PAINTED 
 
 :: ROGK :: 
 
 MORLEY ROBERTS 
 
 ^r\np> 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 TALES AND NARRATIVES OF PAINTED 
 ROCK, SOUTH PANHANDLE, TEXAS, TOLD 
 BY CHARLIE BAKER, LATE OF THAT CITY 
 AND ALSO OF SNYDER, SCURRY COUNTY 
 
 BY 
 
 MORLEY ROBERTS 
 
 AUTHOR OF "RACHEL MARK " ETC. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 
 1907 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I 
 
 I. The Killing of "Sweetwater" . 
 II. The Difficulty with Windy Walker 31 
 
 III. The Rise of Ginger Gillett 
 
 IV. The Man Underneath 
 V. Partners Once 
 
 VI. The Man who took Water . 
 VII. A Scurry County Wooing . 
 VIII. An Exile from "God's Country 
 IX. The Tale of Brazos Dick . 
 X. A Romance of Double Mountain 
 
 55 
 
 81 
 
 109 
 
 125 
 
 151 
 
 195 
 237 
 
 989.^ I I 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 « • ■ • > e » 
 
 THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER" 
 
 I HAD come into Painted Rock from Ennis 
 Creek in a Studebaker wagon, pulled by 
 Jones' two mules, Punch and Judy, and, while 
 the men at the store were making up my 
 orders for the extra grub that would see us 
 through shearing, I took a paseo all round the 
 town. It had never seemed more peaceful 
 to me, and I daresay that any tender-foot 
 from the East would have thought it lacked 
 all those elements of romance that he had 
 expected to find. Pillsbury and Gedge, my 
 two gambling friends, said that things were 
 indeed dull. 
 
 " There don't seem to be a dollar in the hull 
 A I 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 City," said Pillsbury, with a yawn, " at least, 
 I've not sot eyes on one for days. And as 
 for excitement, there ain't any. It's so 
 demed dull and quiet and peaceful that my 
 nerve is gi\dn' out, and I expect something 
 horrid to happen ; eh, Gedge ? " 
 
 I'^lt is Vmi,ghty remarkable fact," replied 
 the -long-haired .Georgian, " that such a period 
 'of peace in Painted Rock is mostly broke 
 up by someone havin' a sudden funeral. I 
 reckon that sohd peace gets on our nerves, 
 and the want of gayness and money is tryin* 
 to us, and those that have a stake in the 
 City feel it. Oh, I'd not be surprised if the 
 calm was broke up any moment." 
 
 I took so much pity on their sad estate as to 
 inquire if they would have a liquor with me. 
 
 " I should smile," said Pillsbury, and we 
 went into the American House and had some- 
 thing destructive and highly poisonous at 
 twenty-five cents a drink. While we stood 
 up to the bar and discussed the trying peace, 
 a stranger looked into the saloon as if he were 
 seeking someone there, and I saw Gedge's eyes 
 snap. 
 
 2 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 " Who was that ? " I asked, and Gedge 
 stared at me with an odd, far-away look. 
 
 " I was just tryin' to recall him," said 
 Gedge. " I don't never forget a face, and 
 yet somehow I can't place him." 
 
 " Why should you ? " asked the bar-tender. 
 " He's a stranger, sure pop. I saw him get 
 off the cars yesterday, and I've been in Painted 
 Rock nigh on to three years, and I lay ten 
 dollars he hasn't been here durin' that time." 
 
 " Well, I've seen him somewhere, I'U take 
 an oath to that on a stack of Bibles," said 
 Gedge. " I've been around this locality mor'n 
 three years, my son, and mebbe I saw him 
 twenty years ago in Georgia. I never forget 
 a face or an injury or a good turn done me, 
 and somehow I hev a soHd based opinion 
 that I've done more than passed the time of 
 day with that melancholy individual that 
 poked his head in here just now, and took a 
 look around these deserted halls." 
 
 We had some more poison at Pillsbury's 
 expense, and then Gedge smote the bar with 
 his open hand. We looked at him in silence. 
 
 "I've located that stranger in my unfor- 
 3 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 getful mind/' said the Georgian ; " I knew I 
 should, and I've got him to rights. It's a 
 mighty strange thing that he should turn up 
 after all these years, and I wonder what he's 
 thinking of as he w^anders around." 
 
 He turned to us with an odd look in his face, 
 and we knew there was a story coming. The 
 bar-keeper filled up our glasses again at my 
 nod, and I slid a dollar over to him while 
 Gedge was getting the hang of his reminiscences. 
 He sighed, took his liquor, and spoke. 
 
 *' His name is Smith, just Smith and what 
 else I forget," said Gedge, " and he gave me 
 the greatest surprise I ever had, and that, in 
 my varied and not unremarkable career, is a 
 tall order." 
 
 " What was the surprise ? " asked Pillsbury. 
 " Did he take you on at poker and skin you ? " 
 
 Gedge shook his head solemnly. 
 
 *' I've yet to meet the man that can do 
 that, and w^ell you sabe it, Pillsbury. It 
 wasn't gambling by any means, but it was a 
 surprise, and no fatal error. There's two 
 kind of great surprises accordin' to my mind, 
 and one of them is when a man without any 
 4 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 sand in his composition, as far as one can 
 judge, suddenly develops sand and lays out 
 someone that is a terror. And the other kind 
 of great and remarkable surprise is when a 
 man, a brave man and a man that the hull 
 camp respects, shows up as a coward and 
 hasn't the guts of a chipmunk. That was the 
 sad case with the very Smith that put his 
 weary-lookin' countenance inside this bar and 
 took a casual look at us. I'm sorry to say 
 that he's an Englishman." 
 
 I begged him not to trouble about his being 
 a countryman of mine, and asked for the story. 
 
 " It was remarkable, mighty remarkable," 
 said Gedge thoughtfully, " but I'm havin' 
 another struggle with my memory, which, as 
 I said before, is a good one, but, as you may 
 hev observed before, a trifle heavy on the 
 puU-off. For some reason that I don't sabe, 
 I cayn't recall the name of the person selected 
 by Providence to show us that Smith had 
 imposed on the world by an outward show of 
 grit. I wish I could locate him, and then I 
 could pitch you the tale as easy as fall off a 
 log." 
 
 5 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 He took another drink to grease his memory, 
 which was one with a heavy pull-off, and 
 stood thinking. He lifted his head at last, 
 and then shook it. 
 
 " I'm a perfect sucker, I am," said Gedge; 
 " of course it was Hale." 
 
 " What Hale ? " asked Piilsbury, who began 
 to show more interest in the story. " Not 
 Bill Hale of Sweetwater ? " 
 
 '' That very same Hale," said Gedge; " and 
 when I say that same Bill Hale, I mean a 
 man that I hev no respect for, and a man that 
 no one thinks of lovin' to the extent of doin' 
 as much as go to his funeral when he final 
 kicks." 
 
 " Agreed," said Piilsbury ; '' I never had no 
 use for Hale." 
 
 " Nevertheless, though we hev no respectful 
 opinion of Hale, it was him that made that 
 same Smith take water and sit down and cry." 
 
 " Did he weep, actually weep ? " asked his 
 brother gambler. 
 
 " Real tears and sobs, most horrid and 
 painful to see and hear, my son," replied the 
 older sport. " The whole thing made me feel 
 6 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 sick, and I was some sorry that I could not see 
 my way to interfere and blow the roof off of 
 Hale's head. I'll tell you how it was." 
 
 But before he began he desired the bar- 
 tender to do his duty in the matter of poison. 
 He swallowed his dose of nose-paint and took 
 a breath. 
 
 " It warn't in the neighbourhood of the 
 Rock, but over to San Antone," said Gedge, 
 " for at that time the Rock was no more than 
 a rock, and those damn fools, of which we 
 are an important part, who reckoned that this 
 City was goin' to be somethin', had not yet 
 developed any such fatal deelusion. To be 
 strickly ackerate, which is my aim, I jedge 
 that Painted Rock had been heard of by six 
 cowboys, five wanderin' lunatics, four ordinary 
 fools, three surveyors, two brayin' burros, 
 and one wise man who saw it and died. 
 That is to say, it warn't known to any extent 
 beyond the Indians and greasers, and the 
 Texas Pacific Railroad was reposin' as an 
 unborn idea in the brain of the scoundrel that 
 was at last ass enough to give birth to the 
 unfounded notion that all parts of this holy 
 7 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 terror of a State was equal worth the blood 
 and bones of a white man. However, that's 
 only my sore talk, because I've grown up 
 here, and the Panhandle of Texas isn't what 
 it was cracked up to be. This yer Smith was 
 a pioneer in his way, and hed a hell of a reputa- 
 tion for bein' sandy with the Apaches or any 
 other breed of Indjuns, and there's men 
 about to this day that will tell you that same 
 and stand to it. He had a store in San Antone 
 and one over to Dallas likewise, and was a 
 man with the repute of havin' made money. 
 At times the quiet of San Antone got on his 
 nerves, although it wasn't hell-fired quiet by 
 any means, and killin's was frequent, and he 
 would get up and mosey off somewhere in this 
 direction, and maybe as far as the Staked 
 Plain, where buffalo was plenty then, as you 
 may judge. Then he would come back and 
 sell stuff, and, as I said, make money. But 
 about a year before his humihation by the 
 said Hale, he told me that a notion was growin' 
 in him fast to go back to the old country for 
 a spell. For it appears that Englishmen are 
 the same as us in that way, and they pine for 
 8 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 the land where they were bom jest as if it was 
 as fine a land as Georgia, and not a down- 
 trodden place with kings and queens in it. If 
 any Enghshman in the present company ain't 
 pleased with my deescription of Britain, I 
 hereby apologise and state that I'm not 
 wholly serious. Well, Smith took this sad 
 idea into his cabeza, and, after rakin' up an 
 honest man (he came from Georgia, and I 
 won't give his name away), he ht out for the 
 old country and was gone nigh on to nine 
 months. Durin' that period thishyer honest 
 Georgian had a time collectin' debts at the 
 end of a gun, but I'll say this for the galoot, 
 that the debts that wasn't collected on time 
 was few. And when Smith come back he was 
 that pleased with me that he endowed me 
 there and then with two hundred and fifty 
 dollars over and above what the contract 
 called for. Oh, he was an honest man and 
 one that I liked, and he was tol'rable popular ; 
 oh, he was tol'rable popular. And I soon 
 perceived that a change had come over him 
 through this trip of his to the old country, 
 and he let out what it was the very night he 
 9 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 went over the accounts of the business with 
 me. I noted that he was considerable gentler 
 and softer in his ways, and there was a dreamy 
 look about him, like as if some lady had taken 
 hold of his little heart and given it a tender 
 squeeze, and he soon let on that he had run 
 plump agin the greatest daisy of a girl that 
 he had ever seen while he was over in your 
 monarch-ridden country, and he said that her 
 and him had fixed up to jine teams and pull 
 across the flowery prairie of life while they 
 two did live. For an Englishman and a store- 
 keeper he was some poetical about this incident, 
 which had happened to him for the first time, 
 so that all his eemotions were young and 
 virgin, and some surprised me. He reckoned 
 to sell out in six months, and go home per- 
 manent and put his pile into a business that 
 the girl's brother was boss of, and that was 
 how him and Hale came into the arena and 
 locked horns and made the dust fly. Hale 
 was always a bad man to deal with, and not 
 what I should call honest, onless I went out 
 of my way to tell a lie. But Smith was 
 straight about money ; as straight as a straight 
 
 10 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 game. And I've noticed, by the way, that 
 some of the galoots in business that are down 
 on the gamblers are ready to run in a cold 
 deck on a confidin' stranger with the best and 
 worst of the gamblin' fraternity, of which me 
 and Pillsbur}^ are honourable members. And 
 to go on, I don't sabe exactly the point that 
 Smith and Hale fell out about, but fall out 
 they did, and there was the possibihty of a 
 difficulty right there. Thishyer Hale has a 
 gift, I don't deny it, and if it's a rare gift it is 
 a mighty useful one. He could always smell 
 out by instinct the man that was going to 
 fight, and he smelt out that Smith wam't for 
 some reason. Oh, it was a wonder to us boys, 
 and we marvelled about it, for we hed ree- 
 spected Smith considerable, and I was among 
 them that did, and it sickened me to see the 
 way that Hale walked over Smith. Being 
 then like a young burro, and as full of conceit 
 as a greaser with new bell spurs on, I never 
 tumbled to the reason, and I grew cold to 
 Smith and looked south when he was comin' 
 west. And then one night the boys came and 
 told me that Hale had slapped the face of 
 II 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Smith, and that Smith was sayin' nothin' 
 about it. Well, you can believe me, I was 
 clean clear flummoxed, and still I didn't 
 tumble. You see, I wasn't married as yet, 
 and Mrs. Gedge was at that time no more than 
 one of the gals for whom I had a tender feelin' 
 and as much respect as they forced me to hev. 
 Though I hed bin some cold with Smith, seein' 
 the way he put up with Hale's want of manners 
 before this, I went down to Smith's store and 
 walked in to see what I could see. And what 
 I saw was poor Smith, cryin hke a lost kid, 
 with his head on a parcel of store pants. He 
 sobbed fit to tear the works out of himself, 
 and it made me that bashful and ashamed 
 that I retired to the rear and saw him no more 
 until this very day that he put his head into 
 this saloon and never knew me. And that 
 night (I'm tellin' you the truth, though you 
 may stare and shake your cabezas till they 
 fall off) he signed over all his business to this 
 same Hale, and took the cash and departed 
 for the down-trodden realm of England. He 
 said good-bye to none, for the boys were some 
 cold, naturally, ez they hed reckoned on him 
 12 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 layin' Hale out, and were surprised to a painful 
 degree that he hadn't. For Smith hed always 
 bin a self-respectin' citizen, and they had 
 hoped to attend Hale's funeral in their 
 thousands to signify that they were not sorry. 
 Hale wasn't popular. He wasn't * a bad 
 man,* but he was inclined to be bad with 
 those that he could pick out, and a bad man 
 in a quiet crowd is the most contemptible 
 creation of heaven, accordin' to my gospel. 
 And there you are. That's all the yam and 
 all there is to it. Only I'm some perplexed 
 to know what has fetched him here and what 
 he wants. I wish some that I spotted him 
 when he put his head in here, and asked him 
 to explain this sad mystery." 
 
 Then Gedge stopped and cooled his throat 
 with something less harmful than Western 
 brandy, and we also drank and were silent till 
 Pillsbury said something. 
 
 " But, Keno, you threw out a dark hint 
 that if you hadn't been a young fool, you 
 might hev come to a sound conclusion as to 
 what made this Smith so poor a thing when 
 it came to gim-play with a man like Hale." 
 13 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " I did throw out a hint on that point, I 
 own," said Gedge, " and you are not as young 
 as I was then, and ought to hev the sabe to 
 spot the ace right off. It was the girl." 
 
 " The Enghsh girl he was to get wedded 
 to ? " asked Pillsbury. 
 
 " What other, my son ? " asked the Georgian. 
 " She made a coward of him." 
 
