Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

J 18 feminine purchase is in fai-fiuiiff cities east of the wild fiontier tenitoiies. " Be:iiitics. ain't they?" Beaver Dan le- marlced with pride. " Squirrel Tooth an' ine wa.s heidin' for Fort Wallace to sell 'em. But we lost our wagon an' a toupla hosses in an Injun fislit. an' this last pony of ours has developed a had case o' jaundice." Margaret had stepiied close to the travois, and was eruzitis upon the fui> with admiration. "Oh, they're lovely!" she enthused. "Dad, just loolc at this one! Did you ever see any- •think like it ?" She selected a silver fox, and, after dis- lilayin^- it to her father, fondled it enviously. " Dad," she presently susscsted in a tentative manner, "could I—could I buy it?" "Not from Beaver Dan, you couldn't," Idaho lice promptly struck in. "He's aimin' to ff've it to you." Daft smiled approvingly. " Ef you say so, Ike—that's the way it is," he assented. "You keep that there silver fox, Mis.s Mason—as a little gift from Ike and Squirrel Tooth an' nie." "Oh, hut I couldn't accept it without paying for it!" Margaret protested. "Of course not." her father affirmed. "You fiame a price, Dan, and if it's not beyond my tneaus " He was interrupted hy Idaho. "You can't pay for that fur. Mr. Mason," tlie old fellow stated emphatically. "But I'll tell you what Dan an' me an' Squirrel Tooth will do. We'll make a deal with you." "What kind of a deal?" ^lason asked. "Well. Dan an' Squirrel Tooth want to §et them furs to Fort Wallace." Idaho Ike re- joined, "an' I figure I'd like to tiail along v.-ith 'em. But we ain't got no hosses except- "iii' my bronc an' that jaundii^ed pony, and if these tivo ole rat-trappeis is agreeable we'll fiiake you a partner and give you a fourth interest in our fuis—in return for you furnishin' us with a wagon and team." The proposition was approved by Beaver Dan and Squirrel Tooth, and John Mason was •■eady and willing to be a party to the bargain. But before ijronouining himself in favour of it lie addressed a question to Ike. " Is it necessary for you and your friends to make the journey to Fort Wallace '!" he in- terrogated. "You could sell your furs right here in Clearwater—to Sam Morgan." "Nothin' doin'," Beaver Dan at once an- nounced in a downright tone. "■ Morgan don't (.uv furs. He comes pretty nigh to stealin' them. All we could expect from him is what he gives the Injuns—a ru.-ty trade rifle for every thoiisand dollars' worth o' pelts." .lolui Mason fingered the ends of his iion- grey moListache. "In that case," he said, "you're welcome to a wagon and team. I've several schooners and teams in this column that are my personal property, and can easily spare you an oiitfit. Idaho, you know which are my wagons. Take Dan aiid Squirrel Tooth and pick out one of 'em. Unload it and pack the stuff yon lug out of it into the other schooners that belong to me, then get your ijclts aboard it. Jeff and Deadwood can i-ound up four of my trace- hoiscs while you're doing that. But see here, that deal you proposed is too generous. I don't want a fourth interest in your furs. Your gift to Mai'garet is worth more than a wagon and team." Idaho and his friends insisted on regarding him as a partnei', however; and, on the under- standing that they would rejoin the column and pay him his share of the money they secured for their furs at Foit Wallace, they at length went off with the jaundiced pony and the tiavois to single out a ".schooner." At the same time Jeff' and Deadwood made for the wagon tiain's herd of horses to choose four draught-nags for the trappers. As for most of the other folks in the camp, they dis- persed to busy themselves over their own affairs. Jolui Mason and his daughter were left alone on the edge of the encampment, fthirgaret \va.? riovv wearing the silver fox fur with which she had been presented, and, her father look- ing on with an amused air, she was arianging it about her neck and preening herself joyously when a man of portly build and sallow countenance was seen wending his way towards l''(.-ljnuHy 10th, 1010. BOY'S CINEMA the camp-fires from the nearby town of Clearwater. He was Sam Morgan, storekeeper and dealer in pelfs. A man highly esteemed, whatever Beaver Dan might think of his business methods. John Mason liked him well enough, at any rate—and, shrewd judges of character as they were, Jeff Scott and Deadwood Hawkins had never expressed any aversion for him. They and John Masoti little dreamed that Moi'gan was the brain of the organisation re- sponsible for the ditHculties the wagon train had encountered. They little dreamed that he was the evil genius of a combine resolved to prevent the settling of Oregon and safeguard a strangle-hold they had obtained on the fur trade. The picture of benign good-fellowship, Sam ^Morgan accosted the Ma.sons as he reached the edge of the cam]), and? after courteously doff- ing his hat to Margaret, he addressed himself to the girl's father. "I just heard about the recovery of your horses and drifted over to offer my congratula- tions," he said hypocritically. "I suppose you'll be pushing on for Oregon as soon as possible, eh?" "We sine will, Mr. Morgan," John Mason answered. " We aim to stay here till midday. Then, when we've had dinner, we'll break camp and put in the afternoon on trek. I reckon we ought to be a good few miles from Clearwater by sundown." "Well, I wish you luck," Morgan pro- claimed. "You've got an Al wagon boss in Jeff Scott, anyhow. If anyone can get you safely through to Oregon, he will. But, say. what's this you'i'e sporting, Miss Marg-aret? where'd it come fiom?" He had turned his attention on the fox fur with which John ^Mason's daughter had graced her shoiilflers. and, though he betrayed no hint of the fact, ho was profoundly impressed by the quality of the specimen. "A couple of trappers from Oregon showed up here a few minutes ago," Margaret told