Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

Every Tuesday rest in fho Rully, several of the attackitisr party were btiKiiiriinK to (icaeeriH tlio inrlint' in its wako, Ihoir steeds pickinif thoir way (-■nrefully down the sliarp slope. This jtroup inchuh'd tho lOMopado whito man, hut not the half- blood—who spurred in Idaho's diroction to- gether with five or six of the Shoshone.s. Idaho had alieady whipped his forty-five from its holster, Init he realised that ho conid do iiotliniK for his luckless friends- realised that they must have perished under the stomi of leaden slugs and harliod shafts which had been (hrected at them. Therefore ho saw nothing for it but to look to his own safety. and,jjkvinging north-eastward again, he showed ^coming footnon his heels. rco chase on.^ued. It was a chase during , bullets and arrows whistled around Iriciously. but he went imscathed, and (he fall of Beaver Dan and Squirrel by picking olY two of the Shoshonos. Into tho bargain, his bronc showed a turn of speed which none of his pursuers' mounts could equal, and at length the marauders drew rein and turned to ride back to the scene of the ambuscade. Free from their unwelcome attentions, Idaho Ike continued to hold to a north-oasterly course for another mile or so. Then he struck away from the trail to effect a wide detour and to circle round in the direction of Clear- water, and three-quarters of an hour later he showed up at the Mason wagon camp. Jeff Scott, Deadwood Hawkins, and the im- migrants were making ready to pull out when Idaho arrived, but their prepaiations for de- parture were postponed as the returned way- farer entered the encampment and shouted news of the onset from which he had escaped. Jeff, Deadwood and the settlers gathering around him, he told his story in detail, then added a piece of information which caused the two frontiersmen to stifl'en. "An' that white man what was with the raiders—I recognised him. Yeah. I recog- nised him, 'an' I guess you folks are better acquainted with the coyote than I can claim to be. He was—Bull Bragg." Bull Bragg I Idaho's audience assuredly had good cause to know that name—the name of a rogue who had been wagon boss of the Mason train, until he had been exposed as a traitor whose purpose had been the destruction of the column. "Bragg, eh?" John Mason ground out. "Well, I'd sure like to see him with a rope around his neck. But that wouldn't do poor Squirrel Tooth and Beaver Dan any good. As for those furs, Idaho—well, I'm afraid you'll just have to resign yourself to the loss of them if that's what those devils were after. We can't afford to make any effort to recover them, for we've got to get this wagon train aOY'S CINEMA under way. We daren't lose any more lime, or we'll run into lioavy snow in the high Rockies." Jolf laid a hand on his arm. "Wail a miinilo. Mr. Mason," he said, a steely glint in his eyes. "You seem to be lor- gottihg iusi who Bragg is.'| "I'm not forgetting anything, Jeff. But we can'l wasii' tune chasing that bandit." " iiragg is moic than a bandit, .Mr. Mason," th(< big fionti<Msiuan retorted. "He's one of the gang that's been trying to wreck your wagon train, and unless we catch him and make him tell us who's back of the attacks that have been launclied against this outfit— well, wo may never get to Oregon." The maiority of the immigrants being of tho same mind as Jeff, Mason consented to postpone departure, whereupon Jotf faced Idaho again. "Got yourself a fresh horse," ho com- manded. "You're going to show Deadwood and me exactly where that ambush took place." There were many present who were desirous of accompanying the three Westerners to the scene of the outrage. Rut JelF would not hear of it, reasoning that he and Deadwood and Idaho might journey unnoticed through the hills, whereas a large body of men would very likely excite the attention of Indian scouts and bring the whole muster of tho Shoshone tribe down upon them. Jeff had his way, and shortly afterwards he and Idaho Ike and Deadwood set out along the Fort Wallace trail, and within half an hour of quitting the immigrant camp I hey gained the point where the ambuscade had occurred. The wagon and horses which had been loaned by Mason were lying in the gully—the ponies dead, the "schooner" on its side with awning ripped away to disclose the fact that the venicle had been denuded of its valuable freight. As for the murderous ruffians who had plundered it, they were nowhere to be seen. Slowly Jeff and his companions rode down into the hollow and, reaching the capsized wagon, they discovered Beaver Dan and Squirrel Tooth in close proximity to it—two lifeless, blood-stained figures, riddled with bullets, pierced by arrows. "There's nothing we can do for 'em," Deadwood murmured, sombrely and super- fluously. Jeff spoke, indicating as he did so the imprints of a number of hoofs—which imprints extended directly across the gully and reached up the far slope. "No, there's nothing we can do for Dan and Squirrel Tooth," he .said in a e-rini tone. "But at least we can try to run oown their murdcreri. There'n tho tracki of the coyote* and ihoy lead due aouth. Coino on I" THE TABLES TURNED SOMR miles lo the south of ihi- •pot where Beaver Dun and Squirrel Toolh had uiel their doom, a band of horsonien hud lOiiiKd tip outHido a dilapidated cabin which had obviously been untenanted for many a long day. Those horsemen were Bull Bragg, Breed and tho group of Shoshonos who had figured in tho attack on Idaho and his friends, tho Redskins now being laden with the fur* looted from tho trappers' borrowed wagon. It was Bragg, bulky and iin.shaven, who had railed a halt outside that remote and ramshackle cabin, and he was dismounting from his brono when Breed addressed him inquiringly. "What are we stoppin' hero for?" the half- blood wanted to know. "Listen, feller," Bull Bragg answered slyly, "we don't, haflu turn all them pelts over to Morgan. You an' mo can pick out the best ones an' sell 'em ourselves. You said he didn't know how many fur» was aboard that wagon." Breed moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue. " You're aimin' to double-cross Morgan, eh?" ho mumbled, plainly ill-at-ease. "Why not?" Bragg countered. "Tell your Redskin pals to take the pelts into this old cabin." The half-blood did his bidding after a moment's hesitation, speaking to the Shoshonos in their native tongue, and when the savages had complied he looked ai Bragg again with a frown. "I don't like this idea. Bull." "You might as well like it," the white man growled. "Come on, get down off your boss an' help me choose the finest o' them pelts." Still frowning. Breed alighted from his pony and followed Bragg into the cabin, whence the Shoshonos had emerged after dumping the stolon pelts. A little later the former w^agon boss and the half-blood were going through the furs and, appearing to overcome his disquietude, Breed was soon co- operating with Bragg as a seemingly willing party to the burly white man's covetous intentions. The task of dividing the pelts was one that occupied them for some considerable time. But at long last they completed it, and they were standing before two separate piles of furs when one of their Indian associates came into the abode and uttered a few words to Breed in tho Shoshone dialect. "He says he wants the rifles I promised him an* his bunch on Morgan's behalf for Next second JeH had seized him and swung him round, and, using the vainly squuming renegade as a snield, he trained his six-gun on the Indian with the lariat Februsrs lutb. IMa