 " Do you reckon she said he warn't to kill 
 no more people, or else she wouldn't come into 
 the firm ? " 
 
 " Nothin' of the sort," said Keno. " My 
 notion is a simple one, and it is as clear to me 
 as daylight. Smith was plump crazy about 
 thishyer girl, and wouldn't run no risks of not 
 marryin' her." 
 
 " I see, to bee sure," said Pillsbury, who 
 was a bachelor and notoriously indifferent to 
 the charms of women. " I see. It's as clear 
 as mud. I'd like to see the female beauty 
 that would hold back my gun if someone smote 
 me over the cabeza. I'd rather be an honoured 
 if shot-up corpse than be kissed and canoodled 
 by the entire female sect with any pretensions 
 to beauty." 
 
 14 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 " Well, I reckon Smith thought otherwise," 
 said Gedge; "and as he didn't acquaint us 
 with his reasons, and as I know he was a man 
 beefore this unfort'nit incident, I hev a kind 
 of notion that if we knew all we might say 
 he did almost right, hard as it is to imagine it." 
 
 But Pillsbury shook his head sadly. 
 
 "I'm surprised to hear you talk so," said 
 Pillsbury. Gedge did not answer, and a few 
 minutes later he and I went away together, 
 leaving the other gambler to think over the 
 story. When we had gone a hundred yards, 
 Gedge stopped and laid hold of my arm. He 
 stared at me with his bright black eyes, and a 
 queer smile stole over his face. 
 
 " Say," said he, " ain't Pillsbury a man 
 that is blind to things outside of kyards ? He 
 has a mighty respect for me, and I'll not say 
 it isn't justified, but I'll own to you that, 
 years ago, a drunk cowboy over at El Paso 
 kicked me, and then pulled a gun and ordered 
 me out of the place, and I went as meek as a 
 lamb. D'ye know why I done so ? " 
 
 He looked as fierce as a trapped grizzly as 
 he thought of this little incident. 
 15 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " I'll tell you," said Keno. " Mrs. Gedge 
 was lying sick with the worst sort of inflam- 
 matory rheumatism, and the doctor was there 
 three times a day, shakin' his head over her 
 as if she'd die. Was I to get into a difficulty 
 in them circumstances ? I ask anyone. I 
 took my kickin' like a man, and, when the 
 old lady was through the narrow part of 
 Death Canon, I told her about it, and she 
 said that I was a man, and so I was. And I 
 went out and found Mr. Johnny Cowboy on 
 the plaza, and I pulled my gun and threw it 
 down on the ground before him, and as he 
 started to pull his I jumped him and took it 
 away, and I sat a-straddle on his back and 
 made him ride me round the business block 
 of the town. There was a crowd to see the 
 show, you bet, and on each street I stopped 
 and explained to the crowd that why I hadn't 
 killed him before was all on account of Mrs. 
 Gedge; and, when we done the block, I took 
 my fiery, untamed steed into the nearest 
 saloon and stood him a skinful, because he 
 was the only man who ever had the sand to 
 do as he done. I'm of opinion that Smith had 
 i6 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 something of the same sort of feehn' that I 
 hed when he let Hale smite him. And I dew 
 wonder some why he's out here agin and 
 lookin', as you maybe noticed, some sad and 
 miserbul." 
 
 " Perhaps his wife's dead," I suggested, and 
 Gedge stopped suddenly. He looked at me 
 with visible admiration, and I was much 
 pleased. 
 
 " For an Englishman you hev uncommon 
 bright ideas/' he said. " I believe you hev 
 scored a plumb centre, and if you hev I'd 
 not give one single solitary continental cuss 
 for Hale's chances of survivin' the summer." 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " I wouldn't, that's a fact," he repeated. 
 " I wonder if Hale is in town now. He mostly 
 comes over once a week, as he has an interest 
 in Beal's store. I'll find out." 
 
 We parted at the comer, and I saw him 
 walk into Real's. I had my own business to 
 attend to, and I saw no more of him till some 
 hours later, when I was at Hamilton's, where 
 I went for dinner. 
 
 Old bald-headed Hamilton introduced the 
 B 17 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 subject of Smith the moment he saw me. He 
 was obviously not a little excited, for he was 
 one of the few who knew the rights of the 
 story, and he hated Hale with all the fervour 
 of a debtor who had no chance of clearing 
 himself. He was deep in Hale's clutches, and 
 Hale was a man of small consideration for the 
 weak. 
 
 " I don't reckon to understand it, my son,'' 
 said the old boarding-house keeper, " but I'm 
 of opinion that Smith ain't come back to 
 Texas for nothin' but the purpose of gettin' 
 level with Hale." 
 
 '' After all these years ? " I asked. 
 
 '' Why not ? " replied Hamilton. " I've 
 known a killin' to be postponed twenty years 
 and come off after all. Oh, I'd rather be 
 myself than Hale ! For Smith's wife is dead, 
 he tells me, and a daughter too, and there is a 
 look about him that bodes no good to Hale. 
 That's my notion, and I'll back it. Here he 
 comes." 
 
 Smith came out on the verandah, and took 
 a long chair and sat smoking. 
 
 " Hale's comin' to Painted Rock this night," 
 i8 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 said Hamilton in a whisper. " He's been 
 over to Big Springs, and will lay over here for 
 a day. D'ye think a man should send him 
 word that Smith is here ? " 
 
 Wliatever I thought would make no differ- 
 ence, and I declined to state what I thought 
 or what my advice was. It is best to stand 
 clear of things like this in all countries, and 
 especially in the West. Smith sat on the 
 verandah and smoked savagely, and as he 
 smoked he chewed the butt of his cigar and 
 thought. He did not speak, and never even 
 looked at me, so far as I could see, till Gedge 
 came over to Hamilton's in the evening. 
 When Smith heard Keno's voice he looked at 
 us with a start, and evidently recognised the 
 gambler. Yet he made no sign that he knew 
 him till Gedge walked over to where he sat 
 and held out his hand. 
 
 " I'm glad to see 3^ou after all these years," 
 said Gedge, and Smith looked at him hard. 
 
 "Truth? " he asked. 
 
 " Solid frozen fact," said Gedge. 
 
 They shook hands, and Gedge sat down 
 by him. 
 
 19 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " YouVe had trouble since you left ? ** said 
 Gedge. 
 
 " I've had ten years' happiness, and now 
 it's done," said the pioneer. " She's dead, 
 old man." 
 
 ''I'm sorry," said Gedge. They did not 
 speak for some minutes, and then Keno said 
 that his wife would be sorry to hear it. But 
 old Smith did not know that Gedge had been 
 married too, 
 
 " Oh, yep," said Gedge, " and since bein* 
 married I've understood what was a puzzle to 
 me when you left the country, Smith." 
 
 They did not speak of Hale, but Smith 
 knew what was in the other's mind. Keno 
 told him the same story that he had told me 
 in the afternoon. 
 
 " You understand ! " said Smith. " She was 
 very delicate, you see, Gedge, and she loved 
 me dear, and if I'd been killed it would have 
 killed her. That's why I turned coward and 
 stood what I did." 
 
 I shifted my chair farther away, and the 
 scraping of the chair on the rough flooring 
 attracted the old man's attention. He looked 
 
 20 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 at me, and Gedge, who was very uncom- 
 fortable in his mind, introduced me as some 
 diversion. We talked of the old days, of 
 which I knew nothing, and the old pioneer told 
 us some strange tales as we sat and smoked. 
 But all the time Hale was in his mind. At 
 last Smith spoke of him. 
 
 " What do you know of Hale now ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " Nothin' to speak of," said Gedge; "but 
 I reckon he has done well with his business." 
 
 " Is he any altered ? " asked Smith, with 
 an averted face. " Do folks speak well of 
 him?" 
 
 " Not to any outrageous extent. A mean 
 man is a mean man, and don't give up his 
 meanness, accordin' to my observation of the 
 human race," said Gedge. 
 
 "I'd half hke to hear well of him," replied 
 Smith, in a curious hollow voice. " If I could 
 hear weU of him I think " 
 
 " What d'ye think. Smith ? " 
 
 But Smith did not finish his broken sentence. 
 But he went on with another that was partner 
 to the thought that inspired it. 
 
 21 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Is there anyone that loves him, Gedge ? 
 Has he ever married ? " 
 
 Gedge shook his head. 
 
 " Has he got a friend, an}^ man who sticks 
 up for him ? " insisted Smith, as if he was 
 anxious to be told that this was the case. I 
 saw that Gedge followed the workings of the 
 man's strange and overwrought mind, and he 
 hesitated before he replied. 
 
 " I don't know everything about Hale," he 
 said reluctantly, " and I don't want to do 
 him no injustice. He may hev a friend some- 
 where." 
 
 " But you've never heard of one ? " said 
 the pioneer, with a sudden savage snap in his 
 voice that made me wince. ''I'm glad to 
 hear that, Gedge, for if I'd heard that he had 
 one solitary friend in the State of Texas, or in 
 the whole United States, I'd have started for 
 England by the next East-bound express." 
 
 He looked at me once more, and then turned 
 to Gedge. 
 
 " This young man knows my story, Gedge ? " 
 
 Keno nodded, and Smith nodded too, and 
 was silent for quite a while. When he did 
 
 22 
 
THE KILLING OF " SWEETWATER " 
 
 speak it was in a low, concentrated voice, 
 which was hard to follow. He spoke as if he 
 was speaking to himself. 
 
 " I ain't forgotten it. It has bin a red-hot 
 sore on my mind all these long years, even 
 when I was happiest with my dear, dead wife. 
 She got to know of it, for I told her the truth 
 once, when she thought I was wearied after 
 the old life of the prairie. God knows that, 
 for all her love, I did hanker some to see the 
 sun rise up in these clean places of the earth, 
 but it warn't that that made me restless and 
 uneasy. Hale had a notion how it was with 
 me when I was goin' back to marry her, and 
 he played on it and let his native beastliness 
 out on me, knowin' that I would do aught 
 rather than die before I had lived. For then 
 the love I bore her that is dead was all my 
 life, and I never knowed that the time would 
 come once more when the open earth and 
 the big prairies of Texas and Arizona would 
 call to me like a deserted child. I took the 
 blow that he gave me, for, with things as 
 they was just then, if I had killed him, I'd 
 hev had to pay for it to the law ; for I had 
 23 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 enemies, and at that time his father was a 
 power in San Antone, and I was no more than 
 an EngHshman and the keeper of a store. 
 And if he had killed me I was dead, and the 
 blow would have killed her I loved better than 
 my whole soul, and I took his blow and it 
 broke my heart; and though I was happy I 
 was miserable too, and it was in my mind 
 always that I had been struck and had done 
 nothin', I that had been on the frontier when 
 Hale was a boy, and had earned a just name 
 as a man who was no cur. And a year back 
 my wife died, and I stayed because I had a 
 little girl, and two months ago death took 
 her too ; and I went back home after buryin' 
 her and packed up my things, and that very 
 day I started for Texas. I said that I would 
 seek out Hale, and, if he was now a good 
 man, or one that folks loved, or if he had a 
 wife or child that loved him, or if there was 
 a man who stood up for him, I would let him 
 go. I sought out all that I could find about 
 him in Dallas, and in San Antone and in Sweet- 
 water, and here in Painted Rock, and I find no 
 man has a good word for him, no, not one." 
 24 
 
THE KILLING OF '* SWEETWATER " 
 
 His voice died away into a mutter, and we 
 knew that the hours of one man were numbered, 
 unless he were favoured of fate or unless 
 someone warned him. 
 
 And Hale came into town that night, and 
 not a soul of all who knew told him that 
 Smith was in Painted Rock, and that he was 
 mad. I did not, for I did not know him and 
 could not interfere, and Gedge did not because 
 he preferred a mad Smith to a sane Hale, and 
 the others did not for many reasons. And 
 no one told the City Marshal, Ginger Gillett, 
 because it would have been Gillett's duty to 
 interfere and lock up Smith there and then. 
 For those are the ways of the West, without 
 any doubt. And the end of the story of 
 Smith and Hale came that very night, not 
 two hours after sundown, when the gambling 
 saloons were filling up and the streets of 
 Painted Rock were alive with talk and laughter. 
 I did not see the end, but I heard it ; and 
 Gedge saw it, and I came in time to see the 
 dead man before he was dead. For Smith and 
 Hale met face to face outside the American 
 Saloon, in which Gedge and Pillsbury had 
 25 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 their gambling lay-outs. And Hale did not 
 know Smith, because the man had altered so 
 much through his happiness and his grief. 
 Those who saw^ them meet say that there was 
 but little talk, and that the actual shooting 
 was so swift that no one saw guns drawn till 
 the shots were fired. But Gedge, who had 
 heard that Hale was in town and had the ears 
 of a creature of the forest, caught the first 
 words from the inside of the saloon, and recog- 
 nised the speakers. He dropped his cards 
 quietly and came out. At that time I was 
 fifty yards away, in the Occidental House. 
 
 Hale w^as now a big and burly man, and 
 very powerful. His forehead was low and his 
 mouth a close line, and there were signs of 
 drink in his face to those who know the lesser 
 signs. He came along the street as if he 
 owned it, and it must be said he owned more 
 than most people knew, for a man who lends 
 money and does it in quiet ways at a high 
 percentage when times are bad, creeps behind 
 the outward names of firms and fattens in 
 the dark. That is why some did not tell him 
 that Smith, who had sold out to him in the 
 26 
 
THE KILLING OF "SWEETWATER" 
 
 old days, was standing outside the American 
 Saloon with his eyes blazing and his tongue 
 still. They saw him and watched him, and 
 though they stood clear they hoped for his 
 death. And he came to where Smith was, 
 and, as I say, did not know him. But Smith 
 spoke in the tone of a challenge, and his voice 
 brought out Gedge as he cried — 
 
 " Hale ! " 
 And Hale stopped dead and turned and saw 
 no one that he knew, so that he could not say 
 who it was of the people about that had spoken 
 to him. 
 
 " It was I who called you," said Smith, and 
 then a dim perception of danger came to Hale. 
 
 And Smith spoke again in a high-pitched 
 voice. 
 
 " Don't you remember Smith of San 
 Antone ? " he asked. And Hale did remember, 
 and perhaps he grew a little pale. Gedge said 
 he did, but then Gedge did not like him. 
 
 " The last time you saw me," said Smith, 
 " you struck me in the face, and I did nothin'. 
 Do you remember that, Hale ? " 
 
 Hale remembered. Oh yes, he remembered 
 27 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 now, and he knew that there was but little 
 time to take his choice of action. He stood 
 irresolute, and Gedge says his hands showed 
 that he had no nerve, for they opened and 
 shut, and the bulk of the man trembled. He 
 stood and stared, and then he spoke, not like 
 a man, but like a beaten thing that plucks 
 up courage to pretend to courage as a last 
 effort for life. And yet there is no saying that 
 he might not have carried it off if he had 
 followed his one chance of salvation to its end. 
 " Oh, to be sure, my old friend Smith." 
 His voice shook. More than Gedge say 
 that, and yet he took a half-step towards his 
 enemy. If he had laughed and gone right up 
 to Smith, the old man might have broken 
 down in his intent. So strange a thing the 
 mind is ! But at the first half-step the little 
 pretence of courage failed in the man who had 
 none. It was horrible to be confronted with 
 this ghost of the past, and to see that this was 
 a man who cared not for life. Hale stopped 
 and his lip fell, and he turned — and ran ! 
 
