Adventure Magazine Cover — page 135: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Pards struck a dramatic pose while waiting for silence. The confusion ended as abruptly as life ends. “The stone-medicine is gone! The stone- medicine is gone!’ Red Crow shouted sev- eral times. None of his men spoke. He became’si- lent, breathing deep and rapidly like an exhausted runner. The Rabbit got on his feet and asked: “Has the Red Crow looked with sharp eyes? Has he looked everywhere in the lodge?” “Tt is gone!” The Rabbit folded his arms and swung his quick glance around the circle and loudly announced: “Then the Walking Dead Man has more talk. My medicine tells me your stone- medicine is angry because you would kill one of the white men. Give me the three white men and do not get in front of us when we leave this place and your medicine will be returned.” ! Terrible rage convulsed Red Crow’s usually immobile features. Now he knew there was nothing supernatural about the disappearance of the stone idol. “The Walking Dead Man knows where the lost medicine is?”’ he denounced. “No. Hedoes not know. But he knows it will be returned when the white men are set free.” By a mighty effort the chief smoothed his countenance down to a mask-like stolidity even if he could not master his fear and anger. He forced himself to meditate. He believed the presence of at least one of the three prisoners had brought death to his father, Little Tree. He knew the medicine- ponies had been used as riding animals, that the medicine-lodge and sacred pipe had been profaned. But the loss of the medicine was a tribal calamity. All his ambitions of succeeding Ouray, too friendly with whites since his visit to Washington, were ashes until the stone image was recovered. He seated himself on his robe and quietly said: “The Walking Dead Man has something to trade.” “He trades the lost medicine for the lives of three white men.” “How will he trade when he does not know where the medicine is?” demanded the chief. “He will know after the white men have 133 their guns and are put on horses, and after Red Crow and his men say they-shall not be hurt. Send six warriors with us to the open place below this camp and my medicine will then tell me to send back word where the lost medicine is.” Lomsom touched the gambler’s elbow and whispered: “You don’t take that Euclid away.” “‘He’s. nothing to me. Kill him if you want to,” shortly replied Goss. “But if you buck against the Rabbit’s medicine you'll quit being the White Chief of the Utes. The Rabbit might even prove you're to blame for the loss of the medicine and the death of Red Crow’s father.” ‘“‘There’s medicine and medicine,” un- easily muttered Lomsom. “But that chunk of stone didn’t walk off by itself. Some of you stole it. Red Crow ain’t a fool.” Red Crow whispered with some of the older men for several minutes. None of the renegade’s followers were included in the conference. Lomsom noticed this and was afraid. Finally the chief stood behind his robe and announced: “The Uncompahgre men say it is good to know how the medicine left the lodge. They say it is good to know this before 4 trade is made with the Walking Dead Man.” The Rabbit believed his own stone- medicine for locating what is lost could show the way to the hidden image, and he murmured an appeal to Unelanuhi to blind the eyes of the Brown Rock until the white men were safe. Then he asked— “Who knows how the medicine went away, and where it is?” “The medicine-pipe knows how it went away,’ promptly answered the chief. “It has been smoked by that white man.” And he pointed a finger at Ellis. “It can not be passed around the eircle to be smoked by more white men; it is very angry. It can give medicine to another pipe that will be passed and smoked. The man holding the ‘pipe when it goes out stole the stone- medicine.”’ THE casting of lots by means of a lighted pipe passing around a circle to determine who should undertake some unusually haz- ardous service, was common among several tribes. But this appeal to the pipe was unexpected by the Rabbit and his heart was =~ comicbooks.com