Boy's Cinema (1935-39)

22 senses just as Don stuit>Hed across to Salvation. Whipsaw retreated from the prone figure of his victim then and lent the Caliiornian a hand as the latter was helping Salvation to stand up. " We've got to get out of here," Don said. "Whipsaw, you ride double with Salvation on that sorrel of his. I'll take care of your mustang." "Doggone it, I'll do my own ridin'," Salvation broke in. "I ain't no baby." lie made that declaration gamely, but his appearance belied his words, and Don know full well that the wounded man would never be able, to stay in the saddle without support. ('onsequently, lie insisted upon Whip- saw mounting behind him, and when the two . frontiersmen had climbed astride the bigger man's bronc Don swung himself on to his own pony and took Whipsaw's riderless mustang by the rein. They started out in the direction of San Antonio, but had not gone far when they saw the escort of the destroyed powder-wagon burst clear of the thickets into which they had been lured. The bellow of the explosion had fetched ihem back towards the trail, and as they gained the spot where they had last seen the heavy-laden prairie schooner, Petroff appeared as if from nowhere. Then, with the hetman in the lead, the whole party charged in pursuit of Don and his companions. The Californian and the two Yankee frontiersmen were now approaching a tract of forest-land, and on entering the trees Don spoke to Whipsaw in an urgent voice. "We'll never keep ahead of those Russians with Salvation in this condi- tion," he said. "Look, you get him to Father Joso's chapel in San Antonio, where he can have the attention he needs. I'll lead Petroff and his crew off on a false scent, and join you later when I've given thorn the slip." Whipsaw was loath to have Don take the risk of capture while he escaped scot-free. But he knew the futility of arguing with the young rancher, and into the bargain Salvation seemed to be on the verge of fainting. In conse- quence, the little frontiersman fell in wfth Don's arrangement, and presently he and his comrade had vanished amid the gloomy depths of the woods. As for Don, he turned off to the north, keeping just within the fringe of the trees so that Petroff and his men gained an impression of his white horse streaking through the shadows of the forest. Don had no means of knowing whether they could see that he had separated from his companions. The fact remained that they took up his trail in a body, every mother's son of them intent on running to earth the masked rider who had proved such a thorn in Jason Burr's side, and with the whole band spurring after him Don congratu- lated himself on having drawn them away from Whipsaw and Salvation. The Califorian was still in charge of Whipsaw's mustang, which was pound- ing along beside his own bronc, and for something like a quarter of an hour he had no difficulty in keeping, well in front of his enemies. Then his pony began to lose ground, a circumstance not surprising, since it had been pretty hard-worked the night before and had not obtained much rest. Don realised that to stay on its back would be fatal, and skirting a (angle of brushwood that grew amongst the tree-stems, he disengaged his feet from his gelding's stirrups and switched August 21st, li>37. BOY'S CINEMA horses while momentarily hidden from the sight of his pursuers. Transferring himself lithely to the mustang that had belonged to Whip- saw, he drove his own bronc onward and then took cover amid the brush- wood, and he was effectively concealed there when Petroff and the Cossacks rounded the mass of vegetation. They caught a flash of the white pony Don had abandoned, but they were un- able to tell that it was no longer carry- ing its master, and they pressed on determinedly, flailing their mounts and goring them with the spur. And shortly after they had gone by, the man whom they knew as the Eagle cajmly emerged from his hiding-place and struck east- wards through the forest with the object of picking up the San Antonio trail. Meanwhile, the cream-white gelding with which he had parted company was drumming its way towards the north, and, its saddle empty, it seemed to take on a new lease of life, so that it kept ahead of Petroff and his men for another mile or two—a dim-seen form galloping through the close-ranked trees like a tantalising will-o'-the-wisp that they could not overtake. They caught up with it at last, how- ever, and it was only then that they dis- covered they had been fooled. It was only then that they realised to their chagrin they had been chasing a rider- less bronc. At what point during the pursuit had the Eagle left the gelding's saddle? This was a question which none of the Russians could answer, and it was all too clear that it would be futile to attempt picking up his trail now. Yet, in the midst of his disappointment at the masked rider's escape, Petroff hit upon a crafty scheme. "We've