 I heard the sound of two quick shots, and, 
 when I came to the American Saloon, Hale 
 28 
 
THE KILLING OF "SWEETWATER" 
 
 was within a quarter of an hour of death, and 
 
 Smith was sitting at a table in the saloon, with 
 Gedge beside him. 
 
 " My wife's dead," said Smith, " and my 
 child is dead too." 
 
 He is in the State Asylum now. 
 
 29 
 
II 
 
 THE DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY 
 WALKER 
 
 The sun was hot upon the land and Double 
 Mountain danced in the haze, while Double 
 Mountain Fork, which empties itself into the 
 Brazos miles to the northward, steamed 
 between its banks. The sheep lay in their 
 camps about the scanty mesquite and the 
 cut banks of the creek, and under a couple 
 of cottonwoods rooting in the slow waters. 
 It was the time of day to do nothing, to say 
 nothing, and to take, lying down, all the 
 hammering that the sun and wind could give. 
 Jeff said so, and he lay down under his cotton- 
 wood near which the sheep panted, while he 
 played lazily upon a rickety old mouth-organ. 
 And he knew just about as much of his tunes 
 as the old man of Arkansaw did. Like him, 
 31 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Jeff broke off in the middle; and, unlike him, 
 no stranger rode by to eke out the tale-end 
 of the music. His father came along instead, 
 for the old man roused himself from his bed 
 in the old shack by the creek, and stared into 
 the radiance of the day with one shaking 
 hand over his eyes — 
 
 " Jeff ! " 
 
 " Yep, Paw," said Jeff, as he scrambled to 
 his feet. He was a long, lean, and lank son 
 of the prairie, sandy, freckled, hard, and fifteen 
 years of age. 
 
 " Get up the pinto," said old Jefferson 
 Dexter. " Fm aimin' to go into the City." 
 
 Young Jeff was respectful because he had 
 been so all his life. It never occurred to him 
 to be anything else, for the old man had a 
 heavy hand, a fierce eye, and the temper 
 which gives his cutting edge to an American. 
 But now he ' reared ' a httle, and according 
 to his o\\m notion there was reason for jibbing. 
 He scratched his shock head, and put his 
 mouth-organ away inside his shirt before he 
 spoke. When he did speak he uttered a fact 
 without the least sense of reproach behind it. 
 32 
 
" You was full las' night when you come 
 home, Paw," he said. 
 
 " I was," said his father. 
 
 " And mebbe you don't reklec' what you 
 told me ? " 
 
 Dexter shook his head. 
 
 *' My son, I don't reklec' one word. Did I 
 speak ? I'd a sort of kinkle I was speechless." 
 
 Young Jeff shook his head in turn. 
 
 *' Far from it. Paw, for you sat on the table 
 a good while, and you yanked me outer bed 
 to hear." 
 
 " What did I discourse of ? " asked his father. 
 " I do hope I said nothin' unbecomin' your 
 father, Jeff. But sence your poor mother 
 payssed away into the eternal beyond I've 
 had less sense than I should hev. Did I 
 blaspheme any ? " 
 
 Jeff nodded. 
 
 " Oh my, Paw, you said offul things, most 
 offul." 
 
 " Can you repeat any of 'em, Jeff ? " asked 
 his father anxiously. 
 
 " A whole lot I can," replied Jeff promptly. 
 But old Dexter raised his hand. 
 c 33 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " My curiosity ez sinful/' he said, " and 
 m curb it. rU offer up a general repentance 
 scheme when the stiffness goes outer my 
 knee. And you forget what I said mighty 
 quick, or 111 flay you some, I will. Get up 
 the pinto, Jeff." 
 
 Jeff showed reluctance to move. 
 
 *' Paw, you mostly cussed one pusson." 
 
 Dexter, who had turned to go back into 
 the shanty, faced his son again swiftly. 
 
 " I done so ? " 
 
 " You did, Paw. As far ez I could gather 
 up the tale in the confusion of your shoutin', 
 you appeared to hev hed some sort of a 
 difficulty agin with Mr. Walker." 
 
 Dexter's face was as black as a thunder- 
 cloud when he heard what Jeff said. He 
 nodded, and stared at the boy from under his 
 heavy eyebrows, which drooped like bent 
 thatch over his burning eyes. 
 
 " I do reklec'," he said at last, " him and 
 me had words I know, — bad words, and I've 
 a notion the boys pulled me down and held 
 me. I knew, Jeff, I hed business in town, 
 and I couldn't prop'ly locate in my mind 
 34 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 what it was. That man sure insulted me in 
 some way, havin' done it before, sayin' I'd 
 brand mavericks as soon as eat pie. And 
 he went on to throw out hints as to brand- 
 burning. Jeff, my son, a maverick ain't 
 nothing ; there's no reason a man shouldn't 
 brand any beast as his owner ain't keerful to 
 put a mark on. But brand-burning is a boss of 
 another colour, and the insult bit into me. I 
 feel in my bones he up and said things. Get 
 up the pinto, Jeff." 
 
 There was visible distress in the boy's 
 eyes, and he followed the old man into the 
 house. 
 
 " Paw, don't you reckon it would be wiser 
 to wait a day ? After your jamboree your 
 hand will shake some, and they do say that 
 Mr. Walker shoots like death. There's many 
 he's killed, and you don't use your gun oncet 
 a year." 
 
 " Get up the pinto, boy," said Dexter. 
 " I cayn't wait a day to learn what he 
 said to me in the American House last 
 night." 
 
 When Jeff opened his mouth again, the old 
 35 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 man bent his brows on him till his eyes were 
 almost invisible. 
 
 " Get up the pinto, Jefferson," he said, 
 and poor Jeff ran out of the shack into the 
 burning sun as the tears rolled down his 
 cheeks. 
 
 " There's no one but me, and Sis she's in 
 Ole Virginny, and Mr. Walker will kill him 
 for sure if they tell the trewth of him. But 
 now Paw's mad. He's mad, and mebbe his 
 hand won't shake." 
 
 He brought up the " pinto," and hitched 
 the skewbald into the rattling old Stude- 
 baker wagon which was the carry-all for 
 everything on Double Mountain Fork. And 
 when it was ready old Dexter was ready 
 too. 
 
 " I'll be back by midnight maybe," said 
 Dexter. " Git up thar ! " and he struck the 
 horse over the flank with the doubled lines, 
 and so far as Jeff could see the old man 
 never turned his head after the pinto once 
 got started. But the boy stared down the 
 track across the prairie which Texans call a 
 road, till he could see nothing but the brown 
 36 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 grasses of summer and the dancing haze of 
 noonday heat. 
 
 " Like enough," said Jeff, " I'U never see 
 the ole man no more. He's stiff and rheu- 
 maticky, and he cay n't get no gun out fast 
 enough for Walker. I dew wish that Walker 
 would run up agin someone like Ben Thompson. 
 Ben Thompson would hev made him look like 
 a Mexican's blanket, more holes than wool. 
 But Walker don't take no chances thataway. 
 He's no more than a poor fool-killer, and Paw's 
 a fool." 
 
 Jeff wiped away a tear, and made himself 
 some coffee by heating up the remains of his 
 Dad's breakfast. It was a hard life that he led, 
 and he never knew it. The world was big, so 
 he had heard, but West Virginia was the end 
 of it towards the East. A remote California was 
 in the far West. The round and broken prairie 
 was his world ; and the slow creek his river. 
 He wondered how much bigger the Mississippi 
 was. For his mother, now in the cemetery 
 at the ' City ' toward which the old pinto was 
 going, had come from Memphis. 
 
 " I'd like to go to Sis in Ole Virginny," 
 37 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 said Jeff, as he took his mouth-organ out of his 
 shirt and went to look at the sheep. " I 
 reckon they don't care much for horegas in 
 Virginny. I dew wonder some why Paw 
 hankers after sheep when he has cattle. A 
 sheep is sheer muck to a steer." 
 
 He sat by the bank of the ' crick ' and 
 played his poor bits of tunes, and presently, 
 as the sun westered and the thin shadows of 
 the mesquites stretched two hours' journey 
 on the grass, the sheep rose from their camp 
 and started browsing. Jeff whistled for his 
 dog, a lean mongrel with a big head and 
 wistful eyes, and started to loaf the way 
 the herd of sheep went. He played as he 
 walked. Once more young Pan piped, and 
 the haze at least danced. But his heart was 
 heavy. 
 
 " I cayn't play wuth a darn," said Jeff. 
 " Fm mighty anxious about Paw." 
 
 He put away his instrument and played 
 no more. He spoke to his dog. 
 
 '' Bob, old son, if that Walker puts lead 
 into the ole man I'll — I'll blow a hole threw 
 him a rat ked crawl threw." 
 
 38 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 Now, though he piped no more, the whole 
 world danced through his tears. 
 
 " Fm demed sorry for the ole man," 
 whimpered his son ; " he ain't had no circus 
 of a life. Things w^as tough back East, so Maw 
 used to let on, and here they was tough, and 
 then she died. He ain't bin the same sence, 
 but more fierce and contrairy ; and he gets full 
 three to one for what he done w^hen Maw was 
 alive. I dew wish I'd hed the savvy to go in 
 with him. But he'd never ha' let me." 
 
 At sundown he corralled the sheep and their 
 lambs in a straggling mesquite corral against 
 the raids of coyotes, and went back to the 
 shanty. He cooked a mess of flour and a bit of 
 bacon, and ate his supper very soberly, washing 
 it down with a drink from the creek. Then 
 he sat outside on an upturned keg which 
 had once held nails, and played a little more 
 as the night came on. The stars broke out 
 in the east and then they shone over him, 
 and the west was blue at last as the moon rose 
 in the east. The solace of the time was upon 
 him, and for a little while his heart was 
 easier. 
 
 39 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " The boys won't let Walker shoot him up 
 any/' he said hopefully. "They're a fine lot 
 o' boys to the City, and I reckon some day 
 they'll make Walker like a sieve." 
 
 But when he went into the house he took 
 down his father's old shot-gun and looked 
 at it. 
 
 " I'll be the only one left," said Jeff as he 
 put it back in its place. " The only one but 
 Sis." 
 
 But nevertheless he slept soundly when he 
 was once in the blankets, and he never woke 
 till it was past midnight and the high moon 
 made the prairie almost as light as day. 
 When he woke he sat up suddenly. 
 
 " Paw ! " he called ; " Paw, ez that you ? " 
 
 But there was no answer, and he came to 
 himself. 
 
 *' I thot I heard the ole man," he said. 
 And even as he spoke he heard the sound of a 
 horse coming across the prairie at a lope. He 
 sprang out of bed and ran to the door. 
 
 " That ain't Paw, onless he's left the wagon 
 to the City," he said. " There's times he will 
 when he ain't sober and ain't rightly full." 
 40 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 Yet he knew how unhkely it was that the old 
 man should do so now. There was seldom a 
 time that poor old Dexter wasn't " rightly 
 full " when he came back home. And the 
 sound came nearer, nearer yet. In another 
 minute the horseman pulled up outside the 
 shack. 
 
 " Ez that you, Jeff ? " he asked. 
 
 " Why, certainly, Bill Davies," said Jeff, 
 with a sinking heart. " Wliat's brot you this 
 way ? Hev you come from the City, and hev 
 you seen my Dad ? " 
 
 Bill Davies got off his pony, and leaving 
 it with the bridle reins on the ground came 
 up to Jeff. He was a cowboy from Ennis 
 Creek, and was not often that way. 
 
 " Fve rode out to tell about him," said Bill 
 quietly. 
 
 "Oh," said Jeff, "I know. He's dead, 
 BiU ? " 
 
 " He's gone, Jeff." 
 
 " And Walker shot him ? " 
 
 " He's the third Windy Walker has shot and 
 killed in two years," said Davies. " And 
 'twill be self-defence, Jeff. Your old man 
 41 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 started to pull on him, and was as slow gettin' 
 out his gun as a mud- turtle on dry land. And 
 Walker pulled down on him and shot him 
 threw three times before he teched the ground. 
 The poor old man is dead, Jeff. Don't 
 grieve, Jeff." 
 
 But Jeff swallowed his tears. 
 
 " I ain't grievin' now, Bill Davies. I'll find 
 time to mourn for the ole man when Walker's 
 dead," he said in a choking voice. 
 
 But Bill Davies shook his head. 
 
 " 'Twas self-defence, Jeff ; it was, sure. 
 For las' night they had a sort of difficulty, and 
 we held yur old man down, and he said he'd 
 shoot Walker on sight. And Walker laffed. 
 And we got yur Dad out o' town fightin' 
 somethin' awful. And he pulled his gun first. 
 There's four to take the stand and say so. 
 There won't be no trouble for Walker. He says 
 he'll do the thing handsome and bury the old 
 man in style." 
 
 Jeff threw up his head. 
 
 " You ain't defendin' Walker none, are you. 
 Bill Davies ? " 
 
 The cowboy shrugged his shoulders. 
 42 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 " Me defend him, Jeff ! He's the meanest 
 sort of murderer. He don't take chances 
 with any but old men and tender-feet. He 
 ain't the man to kill when it ain't self-defence. 
 He looks for self-defence, and is greedy for it. 
 I'd like to see him laid out cold, and before I 
 buried him in style I'd see the dogs eat 
 him." 
 
 " rU kiU him," said Jeff. " WiU you sleep 
 here, Bill, and lend me your pony so's I can 
 go into town and see Paw ? I'll send the pony 
 back early." 
 
 " You kin ride," said Bill; " I'll stay here. 
 Do you mean what you say, Jeff ? " 
 
 " Sure's death," said Jeff. " Ain't he killed 
 Paw ? Who else is there ? " 
 
 Bill Davies took him by the hand. 
 " You're a man, Jeff, and I'll be proud of 
 you. But reklec' he's quick on the trigger. 
 Don't take no chances. He won't give 
 none." 
 
 " I'll give him none," said Jeff. 
 " You're a boy after all," mused the cow- 
 boy, " and if you kill him there will be those 
 that'll sympathise with you, Jeff. But p'raps 
 43 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 you'd better go back to Virginia to your 
 sister." 
 
 To say so was to ease his mind of a hard 
 duty. Bill Davies felt much easier after it. 
 
 " I'm goin' back soon," said Jeff. 
 
 And he rode through the moonlight to the 
 town. He sent the pony back as soon as he 
 found his father's body, which lay in the back 
 store of the man they usually dealt with. And 
 the funeral was next day. Walker did not 
 pay for it, for Jeff sent him a message. 
 
 " He looked tolerable wicked," said the 
 man who took it to the slayer. 
 
 " Did he ? " sneered Walker. " You can 
 tell him to keep out of my way. See ? " 
 
 Walker felt an injured man. 
 
