Clair Blank

“ Gale was staring at the dark little shanty that Tom had said was doubtless the entrance to the old miner’s mine. She wondered if the man had ever realized his dream of great wealth, the dream he doubtless had when he settled here and began to dig. A shadow, a moving shadow, had detached itself from the spot of darkness which was the shanty and was going toward a thick clump of trees. ”

“ I wish you could have seen him, girls. He is positively thirsting for knowledge. But he can’t go to school because his mother has no money with which to send him. It is a shame because an education would certainly not be lost on him. It made my heart ache just to see him and to hear him tell about how fortunate he was that Tom and Virginia and the other cowboys told him stories and taught him a little of arithmetic 233 and spelling. He is so cheerful with what he has, his riding and fishing and hunting. He could be such a fine man because he has an insatiable ambition. ”

“ With a ringing crash, the room was plunged into darkness. She heard Pedro shout to his partner as she saw Val’s figure outlined against the window when her friend climbed over the sill. It all happened in a split second and Gale sprang to the front door which the outlaw had deserted when he sprang after Valerie. But ere she reached the door Pedro was behind her and a heavy hand on her shoulder pulled her stumbling back into the room. She eluded him and sprang away. She had the advantage of the bandits, for she knew the Wilson living room and she knew what to avoid but the men didn’t. ”

“ The Arizona night was cool, the sky studded with stars. In the living room the girls from the East were toying with the radio and dancing. Gale and Valerie stepped out onto the porch into the cool darkness. ”

“ It was almost like standing on the edge of the world. Behind her towered high and mighty mountains, before her lay a sea of moon-swept valley. Born and brought up in the little town of Marchton, Gale had known some outdoor life, but never the breathless beauty and limitless quiet of a night in Arizona. Quiet had she thought? Far away a coyote howled and yet another. ”

“ Phyllis declared.
“I’ll send your Mother a lamp when I get home,” Gale promised Tom. “It was my idea to put the place in darkness.”
“You don’t have to bother,” he said laughingly. “You’ll probably get a reward for capturing those fellows. We’ll let the Sheriff buy the lamp.”
“You and Loo Wong deserve the reward,” Val put in. “We didn’t do a thing.”
“You captured them that time in the cabin,” Tom said. “That’s what the reward is for. I don’t want any money. You can have every bit--to find some new adventures with,” he added laughingly. ”

“ It is something he wants more than anything else in the world. Just to look at him made me want it, too.
“Of course all you girls have a share in the reward and it is up to you to do as you please, but I can tell you if you should agree with me Bobby would love it--and you,” she finished.
“Hurrah for Bobby!” Carol said loudly. “I want to meet him.”
“Didn’t I say Gale’s plan would be the best?” Phyllis demanded, hugging Gale affectionately. “You always seem to know just what we’d like,” she told her chum.
Virginia hugged Gale too. “You’re a darling, Gale, to think of Bobby. ”

“ Smothering a yawn, Virginia glanced at Madge beside her and received a sunny smile. She smiled in answer and folded her arms. She liked all the 136 girls that had come West with Gale. What a fine name they had chosen for themselves. The Adventure Girls! The very words spoke of fun, mystery, and excitement. They must have countless good times. All of them were capable of stirring up mischief and excitement. She wondered how so many different natures had ever come together. She must ask Gale sometime how they had first formed their group. ”

“ The other girls were sleeping, she supposed Tom and Jim were too, out in their tent. But her ears magnified a thousandfold each crackling of a log and each creak of the floor sent expectant shivers along her spine. She realized then she was waiting for the ghost of the cabin to return. She was sure he would. No self-respecting ghost would stop after such a mild attempt to frighten them away if he was really anxious to be rid of them. ”

“ She fell silent and Gale, too, pulled her blanket closer for a cool wind had sprung up. The last thing she remembered before Tom brought them all wide awake with a loud banging on the frying pan was the wild, untamed howl of a coyote.
With the first dancing rays of the sun, the riders were up and about their business. Packs securely fastened on the pack horses and the girls mounted, they started on their way. As always when riding their spirits rose with the sun. ”

“ Wilson agreed heavily, “But I can’t permit you or Jim or any of those girls to run the risk.”
“But I tell you there isn’t any risk,” Tom argued. “No one would ever suspect us. Even the girls won’t know. We will be just a camping party.”
“But if someone should find out what you are doing--you would have no protection, there would be nothing you could do.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Tom said. “Don’t you see, Dad? It is the best way to attempt to find the bandits. They would never suspect a party of girls.” ”

“ Aren’t we the Adventure Girls and didn’t we come, out for some more adventures? But so far,” she added humorously, “you and Gale have been doing all the adventuring. Getting kidnapped and----”
“And almost run through by a Mexican and his knife,” finished Valerie. “Well, from now on, Janet, I cheerfully resign all my adventures in your favor.”
“Can I count on that?” Janet asked when the other girls joined them.
“We are on our way home, girls,” sighed Carol, “and all our adventuring is over for another summer. Dear me, winter and school are dull times, don’t you think?” ”

“ The horse darted forward. Behind her the rope pulled the cougar clear from Jim. The pony sped down the trail, its rider bent low in the saddle, the rope dragging the squirming, struggling mountain lion over the stony ground. Gale did not slow her mount till she was sure that the animal was dead. Then she turned her horse and trotted him slowly back to the group.
Tom and Virginia were busy with Jim. The cowboy’s shirt hung in ribbons, and the flesh of his shoulders and arms was streaming with blood. ”

