Evening star., 1935-06-30
Magazine Section

him. tie made wlld, nylng leap tor
the drivers seat of the truck.
He knew that his horse would sooner
or later be discovered; that the animal
would be identified. and his riders
identity discovered as surely as
though he had committed the bold
hold-up without the aid of the mask.
But he dared not let the Waxon outfit
get away with that gold.
He snapped back the gearshift
lever. eased in the clutch. The big
truck roared ahead in low gear. Dick
shifted. A man shouted. The truck
gathered momentum. Dick looked
back through the window in the rear
of the drivers compartment. He saw
horseman swing from the saddle,
wrestle with the lock on the gate. Dick
shifted once more, pushed the throttle
to the f1oorboards. The big truck
sounded like huge airplane as the
heavy motor raced into a roaring
rhythm of speed.
The ranch was fenced at this point,
and the road paralleled the fence.
The horseman who had dropped from
his horse to struggle with the paddock
was being hopelessly left behind, but
the second horseman. more resource
full, had turned his mount, and was
galloping along parallel to the fence.
He had at first gained on the heavy
truck. Now the horse was dropping
behind.
Dick saw a squirting tongue of
flame, heard the impact of bullet
against the door of the drivers COM
partment, saw steel rip from the dash
but an inch or two from his right knee.
The sound of the motor drowned out
the noise of the report.
-, Dick watched the road, fighting
desire to turn fascinated eyes toward
that horseman, to see the flash which
would mark the second shot.
Suddenly myriad cracks appeared
in the windshield in front of his eyes,
distorting the view which he had of
the road. A bullet clipped past his
head, striking the rim of his sombrero.
and jerking it from his head.
Dick kept the throttle down. He
had shifted the machine into high
gear, and with every revolution of the
motor, it was gathering speed.
There were no more bullets sent
crashing through the drivers compart-
ment, but Dick, stealing a quick
glance over his shoulder. saw squirt of
flame, and realized that the man had
dismounted and was shooting at the
tires.
The truck roared onward. The road
dipped down a bank, crossed a, steep
barranca, came up the other side, and
Dick felt the heavy truck sliding and
skidding as he fought the wheel for
the turn. Once on the other side. and
he was safe, as at that point the road
turned away from the fence and fol-
lowed along the bank of dry arroyo.
The truck was making good time
now, but Dick realized that it would
be but short time before lighter,
faster car would leave the Flying-M
Ranch and overtake him. The moon
was bathing the country in silver. The
dry arroyo was mass of inky shadows.
For moment, Dick thought of rum
ming the truck off the road and con-
cealing it. Then he remembered that
these outlaws werS skitied trailers.
men who could trail a calf for miles
over rugged country. 1t would be but
child's play for them to follow the
= tracks of the big truck.
An idea flashed into his mind. He
kicked out the clutch, careful not to
apply the brakes so that there would
be any slightest variation in the
tracks which the tires would make,
and coasted along the dusty road until
the big machine came to stop.
1t was but matter of four or five
feet to the bank of the arroyo, where
waters tore madly down during cloud