 " Good God!" said Walker, '' shall I have 
 to kill a boy ? " 
 
 But Jeff went back to his place on Double 
 Mountain Creek, and, the memories of men 
 in the West being short, the death of old 
 Jefferson Dexter was a thing forgotten in a 
 week. But the young one didn't forget. 
 And perhaps Walker did not, for the pride of 
 a man who kills and is not tried, or who is 
 44 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 tried and acquitted, is something strange to 
 see. He gloried in his strength and in his 
 quickness, and took up attitudes before the 
 Httle world in which he shone. And quiet men 
 said to themselves that Windy Walker would 
 not die in bed. But the trouble is that quiet 
 men do not kill unless they are obliged to, 
 and some men who looked Walker in the eyes 
 with a savage challenge found him loath to 
 take offence. 
 
 " I put up with a mighty lot now," said 
 Walker; "a man with my record should. I 
 want peace." 
 
 He still held his own at the American House, 
 where the trouble with old Dexter had begun, 
 and he lost a few dollars regularly to the 
 gamblers who ran the faro and keno tables. 
 They sneered at him, but found him a paying 
 streak in bad times. If he gassed a little they 
 let him gas. And the citizens of the * City ' 
 endured him. There were some (quiet men 
 who did not talk) who wondered when his 
 end would come. For Bill Davies said a thing 
 or two to friends of his. 
 
 " The boy hez a right to kill him," said 
 45 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Bill, " and the right to get the drop unseen. 
 He's a boy ! " 
 
 Jeff sometimes came into town, but he 
 came in mostly by night, and no one knew of 
 his being there at all. He used to tie up the 
 old pinto outside the town and come in quietly. 
 He mostly lay about the empty town lots 
 that were at the back of the American House 
 and the Green Front, the chief saloons in 
 Colorado Street. The gambling saloons of 
 both houses were at the back, and the windows 
 looked upon a waste of old boots, old kerosene- 
 cans, and empty tomato-cans. But the blinds 
 were usually drawn. In such a ' City,' even 
 though law and order were gradually and 
 with great difficulty establishing themselves, 
 there were many who had a deeply-rooted 
 objection to standing in a bright light visible 
 to those who were in darkness. There was 
 never any knowing who might be out- 
 side. 
 
 And very often Jeff was outside. Some- 
 times he heard the voices of men he knew. 
 Bill Davies was in there at least once a week. 
 He heard Simon Keats, to whose store his 
 
 46 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 father's body had been taken. For Simon, 
 though a respectable store-keeper by day, 
 had a passion for faro which bloomed after 
 sundown. And sometimes he heard Walker. 
 But the window was shut and the blind was 
 down. 
 
 That year, as it happened, September 
 opened with a blaze of heat that the most 
 hardened old-timer felt. The sky was brass, 
 and the winds that came up out of the Gulf, 
 growing hotter on the fat corn-lands of lower 
 Texas, might have come from the pit. The 
 high plateaux across which the Texas Pacific 
 Railroad runs were burning ; stock died of 
 drought ; the prairie was fired by the cinders 
 of locomotives. In the * City,' sunk between 
 sandhills, the heat was intense, and the 
 nerves of men gave way. They only came 
 out at night, and then the saloons filled. 
 
 " By gosh, it's hot ! " said Davies, who 
 had been taking three days in town; " by 
 gosh, it's hot ! Sam, don't you reckon it 
 might be a trifle cooler if that window was 
 open ? " 
 
 The bar -tender, down whose face the 
 47 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 moisture ran in streams, admitted that the 
 experiment might be worth trying. " Though 
 whether it's hotter here, or outside, or in hell, 
 I cayn't say," he answered. 
 
 " Who's afraid of hell in this weather ? " 
 asked Windy Walker crossly. " Open the 
 window, Sam, and let me have a John Collins. 
 I've a thirst on me as if a prairie fire was 
 ragin' down my throat. I dunno what foohsh- 
 ness brought men to Texas." 
 
 Sam went to the window and pulled up the 
 blind. By a curious instinct, for it was 
 hardly conscious, Walker and two or three 
 others moved out of the direct line between 
 it and the big lamp that lighted the room. 
 But Bill Da\des moved farther than anyone. 
 Then Sam opened the window top and bottom, 
 and pulled the blind down again. But it had 
 been up long enough to show some outside 
 that the window was open. 
 
 " That's better," said Walker. And he 
 went to the faro-table and laid down a 
 dollar. 
 
 " I don't get between him and the window," 
 said Davies; "not much I don't. Three 
 48 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 times this month I've seen young Jeff ridin* 
 along to town at sundown, and if he gives 
 Walker a chance he's a fool. If I was a 
 boy and had the same against Walker 
 I'd say ' Look out, Windy,* when he was 
 dead." 
 
 But the room was crowded and the play 
 went on. Da vies didn't play ; his nerves were 
 on the stretch. Something seemed to tell 
 him that Walker's time was coming ; he felt 
 as some do when thunder is brewing in a 
 great and heavy calm. And suddenly he 
 went curiously white. 
 
 " That blind's higher than it was," he said. 
 But no one else saw it. They faced the 
 tables ; the talk of the faro-dealer went on ; 
 a lucky man cried " Keno ! " They swore and 
 cursed and drank. And then Davies saw 
 fingers at the blind cord, only fingers. The 
 blind went up three inches. He drew 
 back still farther and stood against the 
 waU, with an extinguished cigar between 
 his teeth and his cow-hat over his eyes. 
 He looked at Walker, who was in a 
 crowd. 
 
 D 49 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Dern my luck/' said Walker, " that's 
 five dollars." 
 
 He made a motion to get out of those who 
 stood with him, and Bill Davies almost called 
 to him. 
 
 ' " It's not my funeral," he said grimly as 
 he restrained himself. And he looked again 
 at the window. On the sill, close to the 
 corner, he saw something move a little. 
 
 '' That lets me out," said Walker, cursing 
 as he stepped back clear of his companions. 
 And as he did so there was a deafening report. 
 Bill saw flame leap from the muzzle of a 
 gun, and Walker threw up his hands and 
 gasped horribly. Then he pitched upon the 
 floor and lay there. A dozen men had their 
 " guns " in their hands at the sound. 
 
 " By God!" said one of them, '' that was 
 from the winder." 
 
 One man, quicker than the rest, put up his 
 hand, pulled the string of the lamp, and the 
 room was in darkness. Bill Davies jumped 
 to the window and through it, and came upon 
 Jeff Dexter with his shot-gun in his hand. 
 The boy was crying dreadfully. Before they 
 50 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 could speak, other men followed Davies, and 
 some came round the house from the front. 
 
 " It's Jeff Dexter as done it," said Bill. 
 
 There was a curious gasp of relief from 
 those who stood by him and Jeff. Old Simon 
 Keats was the first to speak. 
 
 " Boys, he had a right to," he said. 
 *' Walker killed his Dad, and he's a boy. He 
 had no call to speak to Windy first, under 
 the circumstances." 
 
 But Jeff still sobbed. 
 
 " What'll we do, boys ? " asked Bill 
 Davies. 
 
 " We'll save the boy trouble," said Keats. 
 " It's allowed young Jeff ain't done no harm 
 in killing Windy ? " 
 
 " That's so," said the bystanders. 
 
 " Then send him back to Virginia to his 
 sister," said Keats. " There's the East-bound 
 express due in less'n twenty minutes. Will 
 you go, bud ? " 
 
 " Of course he'll go," said Davies. " Hev 
 you any money, Jeff ? " 
 
 Jeff had none on him. A dozen men offered 
 him bills and silver. 
 
 51 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " And ril buy you out, stock and all, 
 Jeff," said old Keats, " at a price that all 
 here will say is fair." 
 
 " Hear, hear ! " said the crowd. 
 
 " And, what's more, I'll go with you to Fort 
 Worth," said Keats. " Come along, sonny. 
 There's no time to lose." 
 
 They walked towards the railroad depot. 
 
 " One of us'll go to the City Marshal 
 and say Windy's gone up the flume," 
 said Sam the bar-tender. " And we'll drop 
 a hint the boy had rode back to his 
 ranch." 
 
 And as they walked, Jeff held Bill Davies* 
 hand and trembled violently. 
 
 " Mr. Keats, I'd like to give Bill my dog 
 Bob, and my old pinto pony," he said. " Will 
 you take them, Bill ? " 
 
 " To bee sure," said Bill. 
 
 " The pinto's tied to a mesquite t'other 
 side of the Wolf Crick," said Jeff. " He's a 
 mighty good pony for slow work." 
 
 " I'll not hurry him," said Bill. And they 
 reached the depot just as the East-bound 
 express came in. 
 
 52 
 
DIFFICULTY WITH WINDY WALKER 
 
 " Buck up," said Bill. *' You done right, 
 Jeff." 
 
 " Did I ? " asked Jeff. 
 
 "Sure 'nuff," said Bill. " Windy's 
 dead." 
 
 53 
 
Ill 
 
 THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 His real Christian name, or first name, as they 
 put in the United States, was Robert, but no 
 one acquainted with the West would for one 
 instant imagine that so insignificant a word 
 could survive the contrast with his hair. A 
 man with brown or black locks might have 
 been called Bob, but a red-gold head and a 
 blazing beard mean that a man's obvious 
 destiny is to be called ' Ginger.' And he 
 was called Ginger before his real name was 
 known to any citizen of Painted Rock. For 
 when Ginger Gillett ' struck ' Painted Rock, 
 he struck it hard, and was landed in the middle 
 of a group with a broken arm, a cut forehead, 
 and all his senses knocked ' galley-west.' It 
 was a remarkable incident in the history of the 
 City, and one which led to great improvements 
 55 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 in the tone and conduct of affairs in that 
 particular portion of Texas. They often spoke 
 of it in Painted Rock, and invariably related 
 the history to any stranger. They told it me, 
 for instance, within twenty-four hours of my 
 reaching the place, and I ow^ned, as I stood 
 liquor to those assembled in the American 
 House, that it was a romance. 
 
 Pillsbury told the yarn, and told it fairly 
 well, for Pillsbury had seen a great deal of the 
 West and knew life. He was a gambler, and 
 reckoned honest. He never killed anybody 
 if he could help it, and was thus known to be 
 peaceful and on the side of law and order. 
 
 " Ginger Gillett don't trouble me none," he 
 said. "I'm for Ginger every time. The 
 Marshal of thishyer City hez to be a man, and 
 he WTiz sent here by a special Prov'dence, or 
 I know nothin' of Prov'dence, boys. I play a 
 fair game : I love honesty and righteousness. 
 There's nothin' betwixt the lids o' the Bible 
 that's down on faro. The word's never 
 mentioned from Genesis to Revelations, for the 
 Pharaoh that is spoke of so frequent was not 
 a game of kyards but a king. A gospel-sharp 
 
 56 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 told me so. Ginger knows that, and he 
 knows men will hev a game. It's natur', natur' 
 straight. There's more peace to play faro 
 sence Ginger ran the hull show. The man's a 
 fool that thinks a fair-minded, honest gambler 
 don't want peace. I'll tell you how Ginger 
 kem here. It wuz a row-mance, a fair row- 
 mance. I see him come myself. I wuz down 
 to the Deep6 when he arrived by special 
 freight. Tom, I'll hev another, I guess." 
 
 We leant on the bar and listened. All but 
 myself had heard the story a thousand times, 
 but life is dull in the West unless things are 
 booming, and the love of a story is a part of 
 Hfe. 
 
 " 'Twas a sizzling hot mawnin'," said 
 Pillsbury, " and ten years ago, and Painted 
 Rock when it's hot is hell in a mug without 
 water. A dozen of us was loafin' at the 
 Deep6. We'd come to see the West-bound 
 express go through, and she was an hour 
 behind the schedule along of a burnt trestle 
 the other side of Sweetwater. 'Twas so hot 
 when she got away that we stayed, put under 
 the shade, cussin' about the flies and the sand, 
 57 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 and sich-like, when a freight comes bumpin* 
 along, a freight that hed been side-tracked 
 to Sweetwater to let the express pass through. 
 None of us paid no attention, for I wuz showin' 
 him that was City Marshal then (Green his 
 name was, Ben Thompson shot and killed him 
 over to San Antone) how to rise up the four 
 Jacks outer'n the pack. And bump, bump 
 kim along the freight, and suthin' w^nt wrong 
 with a switch, and the old freight took the 
 wrong track and bumped into a no-thorough- 
 fare, so to speak, and stopped up agin a sand- 
 bank with a jerk. And nat'rally the kyars 
 played hell and piled themselves up, but 
 luckily for us on the platform they deecided 
 to fall the other way. But before they fell 
 the door of a box car, which was crumpled up 
 like as if a bull hed charged an empty kerosene- 
 can, bust open, and suthin' inside spanged 
 Ginger right in among us, spoiling my trick 
 and upending ole Green among a pile o' lamps, 
 where he cussed very blasphemous, enough to 
 hurt the feelin's of a strict atheist. And me, 
 I stretched out Ginger fiat and diskivered a 
 broke arm, and I plastered up a cut in his open 
 
 58 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 countenance you could have hid a ten-cent 
 seegar in, and presently he kem to and smiled, 
 like as if he was sure confused, and said suthin'." 
 
 And Pillsbury paused to drink. 
 
 " And what did he say ? '* I asked. 
 
 " You'll admire to hear," said Pillsbury, 
 " you'll fair admire ! He says in a fierce 
 whisper, ' Partner, who slung me off the 
 train ? ' And I says, ' Ole man, his name's 
 Prov'dence, and he's hard to beat.' And he 
 replies as he faints away, ' What's his other 
 name ? ' And ole Green hears him, as he 
 waz pickin' broke glass out of the seat of his 
 pants very tender, and he says, ' I reckon 
 this ginger-headed stranger introduced to 
 Painted Rock so sudden is somewhat of a man, 
 or he wouldn't be for stowin* the whole name 
 and deescription of Providence away in his 
 mind till he's well agin.' And he says, 
 ' Pillsbury, what with glass and oil I'm not 
 fit for activity, so I'll look after the ginger- 
 headed arrival what bucks up agin destiny, 
 while you goes and digs out the engineer of 
 this freight.' And that's how Ginger Gillett 
 struck Painted Rock, and how ole Green took 
 59 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 to him and started him upon a risin' path 
 wot has led him to bein' City Marshal in this 
 noble and rising City in the south of the 
 Panhandle. I tell you it's a fair row-mance. 
 A row-mance is wot it is, worthy of print.'* 
 
 " Fd admire to hev Ginger Gillett's life 
 wrote up/' said Jack Gray. '' It would ekal, 
 or a'most ekal, the story of the James 
 Brothers." 
 
