The Argosy, March 27, 1920 — page 98: what you’re looking at

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

At the foot of the slope was a water hole filled with a dark, brackish fluid, with a green scum fringing its edges. The slope merged gently into the floor of the desert, like an ocean beach stretch- ing out into the water, and for a distance out into the floor of the desert there was bunch-grass, mesquite, and greasewood, where the cattle might find grazing for the night. Beyond the stretch of grass spread the dead, gray dust, somber and desolate in the filmy, mystic haze that was slowly de- scending. The cattle came down eagerly, for they had grazed little during the day in the mountainous region through which they had passed. They were showing the effects of the drive. They had been sleek and fat when they started from the Circle L; they were growing lean, wild, and they were al- ways ravenously hungry. But where they could feed they required little attention; and the cowboys, after halt- ing them, helped Garvin establish the lines of a rope corral into which they drove the remuda. Then they built a fire and squat- ted wearily around it—at a respectful dis- tance—to watch the cook—and to listen to him as he complainingly prepared supper. The men had finished, and the long shadows of the dusk were stealing out over the desert, when Lawler—sitting on the chuck box—heard Blackburn exclaim sharply: ‘ Hell’s fire! Here they come!” Blackburn had sprung to his feet, his eyes blazing with the pent-up wrath that had been in them for many days. He was tense, his muscles straining; and his fin- gers were moving restlessly near the butt of the huge pistol that swung at his hip, The fingers were closing and unclosing, betray- ing the man’s passion. Lawler got to his feet. Following the di- rection of Blackburn’s flaming eyes, he saw, perhaps a mile away, a large body of horse- men. They were descending the long slope over which the herd had been driven. Lawler counted them—thirty-nine. But the menace was no longer invisible; it was now 4 material thing which could be met on such terms as might be, with the whims of chance to govern the outcome. 248 THE ARGOSY. Lawler did not doubt that the oncoming riders were hostile. He had felt that when he had first been made aware of their pres- ence behind the herd. He saw, too, that the men of his outfit felt as he did; for they were all on their feet, their faces grim, their eyes glowing with the rage that had gripped them over the presence of the unseen men- ace; their muscles were tensed, and their lips were in the sullen pout which presages the imminence of action. . Shorty, the tawny giant, was a terrible figure, He seemed to be outwardly cool, and there was not a sign of passion in his manner. His hands swung limply at his sides, not a muscle in his body seeming to move. Unlike the other men, he was calm, seemingly unperturbed. So striking was the contrast between him and the other men that Lawler looked twice at him. And the second time he saw Shorty’s eyes—they were gleaming pools of passion, cold, repressed. ‘* Easy, boys!” Lawler called to the men. * Don’t let them suspect you know they’ve been trailing us. They’ve got us two to one, almost—if they mean trouble we'll have to work easy!” - He saw the men relax, and several of them resumed their former positions at the fire. The strange riders were coming steadily onward; they were not more than a hundred yards distant when Blackburn exclaimed, hoarsely: “Lawler, it’s Blondy Antrim an’ his gang! Damn his hide! We're in for it!” For the first time since Garvin had told him about the presence of the men on the trail behind the herd, Lawler’s face be- trayed passion—the glow in his eyes rivaled that in the giant’s. During the past year or so word had reached him—rumor unfounded, but insis- tent—that more than once Singleton and Blondy Antrim, the outlaw, had been seen together. He had placed no credence in the rumors, ascribing them to the imagina- tions of mischievous brains, prejudiced against Singleton’ because of his bluff, domi- nant manner. He had first suspected there might be truth in them when Joe Hamlin had told comicbooksscom