Raymond S. Spears

“ The sky was blue, with no moisture crystals in it to give a milky tinge. Except for the horses and the man there did not seem to be one living thing anywhere in all the enormous field of vision, not from the crest of the Singing Bird mountains rising white and jagged against the northern sky, nor anywhere down the south lee to where the edge of the desert valley dipped beneath the horizon. But against the Sparkling Dawns the ranch suggested the living that might be—its blocks of fields and the toy-like buildings.
The distance to be traversed was too great for Conklin to hurry. ”

“ When he had loaded his animals he tied the skins of the wolves to the top bundles where they would dangle, flaunting the broken ear, the tawny giant, and the dark and handsome youngster hides where the sun would shine on them, and perhaps some passing vulture circling over the desert of the Flats of the Dancing Maids would see them. The truth is he wanted those trophies to be seen when he should swagger over to the Bell Brand outfit and nonchalantly begin to slip the bridle and loosen the cinches of his saddles. ”

“ Those six outlaws had put their personalities into everything they did—they had done it with all their power and instinct. Fate had overcome four of them. But not one need ever be ashamed when he faced in his new world any of the ghosts of his kind, particularly not any who had skulked and puttered around over in the Wolf Dens.
Conklin had the odd notion that when Lop-Ear should come upon Broken Foot over yonder, amends would be made. There’d be a new understanding. There’d be congratulation and recapitulation. The man followed on after his pack horses which had gone plodding along their way. ”