 '' And on top of that, it would be much 
 more moral and improvin'," said Pillsbury. 
 " The James, and you hev to own it, was a 
 devastatin' crowd, and peace never flourished 
 where they abounded; but since Ginger's 
 took hold of Painted Rock, we've had peace 
 for weeks at a time, whole weeks with never 
 a gun pulled, and difficulties smoothed over 
 that in bigger cities than this would hev led 
 to a boom in coffins and coffin fixin's. Why, 
 I've not hed occasion to as much as look at a 
 man crooked for a'most a month. The moral 
 improvement in Painted Rock hez no parallel 
 since Dodge City secured havin' the railroad 
 by becomin' moral in a week by city ordinance ; 
 which led to cruelty to gamblers. Sudden 
 60 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 improvements ain't no good. Ginger's gradual 
 with everything but an immediate disturb- 
 ance, and he's makin' law and morals popular 
 where I never reckoned to see 'em stood for an 
 instant." 
 
 He turned to me. 
 
 " You bein' a stranger, and likely from the 
 East, which lets on to hev a monopoly of 
 virtue, will see nothin' in Painted Rock to 
 excite uncalled-for remarks if it was to occur 
 in Boston. And the man that says different 
 ez a liar." 
 
 The rest of the citizens there assembled 
 said Pillsbury was no liar, but far more 
 truthful than usual even in that moral city. 
 And the meeting adjourned. Thereby I lost 
 the rest of the story of the rise of Ginger 
 Gillett till I had had the honour of being 
 introduced to him. As a matter of fact I 
 introduced myself without ceremony on the 
 occasion of Keno Gedge arresting his own son 
 before a killing had time to take place. As 
 the riot happened in the American House, 
 Pillsbury was in it of course, and when I came 
 back from the gaol to which young Gedge had 
 6i 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 been conveyed, he went on with the interrupted 
 
 history. 
 
 " Now, as a tender-foot," said the moral 
 Pillsbury, " you have a remarkable objec' 
 lesson in the misuse of drink and guns and 
 language in this late lamentable breakin' out 
 of young Gedge. Young Gedge hears that 
 some gent has been lettin' on that he don't 
 play fair with his father. That's the first sad 
 step to disaster. Young Gedge chews on this, 
 and findin' it remarkable dry chewin', washes 
 it down with liquor. Without slanderin' them 
 that sells liquor, I may go so far as to state 
 tolerable free that all liquor sold in Painted 
 Rock doesn't soothe the irritated child of 
 nature like soothin' syrup. So young Gedge 
 gets his gun and goes huntin' for the loose- 
 lipped gent wot said he did his father over 
 money matters ; and carrying a gun thataway 
 is dry work, and it was obvious to me when 
 the boy come in and talked very free that in 
 less than nineteen minutes and three-quarters 
 by the clock over Bailey's store he would 
 opine the first man he saw was good enough 
 to shoot at. I took counsel with myself and 
 62 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 the bar-keep, and sent for Keno himself. And 
 Ukewise, I own, I sent for Ginger Gillett too. 
 The rest you know. Young Gedge pulled on 
 Ginger and shot his own father. Let's hope 
 Keno will get well, for if he doesn't it will lie 
 heavy on his son. Although the whole affair 
 has not eventuated in the way I reckoned, 
 I don't blame myself. The reesponsibility lies 
 on young Gedge and Ginger. I think I was 
 tellin' you a day or two back how Ginger came 
 here, and in what dramatic sort he lit among 
 us, like a hawk on a June bug." 
 
 " You were," I said. And I went on to 
 say that there were two rocking-chairs vacant 
 on the verandah, and that I trusted he would 
 drink a John Collins with me and go on with 
 the tale there and then. 
 
 " Well, I don't mind if I do," said PiUsbury. 
 
 He took a drink and resumed the history. 
 
 " As I let on, he was fair bust up that first 
 appearance of his, and it took him some time 
 to knit up his arm and get strong again. And 
 all that time he stayed in ole Green's house, 
 and Green loved him, fairly loved him in 
 spite of the glass in him which worked out 
 
 63 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 for weeks afterwards. It appeared, so Green 
 said, that Ginger hed hed severe trouble over 
 a girl in Mizzoura who loved some other chap 
 better. And whether Ginger killed him or not 
 I can't say. Green didn't know, but he 
 opined that the intrusive lover was not calcu- 
 lated to shine as a professional beauty after 
 Ginger had got through with him; and he 
 said Ginger should be a son to him, which was 
 curious, for Green had a son, and by no means 
 was much of a father to him save in the matter 
 of cowhidin' the boy, which led to young 
 Green shiftin' camp and goin' to Arizona. 
 And when Ginger was fit he ran around with 
 old Green and jined in his business, and got 
 very popular by reason of his ways. I reckon 
 he soon got over the melancholy that rose up 
 in him at the thought of the Mizzoura gal; 
 for, as you may hev noticed, a bright red 
 head and a yaller beard inspires great interest 
 in women for some reason deep in nature 
 with which I hev no sympathy, although I'm 
 one of them that admires Gillett. I admire 
 him in spite of his redness, and the women-folk 
 seem to admire him for it, which is redik'lus, 
 64 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 but deeply natural as aforesaid. And Green 
 said openly that when he quit this mortal 
 sphere and the Panhandle of Texas, Ginger 
 was the man to be City Marshal. Now the 
 truth is, and I would have stated it to Green 
 himself, that he was not the highest and most 
 shining sort of Marshal himself. He was too 
 easy with everybody, and he loved sleep a 
 whole lot. A City Marshal in Texas should 
 be awake eighteen hours out of twenty-four, 
 and off en twenty-four, takin' what rest he can 
 when peace blooms rarely. But Green liked 
 the blankets, and it took a powerful deputa- 
 tion to get him out of 'em. I went around 
 to his shack one night no later than one 
 o'clock, and interviewed him through the 
 window with regard to two toughs that had 
 come into the town from El Paso, on an occasion 
 when all our best men was away at Sweetwater 
 for a trial that was on there. And Green let 
 on that he reckoned it would do the town 
 good to be shook out of its calm a bit, and 
 that he would attend to the matter in the 
 morning. And next morning he triumphed 
 over my mournful prognostications because 
 E 65 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 the two toughs was dead, havin' come to 
 words as to whether Painted Rock was a 
 poorer town in spirit than some other town 
 they'd been playin' up in, which was very 
 trying to hear, but I was disabled with a 
 stab in my right arm. And they actuly shot 
 each other, and the argument was undecided. 
 But, as I was sayin', Green nominated Ginger 
 as his successor, and there was a party for 
 him, the women bein' keen on him I must 
 say. But his rival, who was named Keeley, 
 had a large followin' like\\'ise, and if it had 
 come to votes it would have been a narrow 
 squeak as to which came out on top. How- 
 ever, there was no real votin' on it, and it was 
 through me there wasn't. For when poor old 
 Green was done up at San Antone by Ben 
 Thompson, that met his fate in — 84 at the 
 hands of King Fisher and M'Coy, me and 
 Ginger pooled our brains, so to speak, and 
 it was me that got him in. You see, Ginger 
 was from Mizzoura, and Keeley was Texas 
 to the finger-tips, and that was agin 
 Ginger. And the women made the men 
 jealous mebbe. Anyhow, as I said to Ginger, 
 66 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 it was a matter that shouldn't come to 
 votin'. 
 
 " ' How'll we avoid it ? ' asked Ginger. 
 
 ** ' Easy,' said I ; for, you see, I knew the 
 town and its nature better than he did. And 
 in the silent hours of the early momin' I'd 
 evolved a plan to get him in. I wanted 
 him, for Keeley was too much in with the 
 deadly new respectable element that was 
 down on gamblers. The gospel-sharp was 
 for him; and out of four law-sharps, three 
 said Keeley every time. 
 
 " And therefore I eelaborated my scheme 
 to Ginger, and he said whatever happened 
 he'd stand by me so long as I played a straight 
 game. He knew me. And I arranged a little 
 private gatherin' of them that favoured 
 Ginger in place of Green, and I put the kyards 
 face up on the table that would win the game. 
 And then we started playin'. Did we run 
 down Keeley ? No, not by a Standard Oil 
 tank-full ! We went round sayin' that Keeley 
 was a fine man, and a real son o' Texas, and 
 as hard as they were made, and an elegant 
 fit for the post-hole left vacant by the un- 
 
 67 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 timely uprootin' of poor ole Green. But 
 we said, likewise, that Ginger, though from 
 Mizzoura, was perhaps a leetle better as a 
 man. I said publicly that I reckoned that if 
 it came to a wrastlin' match between the two 
 that Ginger could down Keeley. * Not but 
 that Keeley's a stout man,' I said. And 
 Gedge let on that Ginger could shoot quicker 
 and straighter than Keeley, though there 
 was few, if any, in Painted Rock that could 
 ekal him. And the result of this was that 
 the hull town was presently standin' around 
 in groups holdin' animated and fierce dis- 
 cussions as to which was the best man of the 
 two. And the office of City Marshal bein' 
 vacant, and each candidate eager to please, 
 there was little interference with disputes, and 
 the death-rate threatened to jump like that 
 of flies at the first norther. And me and 
 Keeley's prime supporter had words on 
 Main Street, and then I played four aces 
 and the joker, so to speak. Said I, ' My 
 son, I've a hundred dollars in my pocket 
 that's yellin' to be 3/ours if Ginger can't 
 down Keeley in the plaza and take him 
 68 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 to the calaboose and lock him up single- 
 handed.' 
 
 " ' By gosh ! ' says he, 'I've a hundred 
 shriekin' like the American Eagle in the blue 
 sky o' freedom that Keeley can do that same 
 to Ginger Gillett.' 
 
 " * Shake hands on it/ says I. * It's a 
 bet!' 
 
 "And the crowd cheered, and started in 
 bettin' there and then, till about twenty 
 thousand dollars hung in the balance, and 
 the excitement was extreme and wild. And 
 who should come along right then but Ginger 
 and Keeley, who was quite good friends, 
 though nat 'rally a little shy of each other just 
 at that time. And the crowd runs to 'em 
 and explains riotously how things was comin' 
 up, and though Ginger was lookin' for some- 
 thing of the kind, Keeley warn't, and showed 
 some surprise at what had transpired in the 
 interim of his takin' two drinks with two 
 admirers. 
 
 "'There's millions on you, Keeley,' said 
 the boys that was backin' Keeley ; ' we've put 
 our last dollar on you. Can you down Ginger 
 
 69 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Gillett in the plaza and tote him to the cala- 
 boose ? ' 
 
 " ' Can I what ? ' asks Keeley, some con- 
 fused. And seventeen explained to him at 
 the top o' their voices, and the sport in him 
 woke up, and he let on, modestly enough, 
 that he'd do his best. 
 
 " And Ginger let on that he also would do 
 his best. And the town struck work, and the 
 stores shut up, and it was like as if the Fourth 
 of July had been sprung on us in April, and 
 everyone talked, and the bars was full, and 
 the womenfolk came out to see, — Painted Rock 
 buzzed like a hive of bees. I never see the 
 like. But I was busy, for it had to be 
 arranged, and me and his chief supporter 
 did it, and we drew up regulations for 
 the Roman combat in the plaza with a 
 view of obviatin' any difficulty hereafter. 
 And our rules for the circus was roughly 
 these : — 
 
 "First. The combat will take place in 
 three days, so as to avoid trainin*, seein' 
 that we want the nat'rally best man. 
 
 *' Second. The trouble will commence in 
 70 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 the exact measured middle of the plaza at 
 two p.m., in ordinary clothes. 
 
 " Third. The combatants may carry guns, 
 but they must be unloaded and only usable as 
 clubs. 
 
 "Fourth. Knives forbidden; biting and 
 gouging hkewise, as ladies will be present. 
 
 " Fifth. If either fails to lock up the other, 
 points will be allowed and the struggle re- 
 sumed on the followin' day. 
 
 "Sixth. If the fight ends in a draw, the 
 combatants will draw lots and the loser will 
 leave the town for a month. 
 
 "Seventh. After winning the winner will 
 pay loser's fare to Fort Worth, and loser 
 will undertake to stay there one month. 
 
 " There was other rules which I disremember, 
 and me and Ed Smith (Keeley's chief sup- 
 porter) and the doctor was made umpires. 
 And I can tell you we had some business to 
 transact. For it soon got put around the 
 country what was going on, and every cowboy 
 within sixty miles came in howling and hot to 
 see the show. The town, bein' excited and 
 generous and sportin', put up barriers at the 
 71 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 public expense around the locality in the 
 plaza where the fight was to be, for we reckoned 
 it was goin' to advertise Painted Rock some 
 and no mistake. And then the day came, and 
 Ginger and Keeley and me and Ed Smith and 
 the doctor (his name was Whalley, and he 
 died of drink later) stepped out into the plaza, 
 like as if we was toreadors in a bull-ring, and 
 the crowd shouted something prodigious, and 
 swayed till the barriers cracked. And the 
 windows was full, and so was the roofs, and 
 the roof of the gaol was packed hkewise. And 
 I said, * Gentlemen, Mr. Keeley and Mr. Gillett, 
 shake hands.' And they shook hands, and 
 made a fine sight, two real good men with their 
 eyes like coals and all ready. And Ed Smith, 
 who warn't goin' to allow me to do all the 
 oratin', said, ' Now, gentlemen, at the word 
 " Go " you will endeavour to arrest each other 
 for the sake of law and order.' And then the 
 doctor he chipped in and said, ' Go ! ' And the 
 trouble began at two sharp, and it began 
 perfectly curious. For Ginger smiled, and he 
 said, * Mr. Keeley, I'll trouble you to come 
 along with me this fifty yards to the calaboose ! ' 
 72 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 And Keeley replied, * I was just goin' to ask you 
 the same. How surprisin'.' And they circled 
 about each other like dogs, and us umpires 
 retired a few paces and stood. And all of a 
 sudden they grabbed each other, and the dust 
 flew violent. You may hev noticed that 
 the dust in the plaza is mighty thick and red 
 and light. For a whole minute we could 
 hardly see these two gladiators circusing round 
 like a teetotum ; and then there was a bigger 
 cloud and a thud, and when the dust laid a 
 bit the two was on the ground with Keeley 
 on top. And the Gingerites groaned, and the 
 Keeleyites yelled, and I felt some sick myself. 
 But of course this was no more than the 
 openin' of the drayma ; and how^ was Keeley 
 to take Ginger unless he could get up ? That's 
 what I said to Smith when he let on that my 
 hundred dollars was as good as in his pocket. 
 I said ' As good as in hell.' And then the 
 dust flew again, and when it settled Ginger 
 w^as on top, and the crowd yelled again. And 
 now I could see that all Ginger wanted was 
 to get up while Keeley was down. But Keeley 
 was a tolerable hold-fast, and it took Ginger 
 71 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 half an hour by the clock to work free, and 
 when he did he was mighty dishevelled, with 
 scarce a button to him. But at last he 
 scratched himself around till he was nigh 
 free, and then those that was for him yelled, 
 ' Give him the butt of your gun, Ginger, and 
 stiffen him ! ' and I'm not sayin' they weren't 
 right. But just as he got his gun out Keeley 
 made a mighty twist and got hold of it, and 
 chucked it a good ten yards away. And then 
 Ginger spoke. He said, ' All right, my son, I 
 can do without it.' He rose up on his knees, 
 and the next moment he flew over Keeley and 
 Keeley was on top, and then Keeley's friends 
 yelled for him to give Ginger the butt of his 
 gun. And the next news that emerged from 
 the sand-storm was Keeley's gun, and it hit 
 Ed Smith on the shin so's he howled. And 
 now they was without weepons, havin' only 
 their hands, and the bettin' on the Texan 
 was risin', for it seemed hard for them to 
 beheve a man from Mizzoura could handle 
 a Texan in his native dust if they did weigh 
 about equal. Nevertheless I took all Smith's 
 bets, for I had faith in Ginger. I didn't be- 
 74 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 lieve he could be tired ; and now it was three 
 o'clock, and the dust stuck to 'em, and they was 
 as red as paint and as an Indian, most horrible 
 to see. They lay mighty quiet, embracin' 
 each other for nigh ten minutes; and then 
 Ginger began movin', and I caught his eye, 
 very hopeful too. And I could see he was 
 goin' for some curious kind of a holt, quite 
 beyond me. But once agin he got on his 
 knees, and then down he went with his arm 
 across Keeley's bull-neck, and he choked 
 him till he was somewhat in want of breath ; 
 and then he got his arm right into the back 
 of his coat, and down till he grabbed the waist- 
 band of his pants, so that Keeley's head was 
 under his arm. Then he took a kind of cross 
 in-and-out hold of his legs, and he rose up 
 with Keeley and waddled twenty yards 
 towards the calaboose wdth a wild hurricane 
 of yells goin' on. Then Keeley's coat split 
 right down, and Ginger lost his holt and Keeley 
 fell on his knees. Then for the first time 
 Ginger played cunning. You see, the great 
 scheme was to get the other man to the 
 calaboose, and it stands to reason that the easiest 
 75 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 way to get any man to do what you want is for 
 him to want it. So Ginger gasped a bit, and 
 fell back towards the calaboose, and Keeley 
 rose up and rushed him, and though Ginger 
 hit him he grabbed holt again, and they was 
 within five yards of the open big door. And 
 the crowd broke out of its barriers right then, 
 and there was a rush for us, and we yellin' to 
 keep *em back. But presently they settled 
 down solid, leavin' nothin' but a straight run- 
 in to the gaol, and in the clear space Ginger 
 and Keeley tryin' to heave each other off their 
 feet. And me bein' next to Ginger, I said, 
 ' It's now or never. Ginger ; ' and I dessay my 
 words got home to him in the riot, for now he 
 had a good holt, and he threw Keeley and 
 fell on him kerflummix and knocked the 
 wind plumb out of him, till the under dog was 
 like a squashed peanut. And Ginger grabbed 
 him quick by both wrists with him on his back, 
 and he dragged him right inside the calaboose 
 yard before Keeley knew what had happened. 
 I tell you the boys yelled till I thought the 
 roof would fly off, for the excitement was 
 tremenjus, and the money at stake highly 
 