iiini. "I got it from them." Morgan examined it intently, then saw fit to adopt a dis)iaraging mien. "1 hope you didn't pay much for it. Miss Mason." he drawled. " Why, no—I didn't pay anythiivg for it. They made me a present of it." "Fair enough," said Morgan. "It's only worth a few dollars. But who were those trappers '!" ^Margaret's father enlightened him. " A white man called Beaver Dan and an Indian named Squirrel Tooth. They said you set too low a price on furs, Mr. Morgan, so they're taking theirs to Fort Wallace. Idaho Ike is going with tliein. He's in partnership with them." Morgan chuckled. "Said I set too low a price on furs, did they?" he remarked. "Well, I'm not easily palmed oft' with poor specimens, if that's what thev meant. So thev're heading for Fort Wallace, huh? When do they start?" "As soon as they can get loaded up," was Mason's reply. "I'm furnishing them with a wagon and horses, and taking a fourth interest in the furs." Sam Morgan raised his eyebrows. "You are? Good for you! I hope Idaho and his friends get a good price for them, then, though I'm afraid they'll have to be a heap better than this silver fox to show much of a pi'ofit." He parted comjiany with John Mason and the hitter's daughter shortly afterwards, re- tracing his steps to town, and as he moved off he heard Margaret express a deliberate comment to her father. "I still think this is a beautiful fur," she averred. Morgan was secretly of the same opinion, despite the apparent contempt with which he had viewed the gift. IMoreover, Morgan's fleshy face had become a study in resentment now he had tui'ned his back on the Masons, and on i-eaching his store and passing through the salo-rooiu to his private office at the rear of the establishment his demeanour was that of a man thoroughly out of temper. A half-blood Indian was lounging in that office when Sam Morgan entered it. Breed by name, he was one of Morgan's hirelings, and. Every Tuesday slamming the door of the private room behind him, the storekeeper quickly apprised him of the trip Idaho, Beaver Dan, and Squirrel Tooth intended to make. "Now I don't know how many furS they've gpt," he finished. "But they made the Mason girl a present of as tine a silver fox as I've ever set eyes on, and their catch probably re- presents a small fortune. Anyway, I want you to get some of your Shoshone friends together and lay an ambush for 'em on the Fort Wallace trail. "Incidentally," he added, "you might pick up Bull Bragg on your way to the Kedskin village. He's hiding out not far from tljj and_ the last time I saw him he was', beefing about the necessity of getting a A stake so he could clear out of this cou^ You can tell him I'll let him have some . if he helps you and does something while to earn it." Breed pursed his thin-lipped tnouth. "You're ready to go to a heck of a lot o' trouble over a consignment o' furs, boss," he muttered. "I reckon you're doin' so well in the trade that you can afford to turn up your nose at a single wagon-load o' pelts—however much they may be worth." Sam Morgan scowled at him. "I'm doing all right," he retorted. "But only because I see to it that no trappers have the chance of dealing with anybody else ex- cept me and the organisation I represent. In any case, I don't want white trappers operating in the fur-bearing territories west of here. I can swindle the Indians easy enough, but white men are a different proposition. Now get going and carry out my instructions." AMBUSCADE A WINDING ribbon powdered with dust, the trail from Clearwater to Fort Wallace snaked north-eastward through the foothills of the Kocky Mountain chain, and shortly before the sun reached its zenith that day a wagon drawn by four horses might have been seen proceeding along a lonely section of the road in question. This wagon and its team comprised the means of transport with which John Mason had provided Idaho Ike, Beaver Dan, and Squirrel Tooth. The floor of the schooner was bestrewn with the furs Dan and Squirrel Tooth had garnered in South-West Oregon, and those two worthies were perched on the driving-seat of the vehicle, the first-named holding the reins of the trace-horses. As for Idaho Ike, he was astride a saddle-ijony and was about a hundred }-ards afiead of the wagon. Idaho was not expecting any trouble,.but, he was too familiar with the perils of the 'SVe'sb.to travel carelessly. Hence he had elected to play the role of scout and precede his friends, holding himself in reatliness to raise the alarm should he observe anything amiss. The old fellow's stratagem was not destined to save Beaver Dan and Squirrel Tooth from a surprise onset, however. For, as Idaho was on the point of turning a bend in the road, he heard a sudden outcry in his rear, and, wheeling abruptly, he saw a band of horse- men swooping down on the borrowed wagon from a dense coppice on a slope to the left of the trail. Effectively hidden by the coppice, the troop of riders had eluded Idaho's vigilance as lie had passed by. They were a dozen in number, and with two exceptions they were Redskins of the Sho^hone tribe—the exceptions being a white man and a half-blood. Even as Idaho clapped eyes on them they gained the roadway, and at point-blank range poured a volley of bullets and arrows into Beaver Dan and Squirrel Tooth before either of the trappers could defend themselves. At the same time the wagon's team veered to the right, i)anic-stricken by the uproar of the guns that had been discharged, and in their swerve they plucked the prairie schooner to the rim of the trail—where the ground fell steeply away into a gully fifty feet in <leptli. The vehicle tipjied over the declivity, and, dragging the trace-horses after it, hurtled to- wards the bed of the hollow with its cargo of fuis—the bodies of Squirrel Tooth and Beaver Dan being spilled out of it as it ijlungcd down the embankment. Ere the wagon ajid its team had couie tc ii