Boy's Cinema (1935-39)

20 He joined up with them, and as he drew rein before the foremost horseman in the cavalcade he saw that the boy Kit Carson was present among them. "What's this?" he demanded. "I thought I made it clear that' Kit was to stay in the encampment near Santa Fe." A sturdy individual by the name of Kendrick answered him. "Yeah, we know that, Clark." the latter said ruefully, "an' we left him at the encampment all right. But it seems he up an' trailed us, for soon after we stopped here at Tascosa Bend accordin' to plan, he comes trottin' along on his pony as cool as yuh like. I figure the only way to make that little maverick stay outa trouble would be to hog-tie him." "That's what you should've done," Clark grunted, with a reproachful glance at Kit. ,"But since he's here he may as well stick with us. C<>me on, we're hittin' the breeze for Lost Canyada, and we've no time to lose." Kendrick looked at the big frontiers- man sharply. "You sound like somethin' was wrong," he said. "Where's Jamison, Bowie an' (Davy Crockett, anyhow?" "They're ambushed up there," was Clark's 'terse replv. "It's pretty clear to me now that Dupray made a dupe outa Jim Bowie. The Rider wasn't trapped in Lost Canyada at all. Instead, Dupray's men were lyin' in wait for the four of us, and they opened up on us as we were walkin' our horses down the ravine. Jamison, Bowie and Crockett lost their mounts, but I managed f'o keep ahold of mine, and after we'd traded lead with those renegades for a spell I made a dash for it and got out into the clear. "It was a chance in a thousand." he added, "but it came off, and if we hurry we may be in time to save Bowie and the others. They're well under cover among a bunch of rocks, and so long as their ammunition holds out they ought to be able to keep Dupray's gang at bay." He made no reference to his encounter with the Rider of the Painted Stallion, for in his anxiety to return to the scene of the ambuscade he was averse to launching into any detailed narrative. Thus it was without further delay that he and the men of the Jamison wagon- train set out for the north, turning their backs on Tascosa Bend. Kit Carson was in their midst at the outset, but ere long the youngster was left well to the rear, for his diminutive pony could not keep up with Clark's sorrel and the broncs of the other men. Nevertheless, the boy spurred after the rescue-party doggedly and succeeded in keeping them in view throughout that headlong gallop towards Lost Canyada. where murderous foes had snared Jamison and his two comrades. As for Clark Stuart, he rode well to tlie fore, leading the cavalcade over the sterile terrain of the forbidding moun- tain country, through ragged gulches, across stone-strewn ridges, through tracts of dry, tangled scrub that gained some poor nourishment from a soil parched by the blistering sun of tin- great South-Wesl Then il lasl the band of hard-riding pioneeis drew within earshot of Lost Canyada, and realising thai a brooding il nci bung upon the locality, the U.S. Government agent became a prey to a sense of dread and misgh lug. Had his dash for help been in vain? II pi he and his companions arrived too late to be of any aid to. Jamison, Bowie and Davy Crockett? Wen- tlio.se three redoubtable stalwarts of the frontier lying dead among the clutter of rocks September 24th, [938 BOY'S CINEMA where he had left them—slain by the ruthless outlaws who owed fealty to Escobedo Dupray ? Such were the dark thoughts that oppressed Clark's mind as his sorrel bore him nearer and ever nearer to the mouth of Lost Canyada with the men of the Jamison column strung out behind him, and they were thought's that per- sisted until the lie was given to them by the muffled blast of a shot somewhere in the ravine. It was answered by a desultory volley, and Clark knew that at least one of his friends was still alive. Was it too much to hope that all three of them were in the land of the living? He pressed on at the head of the rescuers, and inside another minute he and the men of the wagon-train were surging into Lost Canyada amid a thunder of hoofs and a smother of dust. Instantly they beheld groups of sinister figures edging down the rocky slopes of the ravine—the figures of Dupray's hirelings. These were tenta- tively descending towards the bed of the defile as if to converge upon a knot of boulders there, and they were blazing away at those boulders, from amongst which bullets were being discharged at them in response. The crooks, it seemed, had finally plucked up courage to close in on their prey, but they were never destined to make the "kill," for Clark and the rescue-party took in the situation at a glance, and next moment their guns were roaring a challenge to the renegades. The slopes of the Canyada echoed and re-echoed the tumult of the newcomers' opening salvo, and the very air seemed to tremble with the concerted outburst of that