 76 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 considerable for so small a community. And 
 now Keeley suddenly began to take more 
 interest in the matter in hand, for he grabbed 
 Ginger by the ankle, and Ginger went down 
 like a pithed steer and shook himself up pretty 
 considerable. But there's no give in to 
 Ginger, and the rollin' circus recommenced in 
 the yard, each man bein' determined to thump 
 the other one's cabeza on the pavement in 
 order to introduce more simplicity into the 
 tangled proceedings of the court. And I 
 dessay, though you are a tender-foot here, as 
 I understand you've travelled some, j^ou may 
 hev noticed that there must be an end to any 
 game, and that in a fight to a finish it's likely 
 to come sudden just about the time that them 
 without real experience is lookin' for a draw. 
 Now the cowboys — as is mostly young fools 
 fitted with mesquite leggin's, a gun they can't 
 use, and conceit that nobody else can — was 
 yellin', ' A draw, a draw ! ' But I knew better, 
 for I saw Ginger's eye still like a bumin' match 
 in a dark night, and Keeley's prophetic of sad 
 failure, like a man with one blown-out match 
 and a seegar unlighted on the prairie and far 
 
 n 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 from home, and I knew Ginger was goin' to be 
 City Marshal just as sure as I know four 
 aces and the joker from a bobtail flush. And 
 the scheme bein* to knock a hard skull on 
 a harder rock, I foresaw that the collidin' 
 cabeza was goin' to be Keeley's, and all I 
 begged of Ginger in my mind was jedgment 
 not to fracture it. And I must say he j edged 
 it to a nicety. I heard the crack, and I heard 
 Keeley sigh, and then he lay there like a very 
 peaceful citizen who has been drinkin' more 
 than he can carry. And Ginger rose up and 
 took him in his arms as if he was a little child, 
 and carried him into his cell and laid him down 
 like as if he was Keeley's mother. He came 
 out and locked the cell as a matter of form, 
 and the rule we made, and then unlocked it 
 and said, * Doctor, would you be so good as 
 to investigate the damage done, which I 
 much lament though unavoidable ? ' And with 
 that he took a seat on a bench, and the doctor 
 presently reported that Keeley would have no 
 more than a headache. And the boys cheered 
 Ginger for Marshal, and Ginger clinched the 
 popularity he had justly earned in a community 
 7S 
 
THE RISE OF GINGER GILLETT 
 
 of thorough sports by borrowin' the hundred 
 dollars I took out of Ed Smith's sack, and 
 puttin' it in as his contribution to a collection 
 for the loser to spend in his trip to Fort Worth. 
 And there is no doubt that Keeley enjoyed 
 that trip, if what the boys from Fort Worth 
 say is true, as I believe. But the next day 
 Ginger was made Marshal, and he's a good one, 
 as you know yourself from what you saw of 
 him just now in that little difficulty with 
 young Gedge." 
 
 " Did he pay back that hundred dollars, Mr. 
 Pillsbury ? " I asked incautiously. 
 
 Pillsbury looked at me. 
 
 " He'll pay it back when I ask for it," said 
 the gambler. He added, with apparent 
 inconsequence — 
 
 " The City Marshal in a city Hke Painted 
 Rock is the man that keeps the balance 
 between them as holds to the past and them as 
 considers trade is ever5d:hing. With them I 
 do not agree." 
 
 79 
 
IV 
 
 THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 There were many people who said that Tom 
 Willett was a man of no account ; that he 
 was a worm, and a legal book- worm at that — 
 a mere husk, a straw, a student, a born dweller 
 in dusty caves in the Temple — a creature of 
 pleas and precedents and cases, an admirer, 
 in his very marrow, of the Dead Sea fruit of 
 the law. 
 
 And yet — and yet there was something in 
 Willett that made it worth while to abuse 
 him, worth while to sharpen one's tongue on 
 him, and worth while to dig knives into him. 
 What it was nobody knew but myself, and I 
 always tried in vain to make other folks see 
 that underneath the leather and the vellum 
 and the paper burnt a fiery spark that made 
 Tom a man. Even in law-books there is one 
 F 8i 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 spark that means, however translated and 
 transmuted, primaeval force. I never see a 
 judge but I see underneath him palaeolithic 
 man with a stone-axe in his claw, working 
 out revenges, and scattering brains with a 
 blow. Even ermine is the skin of a wild 
 beast. 
 
 I had the clue to Tom, for I knew his brother, 
 and the others didn't. Jack Willett was as 
 like Tom as a fresh pea is to a dried one, and 
 sometimes it seemed to me that if Thomas 
 Willett had had his brother's life it would 
 have been difficult to know them apart. 
 And Jack was curiously lawless — he could 
 not stay in England a month without danger. 
 As he said, with a quick glitter in his eye — 
 people don't jostle one in Texas unless they're 
 looking for death, and can face it smiling. 
 
 And one day he said : " Tom is as bad as 
 myself underneath. Only he doesn't know it." 
 
 They were always together when Jack was 
 in England, for Tom looked after him. With 
 his arm locked in his brother's, he bade him 
 remember that Law and Order were most 
 respectable creatures, and formidable. And 
 82 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 when I called him a dusty legal imp, he 
 smiled and told Jack that he had hopes of 
 me. I showed signs of becoming a good 
 citizen. 
 
 And then Jack went off to Texas again, 
 just in time to prevent him breaking out 
 and assaulting a policeman. Tom and I 
 saw him off at Euston, and Tom's eyes were 
 as moist as dewy mom when the train left 
 the platform. He loved his brother dearly. 
 
 " But all the same it's a relief for him to 
 go, and a relief for me," said Tom. " His 
 notions are so extraordinary. He never seems 
 to understand that a man in no circum- 
 stances is justified in taking the law into his 
 own hands." 
 
 " He lives mostly where the justification 
 lies in the necessity," I said sententiously. 
 
 " And thereby makes things worse," said 
 Tom. " The steady appeal to law even where 
 law is weak increases its authority." 
 
 " I believe you'd stand to be shot to give 
 the law a good case," I said carelessly. 
 " What's the use of law without a sanction ? 
 And in parts of the West every man is his 
 
 83 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 own law-giver. You get there down to first 
 principles/' 
 
 " One can't admit first principles in a 
 civilised society," said Tom. 
 
 " Exactly so, my boy." 
 
 He looked at me. " You mean they are 
 not civilised there ? " 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 " They have judges and a judicial system. 
 Jack told me so." 
 
 He made me smile, and I left him con- 
 vinced that I had no answer. But what do 
 judges and a judicial system matter when 
 they don't work ? Out in the borderlands 
 tame justice walks with so slow a foot that 
 only dead men can't escape. But wild 
 justice grows redly and sometimes rankly. 
 He was to know it. He knew it very soon. 
 
 It was six months before I saw him again, 
 and he came across me as I was lunching in 
 a big West End restaurant. 
 
 " You're the very man I wanted to see," 
 said Tom. 
 
 There was something strange about him, 
 and the strangeness was not the fact that 
 
 84 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 he was in mourning. I looked at him 
 curiously, but said nothing. He sat down by 
 my side and put a dusty legal bag at his feet. 
 
 " Have you heard about it ? " he asked. 
 
 " I've heard nothing." 
 
 " Jack's dead ! " 
 
 He spoke very quietly, but I could see 
 he was badly hurt. Yet that was not the 
 difference in him. 
 
 " I'm very sorry," I said. " How did it 
 happen ? " 
 
 '' He was killed— murdered," said Tom 
 
 steadily. 
 
 " And the murderer ? " 
 
 " He's walking about," said Tom. 
 
 I saw where the difference lay. He was 
 younger, in spite of the shock. And— well- 
 there was something else. I eyed him 
 curiously, and he looked at me steadily. 
 There was nothing soft about his eyes 
 now. 
 
 " I never saw you look so like him," I 
 said. I had hit it that time— " plumb- 
 centre " as they say out West. 
 
 " I got a letter from a chum of his," said 
 85 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Tom, " and I wanted to see you. You under- 
 stand the country there." 
 
 He pulled out his pocket-book, and ex- 
 tracted a dirty half-page of lined paper, 
 which was dated two months earlier from 
 Painted Rock in Texas. I read it with 
 difficulty, for it might have been written 
 back-handed with a skewer. It ran thus — 
 
 " Sir, — This is to inform you that my late 
 partner, your brother Jack Willett, was shot 
 and killed a month back on Cow Creek by 
 Colonel Briggs, mostly known as Cow Creek 
 Briggs. They was alone when the difficulty 
 occurred and Briggs is a fairly popular man 
 and says your brother pulled on him first. 
 Owin to this and my havin no right hand 
 to speak of he's still on earth. But Briggs 
 lies for if Jack had pulled on him first Briggs 
 would have been dead, for he was very quick 
 with his gun for an Englishman. And Briggs 
 had his knife into him from the time Jack 
 first struck the Rock — over a row they had 
 about the morrils of the British Royal Family, 
 and also over a claim in the California moun- 
 86 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 tains which was no good but led to trubble. 
 I have taken holt of everything belongin to 
 Jack and have realised what I could and 
 will pay it to you on demand, being about a 
 thousand dollars more or less, besides his 
 share in some steers which I'm holdin and 
 will realise a deal more if I'm lucky.— Yours 
 truly, Silas Northrop. 
 
 " N.B. — I'm very sorry for your brother's 
 death. He w^as a fine and clever boy, and 
 I liked him. And now I can't shoot worth a 
 cent owin to my havin no right hand to 
 speak of. 
 
 " N.B. — It was dynamite as wrecked my 
 shoot in. 
 
 " N.B. — A letter to the Arizona House 
 will always find me.— Yours truly, S. N." 
 
 The restaurant roared about us, and outside 
 London's organic drone bore the burden of 
 the music. But for me the w^alls fell down 
 and London died, and I saw the vast expanse 
 of the burnt and Texan plateau, the grey- 
 brown brush, the thin grass, the gaunt 
 87 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 mesquite, the long -horned steers and the 
 prairie ponies. Then I saw the CaHfornian 
 mountains by Flagstaff shining with winter 
 snow, and further still the Colorado River 
 spread out glittering where it came through 
 from the Grand Canon. I saw adobe Mexican 
 townships and dark Mexicans in silver - 
 braided hats ; and cowboys loping into town 
 to paint the place and themselves red as 
 blood, and such a man as Silas Northrop, 
 with one lonely finger on a scarred stump, 
 and such another as " Cow Creek Briggs," 
 a Colonel of swift Western promotion, wdth 
 his "gun" in his hand. And I saw Jack too, 
 and sighed. 
 
 I lifted my eyes and started, for it seemed 
 to me that though the face I looked at was 
 the face of the lawyer, the eyes I saw were 
 the eyes of the man who fell by the alkaline 
 waters of Cow Creek. 
 
 " What am I to do ? " said Tom. 
 
 But Jack's eyes knew. 
 
 It's a strange thing how little one knows 
 of oneself in civilisation. I meet civilised 
 and peaceable citizens everj^ day who are 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 capable of killing -an enemy under the open 
 sky, and of sleeping soundly after his death, 
 who yet denounce the least infraction of the 
 meanest rule that ever masqueraded as law. 
 It is fine to sit with a man who might have 
 been a desperado if he had been born where 
 the sun shines, and to hear him talk so peaceably 
 that one might believe he was meant for a 
 wet-nurse, and only missed his destiny by 
 being changed at birth. And here was Tom 
 Willett asking what he was to do. 
 
 " When do you start ? " I asked. 
 
 In another sense he started then. " W^y — 
 what ? " 
 
 " When do you sail ? " 
 
 " I want your advice. You know these 
 places ; I want to bring this man to 
 justice." 
 
 I told him he couldn't do it. There was 
 no e\adence. 
 
 " He killed Jack and owns to it." 
 
 " But he says Jack pulled on him— that is, 
 got his six-shooter out." 
 
 " I don't believe it." 
 
 I patted his shoulder. " Oh yes, you do. 
 89 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 He might have done, at any rate. And if 
 he did " 
 
 " But if this Colonel has a bad character ? " 
 
 " Doesn't your correspondent say he's 
 popular ? You can't touch him legally. It's 
 too late. In Texas this is ancient history 
 by now. And if you go out and let folks 
 know who you are, he'll lay for you and blow 
 a hole through you." 
 
