STRANGER IN Shady Gulch

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 13026, 3 May 1940, Page 3

STRANGER IN Shady Gulch

3y DENVER BARDWELL

CHAPTER XXXII

• n iuu i left Caesar at the u-itn a firm order to stay with ?L; and keep strangers away. But ,uft 's ( 1 0 - had never been left out (i! V!;,nas%r’.s goings and comings ,«h as he had lately, and he like this situation. '"perhaps It "'as the memory o£ all e „ with rifles, ami the susthat they were going on a p f or coyotes, that prompted hjnt Whatever the reason, the re!Jt\vas In ß fi rst major rebellson inst orders. 1 Ip showed up as the group of d ri( iers were heading across r'uesa toward the western edge. Radkin pulled UP and looked down al fprg|y at hini* 3 %hame on you, Caesar! Don’t v nu know you’ll just get in the way L bullets in the kind of scrap we re leading for? Why didn’t you stay rvith Tuffy li ke 1 tolcl you t 0 ?” Caesar lifted his long forelegs to t)!anl them against the saddle, and ,; id h is dim against Radkin’s leg. He wagged his tail and whined soft-

Hadkin rubbed the dog’s furry ears “Pardner, we’re not hunting the kind of coyotes you’re used to fighting, but two-legged varmints that would sure like to drill you with lead—specially one of ’em that you know and don’t like. But now that you’re here, I reckon you might as n-ell come on with us.”

Caesar leaped for joy, as if he understood every word spoken to him. He ran on ahead until Radkin called him hack to heel.

The cavalcade soon reached the western Up of the mesa. Below, two hundred yards from the cliff base, the waters of Thumb Creek followed a winding course.

Every man looked toward the spot, a mile to the south, where the creek emerged from the mesa. A dismaying sight met their eyes. On the terrain. in front of the creek's source, was a large group of men, horses and vehicles. Men were hurrying, back and forth between the vehicles and the cavern from which the creek gushed. Those coming from the cavern carried bundles of cowhides on their shoulders, Piles of those hides were already high on the wagons. "Quick, men!” Radkin cried. "Follow me! ” ■ :

He spurred his horse southward, swerving back from the edge of the mesa to keep out of sight of the Half Diamond crew. In a few minutes, he came to a clump of scrub oak and cedars. As lie threw himself from the saddle and hitched his horse, his men did likewise.

Snatching his rifle from its scabliar, he ran toward the brink of the mesa. Other rifles were clutched in the hands of those who ran after I'im. Caesar bounded along beside him. i! He reached a spot directly above the cavern and threw himself down, peering from behind a bush beside I a jutting rock. He ordered Caesar t° get back and lie down. He saw that the men below had * er& Ilow Piling the remaining hides 011 Pack horses. Out beyond the | sitting astride a horse, was "homas Lally. Then, Radkin recognized Duke assei s booming bass voice from I below, though the foreman was I °° close to the cliff to be visible, if COmes the last of ’em, boss! ‘I s huick work for you!” • J a ' ,kiU saw three men moving out ' Pac k Worses with this last ° f k i( * es ' a i me d his rifle at eap stacked on the shoulders of v ea ding bearer, and fired, min*f * s^ot found its mark, the t er . Ulßped ’ threw his burden helMna 6 ter ’ an< * hashed for cover be;i " ason - The other two also i, Wei? 1 ? 6 their Hardens and > W Bhmd trees and rocks. ’ tie for 8h^ ere Was a mad scramsllouted t “All right, you wve^jf 0 !! 1 there! We ’ ve sot you on e f ' Fy and move those wagii! ever j^ t ,, and we l 1 sow hot lead ij ' I lj ' efore be had finished f * % t o - ! e * saw Thomas Lally lift 2in? 1S , SlloUlcler and fire - The P Ws £ e of£ th * rock close to J ti Then, L a iy was yelling frenziedly, ' t!a oa ta“he r a e^ nS! DriVe! Whip [|i|l There w c^a ge of 8S a pick-up in the tor tW° Se Delcnv - Whl le some li 6 Wa Sons, others, from

the cover they had sought, started firing rifle shots toward the mesa top. Bullets dug up gravel and dirt all along the brink.

Radkin’s men, stretched out behind whatever protection they could find on the edge of the duff, returned the fire. Soon, however, the wagons had begun to move, under the straining jerks of lashed draught animals.

“Pick off the drivers!’’ Radkin ordered. “We’ve got to stop ’em!” “Most of 'em are hid by them stacks of hides!’’ pointed out Chick Gardner, a tew feet to Radkin’s left.

Beyond Chick, Rooster shouted, “Let’s knock the wagon horses down, boss! It’s an old Injun trick, and bad luck, but we can’t stop ’em elsewise! ”

“Knock ’em down, then!” Radkin agreed. “Tt’ll be worse luck if they get away!” Rooster’s advice was taken with effective results. They aimed their rifles at the wagon teams and, by bringing down one or more horses in each team, soon succeeded in halting all the wagons. Then, a strange thing happened, one of those coincidences that keep alive superstitions. Rooster let out a sudden yelp and rolled over. When Radkin crawled over to him, the cowpuncher was holding a handkerchief to his head and swearing. “Just creased me, boss,” he muttered,. “but that bullet never woulda found me if I hadn’t shot a boss! I ain’t never gonna do it again!”

Radkin made sure that the wound was not serious, then returned to his battle position. He began counting the number of enemies down below. There were at least eight men, maybe one or two more, firing from behind the wagons and other points of cover. Among them, he caught a glimpse of Thomas Rally's big, grey hat behind the farthest wagon.

But that accounted for not much more than a third of the men he Tiad estimated were originally in the assemblage. Where were the others?

Some, of course, including Duke Hasser, had* been in the shelter of the cliff, where they couldn’t b© seen, when the firing had started. He had heard their shouts. But now, he realized, the shouting down there at the base of the cliff had ceased. A sudden fear as to the reason for this quiet seized him. Again, he crawled Hack from his position. Once clear of the line of fire, he leaped to his feet and swept his glance to the south.

Instantly, his fear was confirmed. He saw a line of men streaking across the mesa. There were about a dozen of them, and he recognized the figure of Duke Hasser in the lead. They had evidently dlimbed up the trail to the south and- were aiming to get to the rear of him and his companions. A bullet zipped past his ear. He flopped to the ground and hastily squirmed behind a rock. “Look out, fellers!” he shouted. “They’re coming up behind us!”