CHAPTER XXV
BLIZZARD'S CHARGE
Kid Wolf was so dazed for a time that he but dimly realized what washappening to him. Half stunned, he was carried, along with DaveRobbins, out of the arroyo. He was light-headed from the blows he hadreceived.
That torture was in store for them, he well knew. He heard GilGarvey's voice calling for Yellow Skull. Red faces, smeared with warpaint, glared at him. He was being taken on a pony's back through athicket of brush.
They were up on the mesa again, for he felt the sun burn out and a hotwind sweep the desert. What were they waiting for?
Yellow Skull! Kid Wolf had heard of that terrible, insane Apachechief. He could expect about as much mercy from him as he could fromGarvey.
Some one was shaking his shoulder. It was the Lost Springs banditleader.
Kid Wolf looked about him. A score or more of warriors, naked save forbreechcloths, stood around in a hostile circle. Garvey was chucklingand in high good humor. With him was Shank, sneering and cold-eyed.
"We want to know where that money is!" Garvey shouted.
Kid Wolf's brain was clearing. On the ground, a few feet away, layDave Robbins, still stunned.
"I'm not sayin'," the Texan returned calmly.
Garvey's blotched face was convulsed with rage.
"Yuh'll wish yuh had, blast yuh!" he snarled. "I'm turnin' yuh bothover to Yellow Skull! He's got somethin' in store for yuh that'll makeyuh wish yuh'd never been born! Yo're west o' the Pecos now, Mr.Wolf--and there's no law here but me!"
The Kid eyed him steadily. "Theah's no law," he said, "but justice.And some of these times, sah, yo' will meet up with it!"
"I suppose yuh think yuh can hand it to me yoreself," leered the banditleader.
"I may," said Kid Wolf quietly.
Garvey laughed loudly and contemptuously.
"Yellow Skull!" he called. "Come here!"
The man who strode forward with snakelike, noiseless steps washorrible, if ever a man was horrible. He was the chief of the renegadeApache band, and as insane as a horse that has eaten of the loco weed.Sixty years or more in age, his face was wrinkled in yellow folds overhis gaunt visage. Above his beaked nose, his beady black eyesglittered wickedly, and his jagged fangs protruded through his animallips. He wore a breechcloth of dirty white, and his chest was naked,save for two objects--objects terrible enough to send a thrill ofhorror through the beholder. Suspended on a long cord around his neckwere two shriveled human hands. Above this was a necklace made ofdried human fingers.
"Yellow Skull," said Garvey, pointing to Kid Wolf, "meet the man whoslew yore son, Bear Claw!"
The expression of the chief's face became ghastly. His eyes wideneduntil they showed rings of white; his nostrils expanded. With a fierceyell, he thumped his scrawny chest until it boomed like an Indian drum.Then he gave a series of guttural orders to his followers.
Kid Wolf, who knew the Apache tongue, listened and understood. Hissunburned face paled a bit, but his eyes remained steady. He turnedhis head to look at Robbins, who was recovering consciousness.
"Keep up yo' nerve, son," he comforted. "I'm afraid this is goin' tobe pretty terrible."
The bonds of the two white men were loosened, and they were pulled totheir feet and made to walk for some distance. Garvey and Shank,grinning evilly, accompanied them.
Kid Wolf felt the comforting weight of his hidden knife at the back ofhis neck. It would do him little good, however, to draw it, for he washemmed in by the Apaches. He might get two or three, but in the end hewould be beaten down. He was determined, at any rate, to go outfighting. If he could only bring justice to Garvey before he died, hewould be content. Tensely he waited for the opportune time.
One of the redskins carried a comb of honey. The Texan knew what thatmeant. The most horrible torture that could have been devised by menawaited them.
The torture party paused in a clear space in the middle of a highthicket of mesquite. Here in the sun-baked, packed sand were two anthills.
Kid Wolf had heard of the method before. What Yellow Skull intended todo was this: The two prisoners would be staked and tied so tightlyover the ant hills that neither could move a muscle. Then their mouthswould be propped open and honey smeared inside. The swarming coloniesof red ants would do the rest.
For the first time, Dave Robbins seemed to realize what was in storefor them. He turned his face to the Texan's, his eyes piteous.
"Kid!" he gasped, horrified.
"Steady, son," said Kid Wolf. "Steady!"
Quick hope had suddenly begun to beat in his breast. Deep within themesquite thicket, he had caught sight of something white and moving.It was his horse! Blizzard had followed his master, and stood ready todo his bidding.
Already the grinning Apaches were coming forward with the stakes andropes. Not a second was to be lost. It was a forlorn hope, but KidWolf knew that he could depend on Blizzard to do his best. Sharp andclear, the Texan gave the coyote yell!"
