J. Allan Dunn

“ But now, if there is any manhood left in me, I aim to foster it. Doubtless I shall fall, but I need not fail. A man is not always beaten because he is down.
“Either I must do this or sink below the semblance of humanity. I have seen a vision of myself, sir; senile, feeble, old, in the last stage, the final scene of life's eventful history; stripped of everything, whining for gruel to suck between my toothless jaws, an object beyond man's sympathy, that most miserable of beings, an ancient human being who has forfeited his manhood. ”

“ For Strong to attempt to force a way would be suicide.
Maria was stanch, nodding her old head until her triple chins worked like the bellows of an accordion, using her Mexican proverbs.
“Make haste slowlee, señor,” she would say. “He who walk slow go sure. To walk to Sevilla, ees a long way. But I am a woman. Thees men of Lobo they have their girls in the cantinas. Weeth them they quarrel, and of them they tire. Then, perhaps, the women tell what they know. What there is I shall learn an' spin together, weave like Navajo blanket. ”

“ There was no sign of Hurley, and he thought that the heat might have affected the old man's heart, and that he might have choked to death, swallowed up in the messy stuff, on the surface of which great bubbles slowly formed and burst, for all the world like a giant's portion of porridge. ”

“ It was not very far to the springs, and they advertised themselves long before one arrived by the fumes of sulphuretted hydrogen and the sulphur deposits about their rims. There were seven or eight water holes of various types—not all sulphur—including an immature geyser that bombed intermittently. Strong did not know the location of the mud bath, but he saw Hurley's pony standing disconsolately between two bubbling and malodorous basins, and then he saw the mass of heaving, steaming peat. ”

“ Strong answered, “only my suspicions.” He did not think it necessary to go over the whole affair, but briefly said that he suspected the Lobo pack, a little fearful that the lawyer would launch off into one of his violent tirades. But he made no direct comment.
“Strong, you see me sober, sir—entirely sober—for the first time. You have not been in Laguna long, but you have heard about me. The prize drunkard of Three Corners, the jester, the butt of the cantinas. There are sometimes reasons why a man loses grip of himself. I speak without excuse. ”

“ These few who had ventured to explore were always warned before they reached the barrier, a voice from an unseen guard giving caution and, if it was not promptly heeded, a rifle bullet would come humming from some spot high up the cliff, unbetrayed by smoke from the high-powered charge, its source confused by the volleying echoes the report aroused. ”

“ When he was in Three Corners nothing kept him away from Laguna longer than three or four nights and, on his return from his excursions, he would invariably ride in full force, and hold carousal, flinging gold about—always gold coins, tens and twenties. Some few men were always left to guard the cañon fence. ”

“ The crick, risin', might have washed thet off the slate. A ravine opens above the pass in mo' or less broken country. Once thar, they could easy keep out of sight plumb to the cañon.”
Edmonds took the rough but serviceable sketch and studied it. Then he put it into his pocket and shook hands again with Strong.
“You may feel that we've tried to cajole you out of what you consider your right to punish the men who killed your partner, Mr. Strong. As I said before, I can appreciate your feelings. Where there is no law, justice must find its own agents as it invariably does. ”

“ If so, it will probably mean the disposal of his outfit where they will not disturb the peace of Laguna, or any other place, for a long while to come.
“If you could see your way to letting me have this button, I am in a position to forward it to where certain investigations are already in hand. It is an important thing in the railroad transportation of passengers and freight, especially in the West, that the type of men like Lobo is eliminated. That is public service. They seem to be just the sort to hold up a train and this back road or trail of theirs should be an asset in their plans. ”

“ May go back by daylight after they've had a session in Laguna, but no one trails 'em. It wouldn't be healthy.
“Now I'll talk man talk to you, Mr. Edmonds. I'm anxious to have Lobo cleaned out, jest as the railroad is. But Lobo planned thet ambush thet killed my pardner. I want him fo' thet, an' I want the man thet did the shootin'. The law ain't come here yet, an' I want to git thet thing settled outside the law—my way. If thet button's goin' to cut me out of my chance I'll keep it or chuck it away first. I want to see those men over the sight of my six-gun.” ”

“ An' I picked this up along thet trail, among the lava hills. I never guessed thar was a way through them hills, an', if I hadn't been follerin' sign, I'd never have found it in fifty years. Looks like they go through thet way sometimes on their trips, like the one they're on now, mebbe.”
“You mean Lobo?”
“Yep.”
“Ah! Strong, there's a man in town, connected with the railroad, I understand. I'd like you to meet him. I'd like to show him this button and get his opinion on it. He's a man who's traveled a great deal. I value his judgment highly. If you're not in a hurry.” ”

“ Thet kind runs in a pack. I've had my innings in my time an' I kin come close to tellin' what a man feels by the look of his eyes an' the way his face is fixed. You're set to git out after thet Lobo pack soon's they come back an' you bin git a chance to be sure they done it. You an' me know it was them but we got to prove it.
“Maria'll help on thet. She's a woman—and an old one. Wiser than any man when it comes to wormin' secrets. ”

“ You got to go whar they put you. Might give me orders not to shoot or somethin'. Jest you see I'm notified, Mr. Edmonds, an' if I ain't pulled somethin' off befo' then, on my own account, I'll be on han' to do the best I kin. Thar's the button, if it is a button.”
“It answers that general purpose, I'm sure,” said Edmonds, “although it may have another name. Could you give me an idea of the way this trail ran through the lava cliffs?”
Strong pursed up his mouth. It began to look as if the law was coming to Laguna too soon to suit him, as if it might take things out of his own hands. ”

“ So, it seemed, did Edmonds, for he laid down his cue and immediately suggested an adjournment.
“Have you got those papers ready, Mr. Clayborne?” he asked, with a ready tact that mollified the bartender, unable to understand why the meeting of three “gents” should not lead immediately to a “licker-up.”
They went back into the reading room, where the flies droned and wooden-bladed ceiling fans driven by springs rustled ancient newspapers.
“Mr. Strong, one of my clients. Mr. Edmonds. Mr. Strong is a cattleman. Mr. Edmonds representing certain railroad interests.” ”

“ When he's cold sober he may not be so derned proud of it but when he's het up with licker he figgers it's somethin' to be proud about an' he tells the gal he happens to be stuck on, jest to show her what a wonder he is.
“You, Maria an' me, we'll round 'em up. It's all I got to live for, to look at thet crowd through smoke. I'm plumb willin' to go out with my guns hot, long as I kin take one or two of thet outfit along with me to hell an' brand 'em thar for what they stands fer. ”

“ He had been more thoughtful than Strong. There was a scrap of paper pinned to the sheet.
Dear Partner Sam: I've got a sort of hunch we may run into something this trip. So I'm fixing things. There ain't anybody else belongs to me, but look out for Marla as long as she lives. Also Bill Hurley and Perro. He was all the real pal I had before you come along, Hen.
Bramley had known enough not to mention Maria in the document that she witnessed. Strong read it through again and folded it up, putting it away in his wallet. He decided to tell Maria about it. ”

“ They won't stand for a coward, even down thar. No, suh, they'll put 'em whar it blisters most. Maria's the same in her woman's way. Perro, too. He don't know jest what's happened, but if he did, he'd pass out to git his teeth clamped in the throat of the man who done it.
“I'm workin' my jaws like a windmill in a gale. You think likely it's all wind. Here's an old cuss, says, you, thet kin shoot some, if he happens to be on the spot, an' the way he's busted up with rheumatics the odds is a hundred to one agin' his bein' within ten mile of the right place at the right time. ”