W. C. Tuttle

“ As soon as he was able to sit in a saddle he lived with the cowboys and became one of them.
Blessed with a balanced mind, possibly inherited from his father, who surely needed a balanced mind to make both ends meet, the boy struck out for himself, absorbing all kinds of knowledge, studying human nature. Eventually he drifted to the ranch, which gave him his nickname, and here he met the grinning Sleepy Stevens, whose baptismal name was David.
From the Hashknife ranch their trail led to many places. ”

“ When Joe Rich had left Pinnacle City he was wearing a blue and white striped shirt, black sombrero, overalls and a pair of black leather cuffs, on which were riveted a lot of small, silver stars. Joe had done the decorating himself, and Slim knew that no other cowboy in the Tumbling River country wore a cuff like Joe’s.
Len did not seem inclined to talk about it, so Slim went back to the depot, where old Doctor Curzon was bandaging up the messenger’s head. A drink of raw liquor had helped to make the messenger more sociable and willing to talk. ”

“ But once started, Sleepy worked as diligently as Hashknife. Neither of them were wizards with their guns. No amount of persuasion would in duce them to compete with others in marksmanship, nor did they ever practise drawing a gun.
“Leave that to the gun-men,” Hashknife had said. “We’re not gun-men.”
Which was something that many men would take great pains to disprove, along the back-trail of Hashknife and Sleepy.
And right now, while he ate heavily of the HJ food, Sleepy Stevens knew he was being dragged into the whirlpool of the Tumbling River range. ”

“ The conductor nodded grimly.
“We’re here for a while,” he said. “Can’t take a chance on that thing, and we’ve got a passenger coming in behind us. They’ll be running slow, and won’t be hard to flag. The best thing for you boys to do is to go to bed. That span is sure to burn out in this wind.”
The wind was so strong that they had to yell in order to converse.
“Might as well be comfortable!” yelled the engineer.
The conductor nodded and followed Hashknife back to the caboose, where he broke the news to the rest of the boys.
“Ain’t that ——?” wailed Sleepy. ”

“ One whole span on fire and this wind is like a blow-torch. Looks like a complete tie-up for this division. There’s a section crew at Pinnacle City, but this will be a job for bridge builders.”
Hashknife went back in the caboose where Sleepy was lying on a seat, still caressing a sore jaw. ”

“ Sunlight is brighter than shadows; and it’s a lot easier to find, if yuh look for it. Bright things are easier to see than dark ones.”
“You listen to him a while and he’ll prove to yuh that a leaky roof is a godsend,” laughed Sleepy.
“Well, ain’t it?” asked Hashknife. “If this roof hadn’t leaked, you folks would probably have been in bed—and we wouldn’t have seen their light, Sleepy.”
“That is true,” said Laura. “Oh, it was way past bedtime at the HJ ranch!”
Honey came in with an armful of wood, which he threw in the big fireplace. ”

“ And the other two are my boots full of water.”
“And there’s another small matter,” said Sleepy flapping his arms dismally. “We ain’t taken any nourishment since this mornin’, Hashknife.”
“Yeah, there’s that small matter,” agreed Hashknife. “Oh, if yuh ever stop to check up on things, Sleepy, the world is all wrong. But never stop grinnin’ and look back. The only place yuh ever see ghosts is be hind yuh.”
“Well, that wasn’t no ghost that snapped his gun at us.” ”

“ He went out, and Hashknife turned to Sleepy.
“How about yuh, cowboy? It ain’t over three miles to town. Suppose we walk over and find a dentist?”
“——, I’d do anythin’ to stop this ache, Hashknife!”
“All right.”
Hashknife went down the car, where he picked up their war-bags and brought them back.
“You ain’t pullin’ out for keeps, are yuh?” asked one of the crap-shooting cowboys.
“Nope,” grinned Hashknife. “We’ll meet yuh in Pinnacle City. Only a fool walks away and leaves his war-bag. Yuh never know what’s ahead of yuh.” ”

“ The cattle-train, minus two of the cowhands, proceeded slowly to Pinnacle City, where it took the siding. It would spend several hours there, watering stock,and the man in ^charge expected Hashknife and Sleepy to put in an appearance before leaving time.
The passenger train drew in at the station, possibly an hour late. The wires being down, it was impossible for them to get orders. The heavy rain swept the wooden platform, but the depot agent trundled out some express packages. The express car door was partly open, but there was no messenger. ”

“ Mostly horse outfit.”
“Yuh say they made a sheriff out of the deputy?”
“Yeah; Len Kelsey.”
Honey described the trouble on the street between Kelsey and Rich, in which Kelsey was wounded. He also told them how the cowboys hid out to keep from being sworn in to follow the fugitive. This interested Sleepy.
“Sounds like there was some reg’lar boys around here,” he said.
“Oh, the boys like Joe,” grinned Honey. “You’d like him.”
“I dunno. Any man that ain’t got no more sense than to get drunk and miss a chance of a wife like that dark-haired girl ain’t very much of a feller. ”

“ He stayed at home where it was warm and dry, and went to bed. He had sufficient description to prove who had pulled the job, and he had already worn out two perfectly good horses trying to find this elusive young man. ”

“ Ed gives him the money, and Jim starts home with it. And that’s the last anybody ever seen of the money. Joe Rich was aimin’ to pull out of the country; so he comes out to tell Peggy good-by. And Joe was the one who found Jim Wheeler. Hozie Wheeler and Lonnie Myers comes ridin’ along just a little later, and found Joe with Jim.
“And when the sheriff finds out about the missin’ money, he tries to make Joe wait for an investigation, and Joe pops him through the gun-arm. That’s the last we saw of Joe. ”