Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 28, 1928 — page 34: what you’re looking at

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

464 She set it for me. “ Now all you have to do is pull the trigger,” she tells me, and I lays the gun on the buck- board seat for future reference and took a look around. We'd broke down right on the edge of a clearing in the chaparral that cov- ered several acres. Over to the right, about one hundred yards from the road, I noticed a dark streak, and walked over to investigate. It was a narrow barranca, running across the clearing parallel with the road, and was about five feet deep. Right off I gets a bang-up idea! JI’d fool that posse and leave them foot loose, by golly! } hustled back to the buckboard and took another listen on the ground. The hoof thuds were louder, and coming fast, and I realized that I’d have to hustle. Picking up the girl and her suitcase, I carried them back into the chaparral to where some big rocks jut- ted out of the ground and shoved her in among them. I carried her so as to show but one set of tracks. “Now you stay right here,” I in- structed her. ‘‘ There’ll probably be a lot of shooting, but you keep your head down and don’t get scared. If my plan works out, and I believe it will, they won’t find you.” “All right, big boy, Vl do just as you say,” she answered, smiling. I grabs the gum and hustled for the barranca, and hadn’t any more than dropped into it when here come the posse. I counted at least a dozen rid- ers. and piled off to investigate, and the time arrived for me to go into action. Drawing a bead just over their heads, I let go all eight shots as fast as I could pull the trigger, shooting low so they’d be sure and hear the whine of the bullets. That attracted their attention right off, as I’d figured it would, and they went into action on the instant. I had to duck right sud- den to dodge the hail of bullets that came my way. But I didn’t linger there none. Bend- They dashed up to the buckboard | ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, ing low, I made a quick run up the barranca for fifty yards to the edge of the chaparral. Here I stopped and cau- tiously raised my head high enough to see that the attention of the whole bunch was focused on the spot where they had seen the flash of my gun, and I could hear old Lafe yelling at me to come out and surrender. 1 knowed they’d be paying particular attention to that spot for a few minutes. Snaking out of the barranca and into the chaparral, I started on a quick run around to the buckboard, keeping well in the shadow of the brush. The wind had brisked up, and that drowned any noise I might have made. Within two minutes from the time I had fired the shots | was on my hands and knees at the edge of the chaparral right back of the buckboard and was piping off the lay. Just as I had fig- ured, the posse was sneaking forward toward the barranca, spread out fan- shape so as to get me at either end in case I should make a break, and Lafe was yelling every ten seconds for me to come out and give up. One man was staying with the ponies, and my heart gave one happy jump when I saw who he was. It was that big tinhorn, with the crooked eye and dirty leer, who had skinned me out of my hat and gun and most of my wad in that crooked stud game, and I’m near to screech with joy when I see Jessie hawse among the ca- yuses he’s holding. “Now, if I can just get my two hands onto your windpipe before you get a chance to yell,” I prayed as I stood up. The hawses shielded me from the view of the posse in case any of them took a notion to look that way, which wasn’t likely, and the big guy had his back toward me watching the other boys. And right there IJ makes a “fool break, which, after all, couldn’t have been helped. As I stepped out of the chaparral, Jessie hawse, catching the movement, looked my way, ang recog- A COPNIGLOOOKS (C@)