fusillade. Pandemonium broke loose in the defile, a pandemonium dominated by the resounding blatter of firearms and punctuated by the whine of lead and the cries of stricken men, with the beat of hoofs forming a sullen undertone to the din. Not for long did the clamour prevail, however, for although Dupray's men stood their ground for some thirty seconds half of them were wiped out' by the gunplay of Clark and his party by the time the rescuers had penetrated to the depths of the Canyada. The desperadoes on the left-hand slope suddenly gave way and, turning tail, scrambled up to the rim of the acclivity, whereupon those on the right- hand slope followed suit, and harried by shots from the revolvers and rifles of the Jamison faction, the survivors of the Dupray gang had soon picked up their horses and thrown themselves astride their saddles. They made off in an easterly direction along the twin summits of the ridges that framed the defile, and they dipped down on to a level expanse of prairie beyond it, joining forces there and sweeping onward in full flight. Mean- while, the men of the wagon-train had shown an eagerness to give chase, and would have pushed after Hie fugitives if Clark Stuart had not restrained them. " Our mounts are plenty blown and lathered, boys." he told them, "and we'd never catch up with them coyotes. We know where their hide-out is, any- way, and we can afford to take things easy, I reckon. Besides, our first con- cern is to find out if Jamison and Bowie and Davy Crockett are all right." He had hardly spoken the words when the wagon-boss and Jim Bowie were seen to emerge from the bunch of rocks where they and Crockett had been ensconced, and cantering over to them with the men of the column. Clark addressed Jamison and the veteran Indian fighter in an anxious voice. Every Tuesday "I'm glad you two fellows are okay," he said. "But what about Davy? They—they didn't get him, did they?" It was Bowie who answered him. "Don't you worry none about Davv, Clark," he stated, taking out a stick of black tobacco and biting off a wad of it. "He got clipped by a slug just afore you showed up. If took away his fur cap an' put a crease in his skull— shook him up a li'l, but he'll be right as rain in a minute or two. He's a-settin' among the rocks back thero collectin' his wits." Clark dismounted and accompanied Jamison and Bowie into the midst of the boulders, where he discovered Davv Crockett seated on a flat slab of stone. Sure enough Davy was little the worso for the injury he had received, and within the space of some sixty seconds was in full possession of his" faculties again. Jamison turned to Clark then. "Well," lie announced, "you an' ths boys got here just about in time. We'd run pretty low in ammunition, an' I guess them outlaws realised it, for, as you saw, they'd begun to sneak down on us in preparation for a final rush that would'vo meant the end of us. But what's the next move, Clark?" The younger man squared his power- ful shoulders. "The next move is to ma'ke tracks for Dupray's hide-away, Jamison," he said. "We're gonna do what we planned to do when we left Santa Pe—attack that hide-away and shoot it out with the rats who are holdin' up the Trade Treaty between Mexico and the United States. And we stand a better chance of success now than wo did before, Jamison, for we inflicted heavy casualties on thoso outlaws just now, and didn't lose a single man ourselves." With that he moved clear of the rocks, and Jamison and Bowie and Crockett following him, the four of them rejoined the men of the wagon- train and found that little Kit Carson had arrived in the defile. "Hallo," exclaimed Jamison at' sight of the lad, "what's Kit doin' here?" "He trailed the boys to Tascosa Bend," Clark interposed. "Wouldn't stay at the encampment near town. I've a mind to send him back there under an escort, only we'll need every man for this attack on the renegade hide-out." Kit, looking at his benefactor, observing the expression of indecision on his handsome, weather-beaten face, made haste to launch an appeal. "Aw, Clark, don't send me back," he begged. "Don't even think of it. I wanna be in at the finish—I wanna seo you an' the boys fix them outlaws once an' for all." The U.S. Government agent eyed him sternly for a moment. Then he smiled in spite of himself. "Okay, you little scamp," lie assented. "You win. But get' this and get it straight. You keep well to the rear of the column, and when we draw within range of that renegade hide-out see that you stay out of harm's way, understand ?" "I understand, Clark," the lad murmured. Clark moved now towards his sorrel and swung himself astride the animal As for Jamison, Howie and Davy Crockett, they shared mounts with three of tho cavalcade of horsemen whom the U.S. Government agent had led to their rescue, and a few seconds later whole troop was riding eastward through Lost Canyada at a steady clip-