"_Yip-yip-ee!_"
What happened took place so suddenly that the Apaches never realizedwhat it all was! Crash! Like a white, avenging ghost horse, thesuperb Texas charger leaped out of the mesquite, muscles bunched. Itmade the distance to its master's side in two flashing leaps, bowlingover a half dozen Indians as it did so! The Apaches fell back,overcome with astonishment.
With a quick movement, Kid Wolf drew his knife, pulling it from hisneck sheath like lightning. With it he felled the nearest warrior.Another step brought him to Blizzard's side.
Garvey and Shank, acting quicker than their red allies, drew theirrevolvers.
"Get him! Shoot 'em down!" they yelled.
But Kid Wolf had seized the gun he had placed in Blizzard's stirrup.He dropped to his knees to the sand, just as lead hummed over his head.
Dave Robbins had struck one of the amazed Apaches and had jerked hisrifle away from him. Clubbing it, he smashed two others as fast asthey dived in.
Shank rushed, his gun winking spurts of fire.
Kid Wolf could not spare his enemies now. His own life depended on hisflashing Colt. He lined the tip of his front sight and thumbed thehammer.
_Thr-r-r-rup!_ Shank gasped, as lead tore through him. He droppedheadfirst, arms outstretched.
"Get on the hoss!" The Kid yelled at Robbins. Then he turned his gunon Garvey.
In his rage, the Lost Springs desperado fired too quickly. His aim wasbad, and the slug sang over the Texan's head.
"Reckon yo' are about to get the law that's west of the Pecos now,Garvey--justice!"
With his words, The Kid threw down on Garvey and suddenly snapped thehammer. The bullet found its mark. If Garvey had no heart, Kid Wolf'sbullet found the spot where it ought to be. With his glazing eyes, GilGarvey--wholesale murderer--saw justice at last. Dropping his gun, heswayed for a moment on his feet, then fell heavily.
"Look out, Kid!" Robbins yelled.
The Texan whirled just in time. A pace behind him was Yellow Skull,his hideous face distorted with mad fury. In his thin hand was a longleather thong, to which was attached a round stone. A second more, andKid Wolf's skull would have been smashed!
A burst of flame stopped him. The chief sagged, dropped. The Kid hadfired just as the stone was whirled aloft. The Indians, now that theirchief and white allies had fallen, retreated. The almost miraculousappearance of the horse had dismayed them and filled them withsuperstitious fear. A few more shots served to scatter them and sendthem flying for cover. Kid Wolf vaulted into the saddle. Robbins wasalready on Blizzard's back.
"Heads low!" sang out the Texan.
He headed the horse for the mesquites. Crashing through them, theyfound themselves on the mesa plain once more. Kid Wolf urged Blizzardto greater speed. Bullets buzzed around them, but it was evident thatthe Apaches had lost heart. Blizzard pounded on, and the cries behindsoon grew fainter and fainter. Kid Wolf relaxed a little and grinned.
"That's w
hat I'd call a narrow squeak," he chuckled. "How far toMexican Tanks?"
"On over the mesa," panted Robbins, "five or six miles."
"Then we'll make it," decided The Kid.
A quarter of an hour later, they drew rein and looked behind. Whetherthe Indians feared to approach any nearer to the government post, orwhether they had given up through superstitious fear, would have beenhard to tell. At any rate, there was nothing to be seen of them.
Two miles below the two men could see the little post known as MexicanTanks, scattered out in a fertile, cottonwood-grown valley. With oneaccord, they shook hands.
"Now will yo' believe me," asked the Texan, "when I tell yo' thatBlizzahd's a smaht hoss?"
Dave Robbins grinned. "So's his master," he chuckled. "And speakin'o' Blizzard again, I guess we owe him some water and a peck of oats.Reckon we'll find it down there." His face sobered. "It won't do meany good, Kid, to thank yuh."
"Don't try," drawled The Kid. "I'm a soldier of misfohtune, andexcitement's mah business. I'll leave yo' down heah, son. Go to yo'claim on the San Simon and make good--fo' yo' fathah's sake. And goodluck!"
"Yuh won't come along?"
Kid Wolf shook his head and smiled.
"I'm just a rollin' stone," he confessed, "and I just naturally rolltoward trouble. If yo' evah need me again, yo'll find me where thelead flies thickest. As soon as I turn this express money ovah to theauthorities, I'll be on my way again. Maybe it'll be the Rio Grande,perhaps the Chisholm Trail, and maybe--well, maybe I'll stay west ofthe Pecos and see what I can see. Quien sabe?"
Blizzard cocked his ears and turned his head to look his master in theeye. Blizzard savvied. He was "in the know."
THE END.
Kid Wolf of Texas Page 25
