Boy's Cinema (1935-39)

22 ; "Exactly,'" Diipray answered. "More- over, you may rely oti me to requisi- tion ail ainmunitioii from the stores in Santa Fe, on the pretext that it is needed for the garrison of the presidio. Thus Janiinon will not be able to lav ill a fresh supply when he discovers the powder wagon is missing. And. incidentally, you need have no fear of the people in Santa Fe interfering when you stage your attack on the en- campment, Zaniora. They may be in sympathy wirli the Americanos, but if I know anything of them tliey will no' choose to throw a way their lives in an affair that is no concern of their.*." Zamora looked at him shrewdly. "You are right enough there." he Agreed. '"The people of Santa Fe will keep out of harm's way. There is ju^t one point, however. What about tlie presidio garrison? They might tako up arms against my bravos. Remem- ber, they have no idea that you and I <iro behind the banditti who opeviite between here and the U.S. frontier, ilemember, the troops are only loyal to you beoause they believe you .stand for law <ind order." Again Escobedo Di.ipray .=miled. "I have not overlooked the question o" the trooi)s.". he said. "Before the time comes for you to attack Jamison and his friends. I shall .sec to it that tiie presidio is practicall.v denuded of soldiery. I shall see to it that after the fiesta the bulk of the garrison is de-pa ;;'hed from here into the northern iiill-.— o punish the Indians there, wlio, I a II (old. scalped some fool of a pro- spector up in Canyada Colorado the other day." Death-Freight ANEW day had dawned, fresh and fair—such a day as might make men feel thet it was good to be ■alive. But in his cell, hard by the north wall of the )ire.sidio. where he had been vi.sited only by Zamora and an occasional soldier who had fed liini n'. meal-times, Clark Stuart gained !:o eiijoymeiii from the brightness of tue weather. He was alive, but could not help wondering sombi'cly if he would .still Iji- so when the westering sun had crossed nie sky and the .shades of another night ■had drawn in over the landscape. Or would his bullet-riddled body be lying in some nameless grave near the fortress? Would the threat of execni- tion that was hanging over his head liave been carried out by the time dusk Jiad fallen? Such were Clark's thoughts as. with liands .still bound behind his back, iio stood gazing out through the window of liis cell—a window fitted with grimy 7ianes, outside whicli were bars of iron embedded in the adobe of ledge and lintel. Clark's cell,was the end one in the row, and his window was located in a .side wall that faced east. Neverthe- less the sprawling settlement of Sam a Fe was not wiihin the scope of his vision, and he was unaware tiiat the .lami.son wagon-train had arrived this morning and was eno;imped to the sout'.i o' the town. He was likewise ignore,.it of the fact that a fiesta was in progr.\<> —a fiesta that had provided the new- comers from the States and the citizens o' Santa l''e with an opportunity of mingling pleasantly. All that Clark could sec from his l>rison was a strip of open terram bounded by a dusty ridge, and he wa.s looking towards that riiige gloomily when all at once his glance .va<j Attracted to a figure which appeared ou tlie crown of th<- eminence. The figure, sillioiiettod against the AutjiiKt ^Utli, lfl;i». BOY'S CINEMA skylirie. was mounted on a horse, and. allhougli far out of call, was identified almost immediately by Clark. It was the figure of the mysterious white gir! who wore the clothes of a Redskin and who was known throughout the wilder- ness between Santa Fe and Independ- ence as the Rider of the Painted Stallion, enemy of outlawry. Why she had wandered so close to the town the imprisoned frontiersman did not know—though if he had been aware of the Jamison wagon-train's arrival ho might have guessed that she was merely there to satisfy herself tliat the column had reached its destination safely. As it was. he only knew that a person who had already proved herself friendly to- wards him was in sight, and would assuredly endeavour to help him if only he could acquaint her witli his unenvi- able position. No guard or gaoler was in the neigh- bourhood of the cell-building. Clark's captors seemed to consider that he did not need watching, And, Zamora ex- cepted, did not come near him between meals. But the frontier.snian had no doubt that if he broke the window and tried to hail tiie Rider, someone in the presidio would hear his voice and come running to investigate. Into the bar- gaili. it was all too clear to him that, even if he bellowed with all the force of his lungs, no shout from him could ever carry to that figure on the ridge. Yet Clark did decide to break the window, for all of a sudden an inspira- tion occurred to him. Climbing on to a bunk that was the ceir» only article of furniture, he lifted his boot and smashed one of the panes. Then he twisted round and thrust his pinioned wrists into close contact with the jagged edge of the breach he had made in the window, and in another moment he was chafing his bonds against the rent in the glass. Before