lost the Eagle," he said, "but I think this horse of his is going to come in handy. Bring him along." One of the Cossacks took charge of the gelding, and a moment afterwards Petroff was wheeling to lead the way across country in a southerly direction. his objective being the canyada which the main body of his troops were besieg- ing. He called a halt before he was actually in sight of the Vigilantes' hide-out, and. bidding his companions remain where they were, rode on alone. As he advanced the sound of rifle and revolver fire reached his ears, and a little later he came in view of the position occupied by his squadron. Then he espied the artillery-piece that had been dispatched from Burr's stronghold the previous night. It had been so placed that it com- manded the ravine in which the Vigilantes were ensconced, and a group of gunners were assembled beside it. Petroff cantered up to those men, and one of them saluted him. " We're all ready to open the bom- bardment, sir," the fellow reported. "Is the powder on its way?" "There will be no powder," the het- man answered gruffly, "and therefore there will bo no bombardment. Get the field-piece hitched to its limber and pre- pare for retreat. We're moving out." His instructions were carried out stoically, and in the meanwhile Petroff summoned the squads of carabineers who were lying amongst the snub; and ore long the whole of the besieging force had mounted and was riding off in column, the field-gun bringing up the rear behind a team of plodding mules. The departure of the Cossacks who had invested the canyada all through the night was greeted by a rousing cheer on the part of the Vigilantes. But that loud huzza, with its resounding note of triumph, only produced a sinister expres- Every Tuesday sion of crafty amusement on the features of Petroff. Swinging along at the head of the squadron, he had soon rejoined the smaller party, who had been concerned in the fruitless pursuit of the Eagle. Then he led the entire column north under cover of a ridge that lay between thorn and the Vigilantes' hide-out, and finally he drew rein on a beaten track that was flanked by clusters of great boulders. "Bring that gelding to me," he called out to the man who was in charge of the Eagle's pony. The horse was fetched to his side, and, taking pencil and paper, Petroff care- fully printed a message and pinned it to the bronc's saddle. It was a message purporting to be from the Eagle, and that was the reason why the hetman had used printed lettering, fearing that the Vigilantes might be familiar with their leader's normal handwriting. "Am hiding out in Stony Gulch." the missive ran, " and need help. Come at once." Petroff turned to the man who was grasping the white gelding's rein. "Drive this horse in the direction of the Vigilantes' lair," he ordered, "but make sure that they don't see you. Un- less I am mistaken, they will leave the canyada the minute they read this mes- sage, and we shall have them at our mercy then, for they must come this way." His subordinate glanced at the note which the hetman had pinned to the gelding's saddle. " H'm, a clever ruse, sir," he mur- mured. "But how do we know that the Eagle didn't work round to the canyada after we lost him? How do we know i that he isn't at this very moment with' the Vigilantes—or the Motilities, as they call themselves?" "If he had made tracks for the can- yada he would have been seen by the men who were besieging it," Petroff retorted. " Yes, oven if he had effected a detour to come in from the far end of the ravine. I have already asked whether anyone joined the Vigilantes during the last hour, and have been assured that no one has done so. Now do as I have told you." The man in charge of the gelding departed for the ridge that intervened between the Russians and the canyada. and presently he disappeared in a cop- pice on the summit of it. Meanwhile Petroff ordered the troopers of his squadron to conceal themselves amongst the rocks, and. the field-gun also being hidden, the hetman alone was in view when the fellow who had been dispatched to the ridge came spurring IkkIc. "The ruse worked, sir." he an- nounced breathlessly. "I turned the gelding loose, and it went straight for the canyada. 1 waited to see what hap- pened, and in a minute or two the Vigilantes came galloping out of their hide-out." "And they're headed this way all right?" Petroff jerked. "They're headed for Stony Gulch?" "Yes. sir." The hetman promptly sought the shel- ter of the boulders with the Cossack who had returned from the ridge, and then he called out in a voice that was audible to the rest of the squadron. "Wail until the Vigilantes are trapped between the rocks before yon close in on thorn. And don't open lire unless you have to. I want them alive A Silence now descended upon the scene of the ambuscade, a silence that prevailed until Don Loring's Motilities hove into sight on the ridge, with the