W. C. Tuttle

“ Although Jim Legg was not unseated, he was flung sidewise, and his right spur hooked wickedly into Cowcatcher’s flank; hooked in while the outlaw was still in the air, heading for the three riders which were not over a hundred feet away, just drawing up to witness the sport.
There was no chance for Oyster and Eskimo to ride herd on Cowcatcher. The gray outlaw churned into the dust, fairly screaming with rage, head down, running like a streak, forgetting to buck, because of that spur, socked to the full limit of the rowels into his flank. ”

“ Most of the crowd headed for the Oasis, and Tex Alden was with them. He stopped long enough to see that Jimmy Legg was with Marion, but went on.
“Gee, that’s a dirty shame, Miss Taylor,” said Jimmy. “They haven’t anything on your father, nor any of the rest.”
“Oh, I know it, Mr. Legg; but what can we do?”
“You might start in by calling me Jimmy. I hate the rest of my name. It’s James Eaton Legg. Sounds like a cannibal, doesn’t it. Parents never stop to think, when they’re naming innocent children.”
“All right, Jimmy—if you’ll call me Marion. Every one does. ”

“ From out in the patio came the raucous bray of Apollo, as if he had joined the laugh. The three men sauntered out into the patio, where Apollo was nosing around in a water-bucket. He looked them over suspiciously and angled crab-wise toward Sleepy, who was wise in the ways of a burro.
“Git away from me, yuh —— relic,” snorted Sleepy, slapping at the burro with his hat. Marion came from the house, laughing at Sleepy’s antics, and they grouped together at the well.
“Apollo is a family heirloom,” laughed Marion. “No man knows his age. ”

“ After he and Sleepy Stevens had joined forces and left the Hashknife outfit, fate seemed to throw them into troubled waters. Hashknife was either blessed or cursed with an analytical mind. A range mystery was food and drink to him. Sleepy’s mind ran in normal channels, but he loved to roam, and his love of adventure, fearlessness in the face of danger, made him a valuable ally to Hashknife.
So for a number of years their trail had led them where the cattle roamed, working on mysteries; more often than not, working for the sheer love of the thing, rather than for pay. ”

“ I don’t trust humanity—not cow-jury humanity. If I was goin’ to win that case, I’d do it out of court, Miss Taylor.”
“But how could that be done?” asked Marion eagerly.
“Find the men that done the job.”
“An easy thing to think about,” observed Sleepy, leaning back to let Nanah slide a pile of hot-cakes on his plate.
“But the sheriff won’t do anything now,” said Marion. “He feels that he has done his duty.”
“Prob’ly a good thing he won’t,” grinned Hashknife. “Any man that wears a mustache like Olson does, couldn’t find his own socks inside his boots. That man has all gone to hair.” ”

“ The two cowboys grinned with Jimmy. He looked at the lawyer’s horse quizzically.
“Who rides that thing?” he asked.
“An attorney from Blue Wells,” said Hashknife.
“Oh, Lee Barnhardt? Well,” Jimmy hitched up his belt, “it looks like him. They’ve both got the same shape neck.”
“Yuh hadn’t ought to make fun of a horse,” said Sleepy.
“No, I suppose not. Really, I shouldn’t make fun of anybody. I ought to put in most of my time being thankful I’m alive. I am, too. I’ve got to go and have the doctor dress my head, but I thought I’d stop and see Miss Taylor. ”

“ Barnhardt laughed softly, knowingly.
“That’s all right, Chet. But when you hire detectives, why don’t you get men whose reputations are not so well known?”
Le Moyne looked him over coldly.
“What do you mean, Lee?”
“Oh, I respect your secrecy. But really, Hartley and Stevens are too well known to do much good.”
“Eh?” Le Moyne frowned heavily. “Those two men at the Taylor ranch?”
“Sure. The two best man hunters you could have hired. But it’s a case of them being too well known.”
“Yeah?” Le Moyne smiled thinly. “Too well known, eh? But don’t blame me—I’m not the Santa Rita company.” ”

“ Hashknife and Sleepy left the jail and went to the livery-stable, where they had left Hashknife’s horse that morning. Hashknife had nothing to say about his trip to Encinas, and Sleepy knew that questions were useless. Hashknife always worked on the theory that a secret is safe only with one person.
It was about ten o’clock when they approached the Double Bar 8, riding silently. There was a light in the ranch-house window, and as they drew closer they heard Jimmy’s and Marion’s voices blended in “After the Ball,” accompanied by the old upright organ. The two cowboys drew rein and listened. ”

“ He buckled on his gun and rode away.
Although the hills were fairly open, Jimmy watched his landmarks carefully. He realized that the hills and dales looked pretty much alike, and it might be difficult for him to hit a straight line back to the ranch.
A coyote crossed in front of him, stopped long enough to get a good look, and went on. Jimmy did not realize that it was a wild animal. A flock of blue quail whirred up in front of the horse and went careening down across a brushy draw. Something told him that these were game birds, and he wondered whether they were prairie chickens. ”

