Adventure Magazine Cover — page 175: what you’re looking at

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

RED STRIPES of coals. Daniels came in with a turkey and some pigeons. He had knocked them over with his ax. The meat was quickly put to roasting. Knight discovered he was ravenously hungry. He could noi wait for the meat to be cooked through. He snatched a turkey leg and ate like a wolf. “Take your time and don’t wolf it in chunks,” advised Daniels. After they had finished and covered the fire-hole with branches and dirt, with two small apertures for air, Daniels jumped to his feet and announced he would scout for a bit. Kinsty said nothing until the stranger had withdrawn: then he leaned forward and whispered— “Wish I knew more ’bout him.” Knight shivered at this suggestion that all might not be right with Daniels. ““He’s a white man. He didn’t have any red stripe on his back. Could he be one of the Girtys?”’ “Not Simon. I seen Simon once. May be George. I’m just as skeered of him as I be of Simon.” Knight’s nerves were unstrung. He groaned and complained, “I thought I’d be all right if I could live to reach the river. Now it looks worse’n it did when I was knocking Little Beaver off his feet. What shall we do? I’m fair wore out just from being afraid of what may happen.” Kinsty frowned at the threads of smoke escaping from the fire-hole vents, and after a while replied: ‘““We’ve got to make sure. He may be honest as we be. But till we know we don’t want him behind us, nor scouting off one side. See here: only sensible thing for us to do is to take him to Massie’s. If folks there say he’s all right no harm’s done.”’ Knight sadly exclaimed: ‘Just let me git out of this country! I vow I’ll stay east of the mountains if I ever get back there.” “Few miles more won’t make much dif- ference,” consoled Kinsty. “If we can s’prize that feller and tie his hands and take him down stream we’ll soon know if he’s all right.” ‘‘He seems to be a pleasant sort of man,” said Knight, now speaking more hopefully. Kinsty laughed silently. Then he muttered, “‘Pleasant? Yes, they can be that. A white man who lives with 173 Injuns from ch’ice can be lots of things. They can wade into the river, with what looks to be blood on their face and arms, and beg for a keel-boat to swing in toward the bank and pick ’em up. No end to the traps they can set. Why, when you first called out I was sure you was bait for the trap that might snag me. Even when I sec you, your legs’n arms all scratched and torn, I thought you was fixed up that way to fool me.” ‘“That’s why you kept pestering me about my folks and friends?” “Zactly. Trying to catch you in a lie, but you rung true. Now, this is what we must do. I'll jump this feller and git the drop. You ties his hands behind him when I give the word. We’ll take him through to Massie’s. If he’s all right he won’t feel hard for the way we’ve used him. If he’s a bad one Massie’s men will settle him.” The plan repelled Knight, but he could think of nothing better. He bowed his head in agreement. Kinsty stirred uneasily and whispered: “We got to have light. He could kill both of us in this darkness. Light to see to work by.” He tore the cover off the fire-hole and threw in dry branches and piled on dead limbs until he had a companionable blaze which brightly lighted the small opening where they had camped. In a short time careless steps sounded in the woods and soon Daniels burst through into the light and harshly demanded: “What be you trying to do? Call down on us all the northwest tribes?”’ ‘No danger,” replied Kinsty. ‘Younker was in a bad way along of the darkness.” ANIELS squatted on his heels, his ID rifle on the ground beside him. On the opposite side of the fire Kinsty sat cross-legged, his rifle across his knees. Knight held his breath as he discovered the two men were staring at each other fix- edly. He was positive that Daniels had overheard, or had guessed their plan. Kinsty slowly leaned back and com- menced swinging the long barrel of his gu: toward the fire. Then with breath-takin quickness the squatting figure straightened out and was flying through the flames to land on Kinsty before the latter could straighten out his legs. Kinsty’s rifle went COnniclboooks Cc (C@