 " I want him hanged." 
 
 " You'll have to hang him yourself, then." 
 
 He picked up his law-bag. 
 
 " Have you given it up ? Or when do 
 you sail ? " 
 
 He sailed a week later, and two months 
 afterwards I got a letter from Painted Rock, 
 and reading underneath the words I seemed 
 to see something that the lawyer did not 
 know he wrote. He was set in his mind 
 and curiously cheerful. He looked upon his 
 enterprise as a legal job, and meant to carry 
 it through as if some client had given him 
 the task. I had looked for some discontent 
 at Texas and its conditions. He showed 
 none ; he never even growled at the sand 
 90 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 and alkali ; he related small and painful 
 experiences with prickly pear in the spirit 
 of no tender-foot. 
 
 " Now I know what you meant when you 
 said that there were more vten in the West 
 than in any place you ever ' struck.' " 
 
 He wrote * struck/ for he never used slang 
 in England. But I noticed that he said 
 that Silas Northrop was clear grit all through 
 without any inverted commas. Northrop and 
 he were working together, and in order not 
 to alarm Colonel Briggs, " Willett isn't my 
 name just now. It's Thompson. Write to 
 me, care of Silas Northrop, Arizona House." 
 
 His letter gave me a touch of "' Western 
 fever." If I hadn't been hobbled and 
 picketed by circumstances I would have come 
 out to him and taken a hand in the deal. 
 For I liked Jack very much. He was a 
 " clever " boy. And in the vernacular of 
 the United States " clever " means " kindly." 
 
 Silas Northrop' s new partner wrote to me 
 
 almost every week, and I could see the scales 
 
 of civilisation dropping away from him. He 
 
 soon came to the conclusion that the law 
 
 91 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 as he understood it was a kind of plant that 
 did not flourish in the sun-dried spaces of 
 Texas and the West. It tickled me fairly to 
 death when he called a person learned in the 
 law " a law-sharp " for the first time, even 
 though he put it in " quotes," and added 
 that Silas said, " My son, I'd never have 
 taken you for a law-sharp." 
 
 " I'm in great doubt as to what I can do," 
 said the new man underneath Tom Willett, 
 " for the law can't be made to work here. 
 I took the advice of a notary in Painted 
 Rock on an imaginary case, as I didn't care 
 to give anyone a chance to put this Cow 
 Creek ruffian up to my being on his trail, 
 and he was very unsatisfactory. I'm thinking 
 about what you used to say of the law. 
 There seems something in it here. I used to 
 think you talked rot when you came to 
 me in the City. Do you remember saying 
 that the seeds of law grew everywhere, but 
 that the Attorney-General himself wouldn't 
 recognise the relationship between his fine 
 conservatory products and the seedlings on the 
 prairie ? There's a lot to this notion of yours." 
 92 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 The man was thinking and growing. What 
 an infinite pleasure a foolish double dahlia 
 must take in reverting to its simple primitive 
 type in a wild, neglected garden. My double 
 and triple petalled Willett was going back 
 to t3rpe very fast. I hankered frightfully 
 to see the working out of the drama, for I 
 knew matters must be getting unhealthy 
 for Colonel Briggs. I wrote to Tom a little 
 nervously. I said — 
 
 " Go slow, my son. I see the ferment 
 working in you. By the time Silas (give 
 him a shake for me) by the time Silas and 
 the clear atmosphere of the prairie have 
 worked you clear of your legal trappings, 
 you'll be on the trail with a gun. Don't 
 hurry, learn to shoot, and for choice take 
 a shot-gun ; it requires an education to use 
 what you have now learnt to call ' a gun.' 
 If you are sure that your friend of ' Cow 
 Creek ' was in the wrong — and it should be 
 easy to find out — kill him first and explain 
 why afterwards. And if he is popular, ex- 
 plain it by a wire when you are well in the 
 offing." 
 
 93 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 A letter from him crossed this salutary 
 advice of mine. Tom Willett said the law 
 was no good in Texas ! He seemed sorrowful 
 about it. There was no doubt that Briggs 
 ought to be hanged. That was as plain as 
 anything could be. But Briggs had friends, 
 and was very quick with a pistol. And he 
 had money. 
 
 ; " You can't hang a man with money in 
 the West," said Willett. " I seem reduced 
 to first principles. And first principles here 
 are made of lead and powder and steel. I 
 suppose they're made like that in most 
 places." 
 
 I often think I have no luck to speak of, 
 but I have to own that fate treated me with 
 extraordinary indulgence the very day after 
 I got this letter. A man with some mining 
 interests in Mexico asked me if I would under- 
 take to go out there for him and make a few 
 investigations into the ways of his English 
 manager. As the money was sufficient I 
 closed with him right off, pulled up my picket 
 pins, and started for Liverpool that night. 
 I cabled to Willett, " Don't hurry ; Fm coming." 
 94 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 You see, I liked Jack Willett and I was inter- 
 ested in the game, and the Western fever 
 had been burning up my vitals for three 
 years. I could take Texas on my way, 
 , There is no drug in the pharmacopoeia 
 which has any effect upon that disease of 
 desire. The only thing is to give way and 
 get the thing over, or to get old and die. 
 
 To be in London, that whirlpool, that 
 Cloaca Maxima of mankind, that main drain 
 of civilisation, and then to land suddenly 
 in the burning sun of a late Texan spring, is 
 to leap from darkness into light. So might 
 a sad imp sit inside a camera and weep till 
 fate squeezes the ball and lets the sunlight 
 in. For an hour, a day, even a week I sat 
 exposed, I the imp and the plate, and there 
 are pictures printed on me, some of them so 
 over-exposed that they have run into blackness. 
 But that quick week was a long film ; its 
 hours biographic, swift, fluctuating, jerky. 
 
 I saw Silas Northrop before I met Tom 
 
 Willett, and found him less than I had 
 
 imagined him and more. He was thin and 
 
 little, hard as a keg of nails, blue-eyed and 
 
 95 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 ruddy-bearded. Some called him Ginger. 
 Tom did for one. His right hand was a 
 wreck, a jagged, fired stump ; his left was 
 strong as steel. In his eyes was the Western 
 look ; those who have seen it know it. Those 
 who haven't seen it have missed something 
 that makes for human dignity. He spoke 
 little. 
 
 '' Tom Willett has told you that I was 
 coming ? " I asked. 
 
 Northrop nodded. " He said he had a cable 
 from you." 
 
 He eyed me with that clear and calm aspect 
 of curiosity which never offends. He was 
 '' sizing me up." 
 
 " Do you mean to take a hand, sir ? " 
 
 He accentuated the " sir " heavily, marking 
 nothing thereby but a double interrogation. I 
 shook my head. 
 
 " It's not my line. But I reckoned on 
 hearing how things stood." 
 
 We were standing outside the hotel on the 
 
 wooden side-walk that was full of traps for the 
 
 " full " and the unwary. The road was yellow 
 
 dust ; a yellow mongrel lay in the middle of the 
 
 96 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 track ; two cow-ponies were hitched to a rail ; 
 stray citizens went by in their shirt-sleeves, 
 some dressed in the black that civilisation puts 
 on as mourning for primitive colours. I saw 
 ancient types that I had known long years 
 before. I was in a dream. 
 
 And suddenly I saw a ghost. 
 
 That is it — I saw a ghost ; it was the 
 man beneath Tom Willett, and Northrop said 
 casually, without a glance at me — 
 
 " My new partner — Thompson ! " 
 
 I might have been shaking hands with Jack 
 Willett, with the man that Briggs had " thrown 
 lead " at ! 
 
 " Fm glad — glad to see you," said Tom ; 
 " what's brought you, and what's wrong ? " 
 
 For a moment I really couldn't speak ; the 
 likeness was so extraordinary, so almost 
 appalling. The new man was brown as a 
 berry ; his eyes were clear ; the look of the West 
 had come there more swiftly than I had ever 
 seen it come. And it is to be remembered 
 that it only comes to men ; cowards don't get 
 it, and those whose souls are soaked in per- 
 centages don't raise it. It is the gift of the 
 G 97 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 wild life to such as have not been destroyed 
 utterly by the baser uses of the life in towns. 
 
 I gasped, and then held out my hand. Then 
 I had to laugh. 
 
 " You lawyer," I said, " you legal imp, you 
 dusty creature of calf-bound, hide-bound 
 books, you haunter of courts, you case of 
 precedents, you jargon-loving solicitor, where 
 did you dig yourself up ? '* 
 
 And Tom looked at me oddly. His very 
 smile was Jack's. 
 
 " Haven't you seen this ? " I asked Northrop. 
 
 " Seen what, partner ? " 
 
 " Has Briggs seen him ? " 
 
 They both said, "No." 
 
 " But I've seen him," said Tom. 
 
 *' Haven't you seen, Mr. Northrop, that 
 our friend Thompson is too like your late 
 partner ? " 
 
 But the man beneath had come out too 
 slowly under Northrop's eye for him to see it 
 as I did. 
 
 " If Briggs sees him, he'll know," I said. 
 " Let's walk where we can speak freely." 
 
 We went down the middle of the street, 
 
 98 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 westward to the open prairie. For the little 
 hotel was on the borders of the town. 
 
 " Is anything laid up for Briggs ? " I asked. 
 
 Tom didn't answer, but he was playing with 
 something which I knew would fit a forty-four 
 Smith and Wesson. 
 
 " Thompson is going to kill him first chance," 
 said Northrop quietly. 
 
 " What about the law ? " I asked, a little 
 satirically, and Tom snapped his fingers. 
 
 " That for the law ! " 
 
 He looked at me with an almost shamefaced 
 smile. 
 
 " First principles, old man," he said. " But 
 I don't want you in it. Northrop and I are 
 playing this game." 
 
 I own I wanted to see the end of it ; I would 
 have attended Colonel Briggs's funeral with 
 a deal of quiet satisfaction. 
 
 " I'm not married and you are,'* said Tom. 
 " This is not your game. Go on to Mexico ; 
 when you come back we may have it finished. 
 I've a plot laid to get Briggs off his ranch into 
 the Rock ! " 
 
 He spoke with a fine calm. It was quite a 
 99 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 pleasure to hear him, though there are folks 
 who cannot understand any man doing his 
 own law work if there is no one to do it for 
 him. I've even heard men state that it is 
 wrong to kill anyone except in battle, or 
 without using the judge and an executioner. 
 I have seen some get so excited about this 
 that I have feared for my own life during the 
 argument. There is considerable human 
 nature yet extant. There was a powerful 
 amount of it in Thomas Willett of the firm of 
 Willett & Gray (now Gray & Son) in London 
 Town. 
 
 I stayed that night in a rather better hotel 
 than the Arizona House, for some years 
 in England had made me over particular as 
 to cleanliness and certain small details which 
 did not trouble Northrop. As to Tom, he 
 would have laid out on the prairie for six 
 months without blankets to get at Briggs. 
 He was a man of one idea by now. I re- 
 membered the same trait in Jack. He was 
 accustomed to do one thing at a time, and 
 do it thoroughly. His nature was evidence 
 to me that Briggs had taken him at an ad- 
 
 100 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 vantage. Now Tom was Jack, and had been 
 warned. 
 
 But there was no one to warn Briggs. 
 
 I stayed four days in the Rock, and saw 
 my two friends every now and again. Tom 
 would not allow me to come and see him 
 too often. 
 
 " I don't want you to be in this trouble,'* 
 he said. He was so hard and firm about 
 it, and so able to take care of himself, that I 
 did just as he wanted. I should have done 
 so with Jack when he and I were in Texas 
 together. 
 
 And yet, after all, I didn't miss the tragedy, 
 though I came in time for it by accident. 
 
 It was just about noon on the fourth day 
 since I landed in the town that the affair 
 came off. As I had not seen either Northrop 
 or Thompson for twenty-four hours (I had 
 been out of town with some old friends) I 
 walked down for a bit of a palaver, and found 
 both of them standing under the verandah 
 over the rotten side -walk of their old 
 shack. 
 
 *' You gtij' said Tom coolly, when I 
 
 lOI 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 walked up alongside and slapped his shoulder. 
 " Get, quick; there's going to be trouble." 
 
 I wanted to go, and yet I didn't. I did 
 not hanker to be killed or to get in the cala- 
 boose. After all, it wasn't my affair. Jack 
 had been my partner years ago, but Northrop 
 was in that position when he had been killed. 
 And here was Tom. Still I had to stay and 
 see the thing out, and I said — 
 
 " Go to thunder, old man ! " 
 
 And I stepped back against the wall and 
 rolled a cigarette. There were three other 
 men outside the hotel besides Silas and Tom. 
 I had never seen any of them, but I could 
 pick them out of a thousand now. I noticed 
 a shot-gun leaning against the little rail on the 
 edge of the side-walk. But there was no 
 Briggs in sight. Tom was in his shirt-sleeves, 
 and wore a big cow-hat rather over his eyes. 
 He had no weapon on him, pistols in sight 
 not being allowed in town at that date. Just 
 at the end of the verandah there was a very 
 good horse standing ready saddled. There 
 was a coat strapped lightly to the horn of 
 the saddle. It was a kind of blue-grey cloth, 
 
 102 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 and I remembered that Tom often wore one 
 of that colour. 
 
 I stepped up to Tom again. " So you've 
 learnt to ride ? " 
 
 His eyes snapped rather nervously. " You 
 still here ? Oh yes, I can ride — some ! " 
 
 And I saw a httle dust fly round the corner 
 of the next street. The wind was pretty strong 
 from the south-east. A man came following 
 the dust. He was riding a good horse, and 
 had the easy seat of the old frontiersman ; one 
 could see that though he came at a walk. He 
 wore a loose jacket and a cow-hat the fellow 
 of the one Tom had, though there were more 
 leather and silver trappings on it than Tom's 
 had. Indeed, to most men's taste it was too 
 Mexican. 
 
 Now, this was Briggs, and I knew it. How 
 I knew it I can't quite say. Perhaps a certain 
 rigid set of Tom's shoulders told me so. At 
 any rate I knew it, and though I wasn't in the 
 game I saw my own pistol w^as ready to pull. 
 When shooting begins there is never any 
 knowing when it will end. And I was wonder- 
 ing how it would begin. I felt sure that Tom 
 103 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 wouldn't shoot him at sight and without a 
 word, and yet I feared that if he spoke Briggs 
 would get his work in first. 
 
 There was some stress in waiting, and my 
 nerves set themselves like strained wire. It 
 was odd to hear the three men I didn't know 
 gassing away to themselves, quite unconscious 
 that lead might be flying in a moment. They 
 turned and saw Briggs coming. 
 
 " That's a daisy of a horse the old chap's 
 got," said one. I noted that one man said 
 " cayuse," and I thereby judged he'd been in 
 British Columbia. 
 