“ Phyllis declared.
“I used to get the jitters every time I thought of Pedro and his knife,” Val confided to Gale in a secluded dark corner of the porch where they had gone for a breath of air between spurts of gaiety. “Now I’m glad we did meet them as we did.”
“Why?” Gale wanted to know.
“Well, look what we did with the money,” Val 238 said. “It was worth all our adventures to see that little boy’s face this afternoon.”
“He was just about overwhelmed,” Gale smiled softly. “It is amazing that he could be so starved for knowledge and contact with other youngsters his age.” ”

“ On the porch of the ranch house were gathered the Adventure Girls with Virginia.
“Aha, run away from us, will you?” accused Janet.
“You lost me,” Gale replied.
“We have been discussing ways of spending your reward,” Carol informed her. “We have about decided to save it for another trip out here next summer.”
“To meet some more bandits,” interposed Valerie dryly.
“That might not happen in another hundred years,” Virginia declared. “You would have to pick the summer that we were having trouble. Other years all is peaceful and serene.” ”

“ She pulled with all her strength but the horse didn’t slacken in speed, not a fraction. He seemed bent on reaching some invisible object ahead and nothing could swerve him from his purpose. Janet braced her feet squarely in the stirrups, put both hands on the rein and continued to pull.
Phyllis, who was behind Gale in the race to 178 reach Janet, saw the runaway swerve suddenly, an act all of them had been unprepared for. Janet’s horse raced parallel to its pursuers and it was a moment of lost precious time before either Jim or Tom could change the course of their own mounts. ”

“ Janet declared, “but hang it all, I almost cried with him.”
“I guess we never realized before how fortunate we were,” Phyllis said, contemplating the blue sky overhead. “Didn’t it do something to you just now? I feel all sort of big inside. Like--like I wanted to be nice to everybody in the world.”
“It does make you happy just to make somebody else happy,” Madge agreed. “He is such a cunning little chap.” ”

“ Even so, Tom and Jim, western bred and experienced in trailing both men and animals, should have been suspicious. But they weren’t.
In the northern region of Arizona are plateaus broken by high mountains. Between the foothills of a high range was a winding trail and it was this that the Adventure Girls and their friends followed, winding in and out through forests thick with pine trees and cottonwoods, jack rabbits darting across the trail, making the horses prance and rear, and the girls getting so weary they could hardly stay in their saddles. ”

“ Off to the left had sounded a series of sharp explosions, as a fusillade of rifle shots.
Virginia had grown a little pale under her tan, and the hand that gripped her horse’s reins was clenched tightly, but she summoned a smile for Gale’s benefit.
“Just some of the boys having target practice, I reckon,” she said easily.
But Gale was not to be deceived. Target practice would not cause Virginia to appear suddenly so nervous. However, Gale did not press the subject at the time. She knew if there was something wrong at the K Bar O she would know it before long. ”

“ He and Phyllis and Wong had met Valerie when she dropped from the window.
In quick strides he entered the living room and in another minute had flung himself on one of the men. Together they struggled in the darkness. Loo Wong had come up silently behind Gale and now he followed Tom into the confusion.
“They’ll kill each other,” Phyllis declared nervously as she and Val joined Gale. ”

“ Janet demanded. “You must have, everybody else does. Come now, confess!”
“Yes,” Gale said, “I have a plan, and I’m wondering what you would think of it.”
“Well, we can’t think a thing unless you tell us what it is,” Carol said practically.
“Yes, Gale, tell us,” Phyllis agreed. “Yours will probably be the best. The rest of these weak minded people will soon suggest buying an airplane.” ”

“ In the untidy, sparsely furnished room on the first floor of the cabin the girls faced their abductors, three of the most dangerous, most crafty looking individuals they had ever seen. It was with a pang of fear that both Gale and Valerie recognized the leader as one of the bandits who had robbed the bank in Coxton. ”

“ The moon as it moved westward caused a dark, heavy shadow on the far side of the cabin and Gale stepped into its protecting blackness. A sudden thought of her horse occurred to her and she went back to where he was tied to see if he was secure and safe. There was no telling when she might want him in a hurry. She might have to leave suddenly, she thought humorously. 147 She returned to the cabin and sat down in the protecting shadow. She wondered if there was a harder thing in the world than the job of waiting. ”

“ Long and repeatedly the girls had discussed the subject of careers. What could they be? Artists? Only Val could do justice to that branch of work. Actresses then? Well, perhaps Phyllis would go in for the Drama. Madge, Carol, and Janet were totally at sea, as was Gale herself. ”

“ The girls waited lest the faint noise attract the attention of their abductors. But the voices continued in their indistinguishable hum and in a minute Gale was through the window on the roof. She helped Valerie and the two of them clung to the window sill. Inch by inch they eased themselves over the short roof to the edge. There, Gale lay face downward and hung over.
“You’ll fall!” Valerie hissed, holding firmly to her friend’s belt.
“Shshsh,” Gale cautioned. “Are you good at sliding down a pole? Well, whether you are or not, you’re going to. ”

“ The others motioned for silence as the knocks were resumed. Three more were followed by a low, gurgling scream that rose and wavered on the night air, dying slowly away. The girls exchanged glances, their faces white and troubled. Tom was frowning fiercely. Jim’s eyes were darting about the room to find the source of the ghostly knocks and scream. ”