Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

I Every Tuesday on, wo'll pick up the arrows and yon can try again." Thoy marched towards the cabin, from whoap front wall tiie quarrels had recoiled and fallen to the gionnd; and they had collertecl the arrows, and were wliocling to rciracc ihoir steps to the coppice where they had left tht-ir ponies, when suddenly they beheld a groun of five horsemen c;uiteriiig up the vallev ui wliich the desolate habitation was situated. Riding with bowed heads, and apparently in thoughtful mood, the five horsemen were bo- feathered Shoshones. They were, in fact, members of (he band which had attacked the Laramie stage. But Jimnn'e and Margaret knew nothin-f of that attack, and did not appre- hend their danger to the full—did not know that in the estimation of the approaching quintet the peace treaty made by Spotted Elk was of little or no consequence. Nevertheless Jimmie clutched Margaret by the arm at sight of them, and in anotlier instant had pushed open the door of the lone cabin and stumbled across the threshold with her. • "InjunsI" he gasped, closing the door behind him as they gamed the interior of the shaok. "Don't worry, though. I'm sure they didn't spot us, and we can hide in here till they've gone by." Margaret regarded him anxiously. "What are you afraid of?" she faltered. "I thought you said the Indians in these parts were peaceful." "Sure they a,re," Jimmie answered. "But they're born thieves, an* if they saw us they'd probably hunt around for our bosses and steal em. As it is, I hope our broncs keep quiet in that coppice 'way over there. They're well under cover, anyway." He nipped to one of the windows of the cabin and peered out warily, and as he did so he gave vent to an e.xclamation. "Say, them Redskins have dismounted on the edge of another coppice and tied up their mustangs," he ejaculated, "an' it looks like they're making straight for this shack. We'd better find some other place to hide." "Where?" Margaret demanded. Jimmie cast about him swiftly, and, per- ceiving a door in the rear wall of the room in which he and Margaret stood, he ran to it and thrust it open. An inner apartment was disclosed; and, beckoning to Margaret, the boy entered that back room with her, closed the door and fastened it by means of a wooden bar with which it was fitted. Then he made for a single grimy window which the apartment possessed, and, Margaret joining him there, the two of them furtively watched the five Indians as they padded towards the cabin. They noticed now that each of the Shoshones was carrying a number of pelts over his arm; and, burdened with these furs and a musket apiece, the Indians had drawn close to the snack when a couple of other horsemen hove into sight. They were white men, these, and Jimmie and Margaret recognised them as Dirk and Slado, two of the rogues who had been in Bull Bragg's confidence when the latter had been wagon boss of the Mason train. Dirk and Slade were mounted on a pair of sturdy saddle-ponies, and the former was lead- ing by the rein a pack-horse laden with three or four sacks; and, riding at a canter, they piesently halted beside the group of Shoshones, who had paused outside the shack on seeing them. A brief conversation ensued between the two white men and the Redskins. It was a con- versation conducted in the Shoshone dialect, and, though the voices of Dirk and Slade and the Indians were distinctly audible to Jimmie and Margaret, neither the boy nor his fair companion had any knowledge of that barbarous tongue. Yet it speedily became obvious that the dis cussion concerned the pack-horse and its baggage and the furs the Redskins were carry ing. For after a minute or two the Shoshones took charge of that pack-horse and handed over their pelts to Dirk and Slade. "Not a bad trade, huh?" Slade said to Dirk then, lapsing into English. "We've got a nice bunch o' furs for the boss—and all for a mangy, flea-bitten nag, a jar o' rye whisky, an' a few kegs o' gunpowder." BOY'S CINEMA Dirk nodded, and, after saluting the Indians comphiceiitly, he and Slade rode olf. As for the Shoshones, they delved amidst the contents of the canvas bags with which the puck-horse was burdened, aiui, one of the braves producing the jar of liro-watcr to which Slade had referred, the five Redskins marched into the cabin wherein Jimmio and Margaret had taken shelter. Shullling into the dwelling, they gathered about a rickety table in the front room, and ere long they were in the process of imbibing the fiery liouor that had been part of the pay- ment they had rcc(uved for their furs. Meatiwhile, in the rear room of the cabin, Jimnue and Margaret had tiptoed across to the communicating door, and, sq.uinting at the Indians through a chink in the woodwork, they saw the whisky jar pass from mouth to mouth. It had gone the rounds twice, when suddenly one of the warriors uttered a startled impreca- tion and pointed through one of the front room windows. At once his fellow-tribesmen turned to glance in the direction indicated, and an instant later seemed to become animated by an ominous excitement. A chattering broke out amongst the Shoshones, a chattering that was accompanied by fierce gesticulations on their part. Then they snatched up their muskets, which they had laid aside on entering the shack, and in ariother moment they were crowding to the windows. In the back room Jimmie and Margaret had no notion of the cause of the excitement that had gripped the Indians. But they were soon to divine the reason for their sinister behaviour, for, hastening to the window of the apartment in. which they were ensconced, the two of them peered through its grimy panes and beheld a pair of familiar figures entering the valley on horseback. "Why, Margaret 1" Jimmie breathed. "D'you see what I see? Here come Jeff and Dead- wood I" 19 He was right, and, »nh\n<r him involunUnly by the wrist, the girl Hpofro to him in a ter»o undertone. "Yes, Jimmie 1" she whispered "Jefl and Deadwood! And we've got to warn them I In spite of what you said about that peace treaty, it's all too ch'ar that the Redskins in fh« next room are up to no good !" ^ "Yeah, I reckon so," the boy aimwored Listen! Wo'll climb onta this window an' make a dash towards Deaflwood and Jeff!" lie raised the sash gently, and was pre paring to scramble over the sill when the (rirl restrained him. "Jimmie, no I" she panted. "We'd be shot down by the Indians before we'd gone a dozen paces!" The youngster bit his lip, realising that they would indeed be picked off by the Shoshones if they showed themselves. Then he debated the idea of calling to Jeff and Dpadwoo<l, re- flecting that the communicating door between the two rooms of the shack would protect him- self and Margaret from the unwelcome attentions of the Redskins until the scouts had devised a means of dealing with the savages. Yet on cxjnsideration it seemed to him that Jeff and Deadwood were not near enough to comprehend the meaning of any outcry, and might only press forward the more rapidly in response to it—thereby exposing themsielves to a fatal volley discharged at close range. Wondering what he could possibly do to apprise the two scouts of their peril without bringing certain death upon Margaret and him- self, Jimmie was in the throes of a frantic dilemma, when all of a .sudden he clapped eyes on the bow he had lent the girl a little while previously. An inspiration occurring to him, he laid hold of that bow and quickly fitted a quarrel to it. Next second he had wheeled round to face the now open window again, and, taking aim, he sent the arrow winging through space in the direction of JefT and Dea<lwood, ^j^^HSnttg^ The fronx aoor oi the dwelling was ajar, and, gun in band, Jeff kicked It wide open January 6tli. 1940.