long he had severed the thongs, and, his wrists free, he turned and peered out through the window again, noting to his relief that t'lie Rider of the Painted Stallion was still limned on the ridge. Clark now picked up a fragment of glass that had fallen on to the sill, and by means of this he extemporised a kind of semaphore, catching the sun's light and flashing the reflection jf that light afar, with such shrewd aim that it smote dazzlingly into tlie eyes of that silhouetted figure he had recog- nised. The girl twisted her head this way and that, as if to elude the irritating glint, attaching no special significance to it at first. But as it continued to play upon her eyes persistently, even when she tugged the rein of her horse and moved a little to one side, she sus- pected all at once that someone was purposely directing it on her. and she quickly focused her gaze on the quarter whence it was coming. As he realised that she was staring towards his cell-window. Clark pulled out a white handkerchief and waved it through the rent he had driven in the [Xiue. and. detecting the flutter of that handkerchief, the girl hesitated only for a few seconds befoi'o starting to ride down from the ridge. She advanced cautiously, very likely fearing a trap, but a few minutes later she was near enough to distinguish the prisoner who had attracted her attention, and, as she saw the haiiil- seme scout who hati saved her life when she had been trapped in the box canyon some days previously, she gave vent to an exclamation of concern. In another moment .she was urging her stallion close to tin- door of Clark'.s cell, and then she spoke rapidly to the Every Tuesday horse in the Comanche Indian dialect, whereupon the animal wheeled right- about and proceeded to lash out at the door with its hind hoofs. Under the onslaught of those power- ful hoofs the woodwork splintered and gave way, flying into smithereens, and, ordering the stallion to desist when tho door had been disposed of, the Rider waited for Clark to emerge. The big frontiersman slipped out into the open almost immediately and ad- dressed words of .gratitude to tlie girl. Then she motioned to her horse's back, indicating that he should climb up be- hind her, but he shook his head and turned towards a small stable adjoining the cell-building. He had seen one of his captors lead his blaze-faced sorrel into that stable, and he now fetched the bronc out. At that the Rider of the Painted Stallion nodded nnderstandinglv, and then with a wave of her hand she swung around and headed for the ridge from which she had come. Clark himself lost no time in climbing astride his pony, for he imagined the Painted Stallion's attack on the cell door may have been heard in the presidio. Nor was he mistaken, for as he was about to gallop off Zamora came charg- ing ronnd the MOrtl>-east angle of the fortress wall on horseback. There was a gun in his fist, and as he clapped eyes on Clark he attemp,ted to biing the weapon to bear on the scout. But before he could do so the American had spurred close to him. and, striking up the Dago's arm with one hand, he hit him Hush in the jaw with the other. Zamora plunged out of the saddle and lay grovelling in the dust. As for Clark, he drove his heels into the flanks of his sorrel and "hit the breeze" for town, and it was as he was approaching the settlement that he saw a great num- ber of prairie schooners assembled .so«ie little distance to the south of Santa Fe. He knew then that the Jamison column had arrived, but none of his friends appeared to be with the wagons. He suddenly espied a mob of [leople gathered close to the south gate of the town of Santa Fe, however, and as he diiMv nearer he "nade on'' familiar faces among them—the faces of wagon- drivers and outriders who belonged to the Jamison train. They were fraternising with (he people of the settlement, and in that genial concourse of human beings conrteoii.s Spanish-Americans were rubbing shoulders with rough-and-ready, jovial mannered Yankees, gathering in groups around fires where h.iunches of venison and beef were being roasted, or tripping a measure to the strains of music pix>- \ i<l('d by guitarists a!>d fiddlers. Such was the fiesta that had been arranged by Escobedo Dupray, and tho l.ieutenaiit Governor had graced it with his presence—was riding, resplendent in nniforui. among the crowds, exchanging nods and smiles with citizens and visi- tors, receiving the salutes of unarmed soldiers of the garrison, for most of the troops of the citadel had been given a few hours furlough so that they might, attend the ieslival. Dupray did not realise it, but three men and a boy were keeping verv clo.se to him as he moved to and fro amid the throng. They were Jamison, Bowie. Davy Crockett and Kit Carson, and they had elected to watch the lyieutenant Covernor and shadow him diligently, i" the hope that he might meet with some one of his hirelings and make .some reference to Clark Sliiurt—some un- guarded reference which the friends of tile missing scout miglU oviM'hear. Jamison, Bowie, Crockett an<l Kit' Carson were still sticking to Duinay'a