“ The three cowboys sat up in the grass and watched the dim figures of a man and a dog, heading toward Blue Wells, while from far down the railroad came the shrill whistle of the locomotive.
Johnny Grant got to his feet, and was joined by Eskimo and Oyster. The shooting had sobered them considerably, and when Eskimo produced the bottle Johnny shoved it aside.
“Aw, to —— with the stuff!” he said. “I’ve been seein’ too many things already. Let’s go home before we get killed for bein’ on earth.” ”

“ The dog came running toward Jimmy, barking joyfully, and almost knocked Jimmy down.
“Good ——, go away!” panted Jimmy. “Gug-go away!”
The three boys from the AK ran past Jimmy, going straight to Porter. The sheriff and Marion were coming from the office, while it seemed to Jimmy that the rest of the world spewed out of every doorway. Then he lost his nerve. Whirling on his heel, he ran to the hitch-rack, mounted his horse and went flailing off down the street, followed by Geronimo, barking wildly. ”

“ Oyster and Eskimo mounted and rode in on each side of him, prepared to block the bucker from heading into obstacles, and to herd him away from the rider, in case of a spill.
They did not see the sheriff, deputy and another rider swing around the corner of the corral and come toward them.
Jim Legg straightened up in his saddle, grasped the reins tightly and nodded to Johnny Grant.
Johnny reached up and grasped the bandage.
“Pull leather, Jimmy,” he said softly. “Don’t be ashamed to do it. It’s only fools and contest riders that don’t, when they feel themselves goin’.” ”

“ Marion looked at Hashknife, her eyes puzzled. Then—
“You don’t think Tex was the one—” she hesitated.
“That tried to kill Jimmy?” Hashknife finished for her.
“Oh, Tex couldn’t do a thing like that, Hashknife!”
“No?” Hashknife smiled slowly. “Yuh don’t think so?”
Marion shook her head quickly.
“Not even if he was mad. He might be mad enough for a moment to kill some one, but not to shoot from ambush.”
“Well,” grinned Hashknife, “I’ll have to mark Tex Alden off my list of customers. It seems that Tex lost eight thousand dollars to Antelope Neal, in a poker game. This was before we came here. ”

“ Ignorantly inviting another shot, he crawled to his feet and stepped down past the horse, which was so badly hurt that it scarcely moved. Another shot crashed out, the bullet passing so close to Jimmy that he wasn’t sure it did not hit him. Instinctively jerking aside, his feet flew from under him, and he cascaded down to the bottom of the cañon, taking a conglomeration of brush and rocks with him, which slowed up his progress enough to enable him to reach the bottom, uninjured, except for numerous cuts and bruises and the sacrifice of a goodly portion of his raiment. ”

“ It was too dark to see an object against the car or engine, and the three men in the grass did not see the engineer and fireman crawl along to the engine and sneak into the cab.
“Where’s that —— murderer with the riot-gun?” queried Eskimo Swensen. He was anxious to continue the battle.
“Sh-h-h-h-h!” cautioned Johnny. “Somebody comin’.”
They could see the vague bulk of a man coming along the track. Then it passed the end of the express car, blending in with it. The three cowboys could hear the crunch of gravel, as the newcomer walked along the car, and they heard him climb inside. ”

“ Tex sure is sore at him.”
“Sore at Legg? What for?”
“Well, Tex thinks Marion pays too much attention to Legg.”
“Well, does she?”
“I don’t know, Chet. She calls him Jimmy, and he calls her Marion.”
“Does, eh? Say, Lee, where did that fellow come from?”
“Nobody seems to know. He tramped in here the night of the hold-up. He said the train passed him. I can’t quite figure him out. I’ve talked with Scotty Olson and Al Porter about him, and they’re not quite sure what he is. He’s not a bad looking fellow, and I think he has a way with women.” ”

“ And there ain’t a milk drinker in the crowd; so they really wouldn’t suffer if yuh took ’em away from the cows.”
“Oh, they ain’t so —— tough,” retorted Porter. “They’re not runnin’ this country. They’ve kinda had their own way in Blue Wells for a long time, but now is the time to call a halt. We’re civilized, I’ll tell yuh that.”
“Who do yuh mean, Porter?”
“Well, all of us—ain’t we?”
“I dunno. Sometimes I wonder if we are. We ain’t savages. We don’t worship no idols, nor we don’t eat each other. Holdin’ up a train is a sign of civilization. I dunno about lockin’ a sheriff in his cell. ”

“ Barnhardt went back to his office, glowing with the self satisfaction that comes to men who love to gossip. Le Moyne met Goode at the Oasis, and Goode was carrying just a little too much liquor. Goode happened to be extolling Hashknife and Sleepy to the bartender, who evidently didn’t care a bit about it. ”

