, I——” ‘Id rather not talk tonight, if you don’t mind,” Trueman said; and Willis saw about his companion’s gray eyes an expression of weariness, as one sees about the eyes of a man who has sat days and nights on end in a hopeless vigil at the bedside of a stricken comrade. Slowly unlacing his shoes, Willis covertly watched him. To him the man was an anomaly, a puzzle that he found it impos- sible to solve. ‘The esteem in which he, as well as the other men, held Trueman, and certain sterling qualities that, at times, cropped unconsciously to the surface, made it almost impossible for him to believe that he, holding a position of trust in the bank, could have betrayed it as Tom McCray had done. softened, now, by the debt of gratitude, which he could never adequately repay, and by a pity induced by that hopeless ex- pression on Trueman’s face, he was formu- lating in his mind a report to his chief, sgiting forth his belief that he was shadow- ing the wrong man when, with that abrupt- ness which had characterized his action the first night, Trueman left the room, slam- ming the door after him. Instantly Willis realized that it was his duty toact. If Trueman was going out on this blustery, rainy night to the hiding place of the bank’s funds, he must follow him and learn where the money was hidden. [If, as he had half suspected, Trueman was in touch with some relative and was going, now, to meet him, Willis must learn of this other man. Slipping off his shoes and carrying them in his hand, he turned out the light and oR Re ee ae en pe Siege ET oh oot OS Seems oy ‘eo ae oe EI cat pe = 5 . > 7 * ie a * A aed ; ; % Adventure crept into the dark hall and down the stairs. In the hall below, he heard the other man fumbling at the rack beneath the stairs where the men hung their hats. Ignoring the need of a covering for his own head, he waited until Trueman had gone out of the front door, then slipped out after him. The gate clicked as Willis paused on the steps to draw on his shoes. A moment later he, too, was outside, following at a safe distance the dimly-seen figure that passed around the fence and out into the road beyond. For several days there had been heavy, intermittent showers, and the road was deep in red mud or patches of watery sand. Tonight it was colder, and the rain had slackened in volume to a blowing mist. At intervals a moon half-revealed itself through shredded clouds. Regardless of the mud, Trueman ploughed straight down the middle of the road. At times the enshrouding darkness shut him completely from sight; at others, when the clouds overhead thinned, his figure was dis- tinctly outlined. A mile from the village a dark object, caught by a sweeping gust of wind, came whirling along the road and flattened against Willis’ legs. He picked it up and found it to be Trueman’s soft hat. Apparently heedless, the other man did not pause, but ploughed steadily on. When the moon shone down through a temporary rift in the cloud curtain, Willis saw that his bare head was thrown back, his face turned up to the night. Steadily they floundered on, until more than three miles must have stretched be- hind them. Then Trueman turned into a side road, almost indistinguishable in the darkness. ‘This, in time, led to a bawling creek, well out of its banks. The road crossed by a ford, and into this, without pausing, Trueman continued, though the water soon reached to his waist. Stopping in surprize, Willis stood watch- ing him; then he sought and found a foot- path that led to a log, crossing the stream just above the ford. He was halfway across the log when, from the middle of the creek below him, a burst of harsh laughter rang out upon the blustering night, followed by some words which the wind swept away before they be- came distinguishable. Edging along the log, Willis came to a place where he could see a dark blotch upon Gomicbooks.com