Boy's Cinema (1933)

16 Tlie gambler shot a swift glance at him. " Er — generally," he announced. "Why?" Tom evaded the question, but pre- sently Lucky Dawson leaned towards him. "Do you believe in hunches?" he in- quired. "Because if you do I've got one right now. In fact, I've an idea that I might be able to take you pretty close to where those stolen horses are." He wheeled towards Miller and an- nounced that he would hire one of his ponies from him, and not long after- wards Tom Munroe and tho gambler were riding from town. They had not waited for Judell and his posse, and they took the trail that led southward in tho direction of Mag- dalena Forks, Lucky explaining his "hunch " en route. He had by this time introduced himself to Tom, and in the course of the journey the marshal felt himself conceiving a strong liking for the little gambler. Tho man seemed eminently trustworthy and mightily anxious to recover his buck horse. About an hour after leaving Silver City the two sighted a small ranch. It was the Laird outfit, and proved to be Lucky's destination, for he conveyed Tom straight to it, and as they pulled up outside the house a girl emerged. Sho was Norma Laird, and she greeted Lucky smilingly. "Why, hallo," she said, "what are you doing so far away from a poker- table?" "I'm lookin' for some galoots that stole my horse," the little gambler an- swered. "Well, you didn't expect to find your pony here, did you?" Norma observed with a laugh. Lucky exchanged a rapid glance with Tom, and then spoke to the girl again. "Maybe not, Norma," he declared, "but I thought maybe we could stir up a couple of invitations for breakfast. We ain't eaten yet, you see. And, by the way, I don't think you've met Tom Munroe, have you?" The girl acknowledged the introduc- tion, and told the two men to come in- side and make themselves at home. They were soon satisfying their hunger, and over the breakfast-table Lucky in- formed Norma of the early morning gaol-break and the raid on the livery stable. Tom was studying the girl, and he could not help hoping that Lucky's sus- picions were wrong. On the way to the outfit the little gambler had had nothing but praise for Norma Laird, but he had painted her brother in a less favourable light, and Tom felt that it was going to be a drastic shock to the youth's sister if Lucky's hunch were correct. "Do you have cattle here?" the young marshal asked presently, after Lucky had monopolised the conversation for two or three minutes "No, mostly horses." Norma replied. and Tom nodded slowly. "I kinda thought so," he murmured. " I noticed a brcakin' corral in a canyon just back along the trail a-piece." "That's right." said Norma. "I have a bunch of wild broncs here now, wait- ing for someone to work on." The last words -were spoken rather bitterly, and Lucky pursed his lips. " If you'd keep Little Casino at home more, you might get 'em broke," he put in. "He's one of the best wranglers in this part of the country." There was a drumming of hoofs at that moment, and. in the very act of draining a cup of coffee, Tom chanced June 3rd. 1933. BOY'S CINEMA to look through one of the ranch-house windows and see a herd of horses pass- ing the building at a distance of thirty or forty paces. They bore neither saddles nor riders, but Tom realised at a glance that they were not range mustangs, for among them he suddenly recognised his own mount. He set down his cup with a clatter, blurted some excuse and stumbled to tho ranch-house doorway. Lucky fol- lowed him, and as the gambler joined him on the threshold Tom rapped out an exclamation. "It's Tonv." he jerked, "my horso Tony!" "And there's my buck nag." Lucky grated. "I told vou ray hnnch was right!" Both men dashed forward, and Tom snatched a lariat from the saddle-bag of the mount which Ormsby had lent him. He swung the rope and lassoed a slim young fellow who was riding by at the tail end of the stolen herd. The youth was Norma Laird's brother, and he fell heavily as the noose snared him and wrenched him off his horse's back. He struggled up again and reached for his gun, but Tom and Lucky were upon him ere he could draw, and the marshal gripped him firmly by the wrist. "I want a word with you," he snapped, but before he could say more Norma joined the trio and confronted Casino. "Bernie," she gasped anxiously, "what have you been up to?" The youngster seemed surprised to see her. "Say, when did you come home?" he stammered. " I thought you were stayin' overnight with Ma Patterson." "No, it wasn't necessary," the girl