Argosy All-Story Weekly, June 13, 1925 — page 105: what you’re looking at

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

HOPALONG CASSIDY’S PAL, time lost, or he would strike north and west in hope of finding the trail of the fugitive farther along, in which case the time lost would not amount to so much. Undecided in this, Shanghai slid down the slope a few yards, arose, mounted and rode north, thereby making his trail de- scribe a sharp and narrow angle and one that could not be picked up in case Mes- quite chose a northwest course. Of course, later Mesquite would realize that he had been tricked and start a circle of his own, but by that time it would be too late. Shanghai reluctantly admitted that this youth was forcing him to draw heavily on his years of experience, that he had to plan hours ahead and overlook no possibility. Night found him the gainer by a full day’s ride, and he camped early to permit his horse to make up for some of the poor graz- ing it had had. In such country the grass did not grow thickly, and the radius of the picket rope would not compensate for the energy used up during the day. A very large part of the grazing time was spent in moving about in search of grass, and even a hobbled animal, able to cover more ground than one circumscribed by a picket rope, might feed inadequately. On this part of the mountain park the earth was semidesert, and while the grass was famous for its nutriment it was very sparse. If. MersQuiITE, bearing in mind the general trend of the trail-circle, had passed the point where %2 had expected to cut it again; and suspicion grew swiftly. Would Shang- hai voluntarily return to his friends, now that he had managed to get away from the storm center of danger? | Convinced that he was wasting time on a fool’s chase, he had one of three alterna- tives: to abandon the trail as now lost and of small value because of the time wasted; to follow his own tracks back to where he had turned aside, which would result in more lost time; or to gamble in an attempt to pick up the signs to the northward. In this case it did not so much matter if he abandoned the trail, for the reason that he could ride back and pursue others of the TA ot? band, and obtain a prisoner or a victim from the rest of the crowd; and if he stuck to this present pursuit he might not only fail in it, but be unable later on to overtake any of the others. The cleverness of Shanghai’s stratagem Struck him with sudden force and sent a little wave of cold anger through him; he could imagine the old fox cackling in de- rision; and he swung his horse toward the northwest, determined to renew the chase. If he failed in it he might force the fugitive into the range of Red’s or Lanky’s riding. All day he rode,. stopping only when he came to massed grass so that his mount could, in half an hour, obtain an amount of food which would require three times as long to pick up under ordinary conditions. Darkness found him moving with no thought of camping, and he pushed on un- til after dawn without stopping except to rest his horse. He was certain that he had not yet reached a locality where he might expect to find the trail. Coming to another patch of heavy grass in a damp depression of the plain, he picketed the horse and cooked him- self a breakfast over stems of sage and small brush, and then went on again. At noon he climbed a steep, high ridge and scanned the country on three sides of him, and was turning awav in disappoint- ment when an infinitesimal moving speck caught his eye. It was a bird hastily climb- ing almost straight up in the air. Such a flight bespoke fright, and Mesquite, hop- Ing anew, ran and stumbled down the ridge, vaulted into the saddle and struck out on a lope straight for the scene of the hawk’s possible discomfiture. Shanghai, riding down the smooth floor of a deep dry-wash, the sounds of his horse’s hoofs lost in the fine, soft sand, turned a sharp bend and blundered upon a hawk feeding on a jack rabbit. The bird, enraged by this sudden intrusion, showed signs of fight for an instant, and then, leaving its prey, launched itself into the air as straight up as it could, frantically trying to escape the threat of Shanghai’s drawn gun glint- ing in the sunlight. Shanghai regretfully holstered the weap- on, his trigger finger withheld by a sub- GOMIIGIoOok CO