“ The sheriff ordered every one to sit down and not to interfere with the proceedings. He brought Apostle Paul Taylor, Buck Taylor and Peeler into the room and seated them against the wall. The half-breed was frightened, but the Taylor family were cool. Marion was there, and joined her father. Hashknife and Sleepy remained in the background, watching the proceedings.
Al Porter, the deputy, brought the dog into the room, a short piece of rope tied to its collar. It was Geronimo! Jimmy Legg gasped, drew his hat farther over his face and acted indifferent. ”

“ The stopping and starting of the train between stations meant nothing to Jim Legg. He did not suspect that the first stop had been because a red lantern had been placed in the middle of the track near the Broken Cañon trestle, thereby stopping the train, and that just now three masked men were smashing through the safe, which contained the Santa Rita pay-roll. There, three men had cut the express car, forced the engineer to drive his engine to within about two miles of Blue Wells, where they stopped him, and escorted both engineer and fireman back to the express car. ”

“ The engineer, fireman and the express messenger came over to the saloon and joined the crowd at the bar.
“Plenty of excitement,” observed Hashknife. “This hold-up seems to have kinda stirred up Blue Wells, Sleepy.”
“Yeah,” Sleepy did not seem to be very enthusiastic.
“Aw, shake yore hide,” grinned Hashknife. “You act like a mourner at a funeral, cowboy.”
“I’m all right,” muttered Sleepy. “But it makes me tired. Every time we go anywhere, somethin’ happens. There’s no peace anywhere. When them fellers was tellin’ about that hold-up, yore nose was twitchin’ like the nose of a pointer dog. ”

“ Unless, of course, she has some horses that need to have some one fall off them. Johnny Grant says I’m the best he has ever seen. He says if you’re a champion rider there’s always a dispute over it. But if you’re a champion faller-off, you’ve got a cinch title.”
The two cowboys laughed at Jimmy, or rather, with him.
“Can yuh handle a rope?” asked Hashknife.
“Not on a horse. There’s too many things to remember. I always fell off, trying to keep from tripping my own horse. On the ground, I’m pretty good. Eskimo says I can heat a branding-iron handle hotter than anybody he ever seen. ”

“ He moved along the patio wall, slipped out through the gate, while Sleepy took a rifle from the bunk-house, swearing disgustedly over the fact that Hashknife had taken all the cartridges.
“It came from the hill back of us,” said Marion. “Poor old Apollo!”
“Yeah, he’s a goner,” said Sleepy softly. “Well, that’s about all yuh ever could do to make him die. If old age was ever goin’ to kill him, he’d ’a’ died forty years ago.”
There were tears in Marion’s eyes as she looked at the sprawling figure of the ancient burro. Worse than useless, he had always been a part of the Double Bar 8. ”

“ The messenger came closer. The train was whistling, and they felt the slight jerk as the brakes were applied.
“I saw you kick that dog,” said Jim calmly, although his heart was hammering against his ribs. “No man would do a thing like that. It was a dirty trick—and then you try to lie out of it.”
“Why, you little four-eyed pup!” snorted the messenger. “I’ll make you take that back. Anyway, you’ve got no right in this car, and I’m justified in throwin’ yuh off.”
Jim Legg threw out his hands in protest to any such an action. He had never fought anybody, knew nothing of self-defense. ”

“ Only a barrier of mesquite, into which he sped like a gray shadow, saved him from Sleepy’s loop.
Flocks of white-wing doves hurtled past them, heading for the water-holes; quail called from the slopes; a deer broke from a thicket, and after a few short, stiff-legged jumps, headed up a slope, head cocked back, walking jerkily. ”

“ Do yuh remember somethin’ about somebody named Geronimo?”
“That’s right, Johnny! I wonder if it was the man’s name, or the dog’s.”
“And that man headed for Blue Wells, Eskimo.”
Eskimo nodded seriously.
“That’s right. By golly, don’tcha know,” Eskimo scratched his head thoughtfully, “I’m wonderin’ what our little friend knows about that hold-up.”
“And why he wants to be a cowboy. Anyway,” Johnny grinned widely, “I’m for him. He’s got guts. If the Old Man will hire him, we’ll make a puncher out of him.”
Jimmy Legg was thanking his stars that Geronimo had deserted him. ”

“ Jimmy laughed softly.
“Some folks are blessed with wonderful imaginations. Are you going to stay at the hotel tonight?”
“Yes, I’ll stay there tonight, anyway.”
They walked up the street and met Chet Le Moyne in front of Abe Moon’s store. He shook hands with Marion, who introduced him to Jimmy.
“You are paymaster of the Santa Rita mine, aren’t you?” asked Jimmy. “I thought that’s what Johnny Grant said.”
“Yes,” said Le Moyne patronizingly. “And you are the new cowboy at the AK ranch.”
“Yea-a-ah,” drawled Jimmy. “That’s me.” ”