answered. "But never mind what you thought. Where did you get those horses?" There was a scared look in her eyes, for a hint of the truth had dawned on her. Nor was she reassured by her brother's evasive reply. "Well, I didn't steal 'em, if that's what you're drivin' at," he said. "I—I found 'em—down in Guadalupe Canyon. I knew they wasn't wild ponies, but figured they was a bunch of strays, so I—I brought 'em here to hold 'em." Tom released the youth's wrist. He knew that Casino was lying, but he like- wise knew that little would be gained by arresting him. If Bernie Laird belonged to the Paint Horse Gang he was pretty small fry, and, in voicing his suspicions against him on the way to the ranch, Lucky Dawson had vouch- safed the opinion that the boy was not " plumb bad," but just wayward, head- strong, and weak. It was not altogether these sentiments that caused Tom to accept Casino's story, however. He was chiefly moved by a desire to spare the feelings of the girl whose hospitality he had just enjoyed. "He's probably tellin' the truth, ma'am," he said to Norma.' "The chances are that the thieves decided to turn the ponies loose, thinkin' that they'd only be a hindrance if there was a posse out after 'em." Norma bit her lip. She wanted to believe Tom's theory, and yet she was haunted by the thought that her brother was a crook. "Lucky and I will get these ponies back to town," Tom went on, "and I reckon everybody concerned Ought to be pretty glad that they ain't lost their horses, after all." The marshal and the gambler set out for Silver City with the herd, and Lucky Every Tuesday was the first to break a spell of silence that lasted for several miles. "You gavo that kid a break, Munroe," he stated, "and I'm sayiu' it was mighty fine of you." " Aw, there was nothin' definite against him," Tom muttered. They rode on, and some time later they were in Judell's office at Silver City. Ormsby was there also, and listened attentively while Tom related the manner in which the horses had been recovered, tho marshal making out that he and Lucky had gone to tho Laird outfit by sheer coincidence. "So Casino found the ponies runnin' around loose, eh?" said Ormsby, trying to appear calm but secretly afraid that the youth may have divulged some vital information. "Er—did he—did he tell you anything else? Did he tell you where he found 'em?" Tom eyed him shrewdly. "Come to think of it, he did," he rejoined, and marked the swift expres- sion of anxiety that crossed the colonel's features. "Of course, I wasn't payin' much attention Say, you're not suspicious of him, are you?" "Oh, no!" Ormsby made haste to declare. " Not in the least, Munroe. That boy is all right—comes of a very fine family. But I think Judell ought to go out and see him—er—just to ask him one or two questions, you know." The sheriff looked at Ormsby know- ingly. "Yeah, I guess I'd better," he began, but before he could say more there wa6 a commotion in the 6treet, and a few seconds later a horseman was drawing rein outside the gaol. He crossed the threshold of Judell's office, and the quartet in the room noticed that he was breathless and agitated. "The stage has been held up and robbed," the newcomer panted. "It happened about two miles this 6ide of Laird's ranch, and the men that did it belonged to the Paint Horse Gang. We tried to make a dash for it, but the front axle broke. They shot the guard, but I cut one o' the horses loose and got away." "Any passengers?" demanded Ormsby. "No," answered the man. who was apparently the driver of the coach, "but we was carryin' the pay-roll for the Santa Anna Mine. They got away with that." "Did you see any of 'em?" put in Judell, and again the reply was in the negative. "They had their hats slouched over their faces." At Point of Qun. IT was with a brisk and urgent manner that Colonel Ormsby turned to tho sheriff. One might have imagined that the man was genuinely eager to take steps against the gang of terrorists. "Judell," he said, "get as many of the vigilantes together as you can. We may be able to head off those crooks at Dona Pass." "Dona Pass?" put in Lucky Dawson ironically. "Certainly," Ormsby replied. "That's their only short-cut out of this neighbourhood." Lucky gave a slight smile. " What makes you think they want to leave this neighbourhood, colonel ?" he inquired. "They might like it around here." Tom did not wait to hear Ormsby's answer, but started for the door, where- upon the colonel called out to him. "Aren't you going to wait for the vigilantes, Munroe?" he asked.