 I saw Briggs now plainly. He looked as if 
 he was one of those hard old-timers who can 
 stand up to a bar and keep a bar-tender busy. 
 He had a red face and a hard eye touched with 
 blood. It is wonderful how these drinkers 
 can last, nerve and all, if they live on horse- 
 back all the time they are not soaking. He 
 looked by no means the man to scare. I 
 owned that, and then all of a sudden I knew 
 he would be scared. I laughed, and Tom 
 turned. There was a look in his eye such as 
 might have been in Jack's when he saw that 
 104 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 Briggs had the dead-wood on him and meant 
 
 killing. 
 
 " Oh, he'll be scared right enough," I said. 
 
 And the Colonel rode up alongside the 
 verandah coolly enough, though it was so hot. 
 
 " Good-day, gentlemen," he said. " Is Mr. 
 Hopkins in ? " 
 
 He ran his eye over all of us, and I 
 remembered that he didn't know Northrop. 
 
 It was Tom who answered. " I guess he's 
 out. Colonel," said Tom. But it was his 
 brother's voice that Briggs heard and his 
 brother's eye that Briggs saw, and the blood 
 ran out of his face and his jaw fell. Things and 
 thoughts moved swiftly enough, but for me 
 the intense moment was magnificently spacious 
 — a thousandth part of a second held con- 
 centrated drama. I saw not Tom, but the dead 
 man ; I heard him speak. 
 
 " I guess he's out, Colonel ! " 
 
 The words came slowly, and the men who 
 were not in the game felt that there was a 
 game. They had lived where life is living ; 
 where the instant may mean death, where 
 comedy laughs tragically ; where tragedy 
 105 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 sometimes paints her royal face and fools in 
 sawdust and a ring. 
 
 Here was tragedy imminent and instant. 
 This was a resurrection. I read an awful script 
 on Briggs's face ; strange writing and reminis- 
 cence of a bloody day and a bloody mind. Fear 
 grew there that was half supernatural ; and 
 again the fear which was recognition of righteous 
 revenge. Was the man dead ? There never 
 was such likeness. He moved his right 
 hand. It went swiftly, and yet slowly. I 
 nearly called out to Tom, and then remembered 
 that if I drew his attention I might be led 
 to shoot. Or I might have to. And I 
 remembered England. 
 
 Northrop was as quiet as a carved man. 
 But his eye was on the Colonel. 
 
 And once more I understood. This was a 
 game, a legitimate game too. For Northrop 
 spoke. 
 
 " Look out, Jack ! " 
 
 But for that last word I think Briggs might 
 
 have got the first word after all. He had his 
 
 " gun " out, but not so quickly as he would 
 
 have done, as he might have had it. As the 
 
 io6 
 
THE MAN UNDERNEATH 
 
 sun touched the bright octagonal barrel I saw 
 the dead man's brother lift his shot-gun, and 
 the next moment a full charge of shot hit the 
 murderer under his left breast and lifted him 
 down from the saddle. The horse wheeled 
 round and galloped as his rider fell clear of him 
 into the piled soft dust of the beaten road. 
 And Tom stood with the barrel smoking and 
 with his face as hard as the face of Justice 
 throned upon immemorial law. 
 
 And Northrop cried out : " You all saw him 
 pull his gun on my partner ? " 
 
 And I said : " I saw it." 
 
 The other men said they saw it too. 
 
 But Northrop said in a low voice to Tom, 
 " You won't need the horse. We'll walk down 
 with you to the City Marshal's." 
 
 And I helped to carry the Colonel's body 
 in out of the sun. 
 
 107 
 
PARTNERS ONCE 
 
 It was hot, " mighty hot," in Painted Rock, 
 that city of the north-west Texas plateau, 
 and folks said it was going to be warmer yet. 
 There had been a tornado which struck one 
 end of the " City " and destroyed a dozen 
 houses ; the tornado had been followed the 
 week after by a sand-storm which made 
 everything gritty but an egg, and the sand- 
 storm had been succeeded by a thunder- 
 storm which killed a good many steers the 
 other side of the Wolf Creek. As a result of 
 this weather the summer may be said to have 
 commenced, and the heat led to a " difficulty " 
 on Main Street which ended in the death of 
 an unconsidered stranger at the hands of a 
 prominent citizen and hardware merchant. 
 These things will happen in hot weather in 
 109 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 places where self-defence is so close to its 
 opposite that it takes some trouble to get the 
 edge of a verdict between the two. Painted 
 Rock did not believe very much in the law. 
 And when after all the storms word came over 
 the wire from Fort Worth that Tom Crowle's 
 appeal against his former partner George 
 Bailey had been dismissed, with costs on 
 appeal, there were some who shook their heads. 
 
 " There'll be trouble sure," said Major 
 Simpson, late a corporal in the Confederate 
 Army ; " there'll be trouble sartin. Crowle's 
 a mad steer, and it's God's wonder, not to say 
 a Bible and uncontradicted merracle, that he 
 hasn't been disposed of long ago in a nice 
 lonesome cemetery. He makes a specialty of 
 bein' more or less of a bad man in a quiet crowd, 
 and that ain't conducive to longevity in Texas ; 
 it ain't conducive." 
 
 He drank his cocktail. 
 
 " Does Bailey know of this yet, Tom ? " 
 he asked the bar-tender. 
 
 " Dunno, Major," replied the bar-keeper, 
 *' but I seen him go into his ofhce over the 
 way a while back." 
 
 no 
 
PARTNERS ONCE 
 
 *' Mix me another, Tom," said the Major, 
 " and I'll walk over and indicate to him in a 
 few well-chosen words what I think he should 
 do. Bailey, for a bloomin', blawsted English- 
 man, is a good sort, quiet, steady, and goes up 
 into the collar well. How he ever came to jine 
 teams with Crowle licks me ! How he parted 
 with him is easy to understand. I think Bailey 
 needs a word in season." 
 
 He drank his poison and walked across 
 the sunlit street, which was four inches in dust. 
 Though it was ten o'clock there were few 
 people about, for most of Painted Rock's 
 population had been gambling as usual till 
 two o'clock. 
 
 " I don't see no reason why Painted Rock 
 reckons to be a great City," thought the 
 Major; " it's a sand-pit and a hell of a hole, 
 that's what it is. At night we're drunk, and 
 in the mornin' we're sorry, and the trade ain't 
 what it's said to be. I shall move along some- 
 where, some day. And I guess I'll say so to 
 Bailey, and add briefly and neatly that he had 
 better quit as well." 
 
 He walked into Bailey's room, which was 
 III 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 behind a store, and found him working in his 
 shirt-sleeves. 
 
 " Good-mornin', Bailey," said the Major, 
 as he spread out the tails of his frock-coat and 
 sat on the corner of the table. 
 
 " Good - morning, Major," replied the 
 Englishman, who was long and thin and fair, 
 and obviously good-tempered though some- 
 what worried and anxious. 
 
 " Do you carry a pistol now ? " asked 
 the Major. 
 
 Bailey shook his head. 
 
 "Humph," said the Major, "you don't! 
 I reckoned you didn't. Colonel Briggs let on 
 you didn't. Mebbe you've got a knife ? " 
 
 " No," said Bailey, " certainly not." 
 
 " Got a shot-gun ? " asked the Major 
 anxiously. 
 
 Bailey smiled. 
 
 " Why, no. Major, I don't hunt any." 
 
 The Major nodded. 
 
 " Ever been hunted any ? " he asked 
 shortly. " There's this matter between you 
 and Crowle, now. I hear you've won your 
 case over to Fort Worth." 
 112 
 
PARTNERS ONCE 
 
 " I knew I should/' said Bailey. 
 
 " Crowle stated the other night that you 
 and him couldn't live in the same town if you 
 won it." 
 
 " I heard that," said Bailey steadily. 
 
 " Atkins has a good line of six-shooters on 
 sale, my son. I handled a forty- four Smith 
 and Wesson in his store yestiddy with a 
 balance that made me yearn to buy it." 
 
 " Crowle is a talker," said Bailey. 
 
 " He chins a lot, I allow," said the Major, 
 " but he gets wild with steady drink. If you 
 don't mean to go heeled I'd quit the town 
 for a while and let him get some used to the 
 verdict." 
 
 Bailey set his teeth. 
 
 "I'll go when I like and where I like, 
 and I'll stay if the prairie was full of 
 Crowles." 
 
 The Major patted him on the shoulder. 
 
 " For an Englishman you're all right," said 
 the Major. " But I'd regret some to see you 
 shot up any. Ain't you got legitimate business 
 elsewhere for a day or two ? " 
 
 " I'm going to Big Springs to-night on 
 H 113 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 business with Jude Harkness/' replied 
 Bailey. 
 
 " He'll say you've run." 
 " Let him say," answered Bailey. " If you 
 people can't keep such a man quiet, or shut 
 up, you shouldn't let on that Painted Rock 
 is the City you make out." 
 
 " I think Painted Rock is very small 
 pertaters," said the Major, " Give me San 
 Antone or Dallas. But I recommend you to 
 buy a gun." 
 
 Bailey shook his head again. 
 "■ I'll not buy a gun." 
 
 " So long," said the Major, and Bailey 
 returned to work. About noon Tom the 
 bar-tender at the American House slipped 
 over to him. 
 
 '' Mr. Bailey, Crowle hez bin in and he 
 allowed he'll shoot more holes in you than a 
 colander." 
 
 " Oh, I guess not," said Bailey. 
 " I'll lend you a gun, Mr. Bailey. I know 
 you don't carry one." 
 
 " Thank you, no," said Bailey. 
 " Then if you must, keep mighty close to him 
 114 
 
PARTNERS ONCE 
 
 if you run agin him," advised the bar-tender. 
 " You kin grab him and take his gun away 
 Hkely." 
 
 " I don't think he'll do anything at all," 
 said Bailey. At one o'clock he had dinner 
 at the hotel. A dozen men offered him 
 advice, which he received civilly. Cool as he 
 was, and he was cool and obstinate, the steady 
 insistence of the town that Crowle would kill 
 him told a little on his nerves. He was rather 
 glad than otherwise that he had to go to 
 Big Springs that night. And it is certain that 
 he was glad when night came, and he walked 
 down to the railroad dep6t in the dark. 
 
 It was curious how dark it was. 
 
 " Another thunderstorm, I suppose," said 
 Bailey. But he hadn't been long in north- 
 west Texas, and had not yet learnt that obvious 
 looking thunder - weather rarely brought a 
 storm. He ran in the darkness right up 
 against a man. 
 
 " Is that you, Mr. Bailey ? " asked a voice 
 that belonged, as he knew, to Mat Dunmore, 
 a man who ran cattle on the cars from Painted 
 Rock to Chicago and St. Louis. 
 "5 . 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Yes, Mat/' 
 
 " I'm glad to collide with you," said Mat. 
 " The Major asked me to tell you that Crowle 
 knows you are leaving for Big Springs, and 
 he is braggin' you're goin' by his orders." 
 
 " I shall be back the day after to-morrow. 
 Mat." 
 
 " I'm real glad to hear it, sir," said Mat. 
 " And furthermore, Mr. Bailey, Crowle has 
 gone down to the depot to see you go, he says, 
 and he allows he'll ride with you as far as Jatan 
 to make sure he hezn't to kill you." 
 
 *' Damn him ! " said Bailey. 
 
 " Take this, sir," said Mat. Bailey felt 
 a six-shooter thrust into his hand. But he 
 refused it. 
 
 " No, Mat, I'm obliged to you, but I won't. 
 There are too many guns in this town already/' 
 
 " You may need it mighty bad, sir. 
 Crowle' s mad drunk." 
 
 " I'll chance it," said Bailey. He shook 
 hands with Mat and went on to the dep6t, 
 and came on a small crowd waiting for the 
 passing of the East-bound express. After 
 that had passed through, the accommodation 
 ii6 
 
PARTNERS ONCE 
 
 train for Big Springs and El Paso was to 
 start. He saw Crowle, who stood a head 
 and shoulders above the others, first of all. 
 Crowle and Bailey were the two tallest men, 
 they said, in western Texas. 
 
 " Here comes my man," said Crowle. But 
 he said no more, for Gillett the City Marshal, 
 a man not to be trifled with personall}/, w^as 
 close to him. Bailey went by him and got to 
 the side-tracked accommodation train just 
 as the express came thundering through the 
 depot with its bell upon the toll. " Stop," 
 said Crowle, " I'm coming with you ! " 
 
 He went by Bailey's side to the train and 
 climbed up after -him. The rest of the men 
 stood back. Bailey hoped that the passenger 
 car would be full. It was empty save for an 
 old woman, who belonged to Big Springs, 
 and two nondescript Westerners come from 
 Heaven knows where and going to the same 
 place. He sat down, and Crowle sat down 
 opposite him. 
 
 Crowle was drunk, but steady, and his eyes 
 were full of peculiar and devilish malignity. 
 Bailey and he had worked together for two 
 117 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 years in Kootenay. They had mined to- 
 gether in Colorado and Arizona, and had 
 drifted together to Painted Rock. There 
 were a thousand memories in common to 
 both of them. They had been '' partners/' 
 and partners in the Western as well as in 
 the commercial sense. Now the law stood 
 between them, and the decision of the law, 
 and one had taken to drink, while the other 
 was climbing up again in the great struggle 
 of the West. 
 
 " I wish I'd bought a gun," said Bailey. 
 That was his recurrent thought, " I wish 
 I'd bought a gun." 
 
 He felt sure that if there had been no one 
 in the jolting, swaying car that Crowle would 
 have shot him then and there. 
 
 "I hear you brag you're comin' back," 
 said Crowle. 
 
 " Yes, I'm coming back." 
 
 "You'll not come back," said Crowle; 
 " you'll stay away from Painted Rock." 
 
 " I shall come back to Painted Rock the 
 day after to-morrow," said Bailey. 
 
 And Crowle pulled his gun suddenly 
 ii8 
 
PARTNERS ONCE 
 
 and had it pointed straight at Bailey's 
 heart. 
 
 " If you want death, Bailey, you'll come 
 back. I'll not be put out of them town lots 
 by you or any court. You'll reckon it wisest 
 to stay away." 
 
 " ril come back," said Bailey. 
 
 And then the conductor came in. Crowle 
 whipped his " gun " under his coat, and by 
 that Bailey knew the man was not so utterly 
 mad as he seemed. For the conductor was 
 a man called George White, with whom he 
 had once had trouble ; and White, though he 
 was little, had by no means got the worst of 
 it. He eyed Crowle with malevolence, and 
 Crowle knew well that if Bailey was " un- 
 heeled " White carried a gun and could use 
 it. The conductor looked at the tickets in 
 silence, and gave Bailey a curious glance, 
 which was a little consolation to the man 
 who was saying ''I wish I'd bought a gun." 
 Then White went out, and once more Crowle 
 covered Bailey with his pistol. " Fm more'n 
 half a mind to kill you now," said Crowle, 
 " you damn English robber, sneaking to 
 119 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 courts and robbin* honest men ! I've more'n 
 half a notion to blow holes in you, you dog ! 
 If I don't on the train, I'll hev you off of the 
 cars at Jatan and make you swear to quit for 
 ever." 
 
 The slaver ran down his jaws from the angles 
 of his mouth. 
 
 " The man's mad," said Bailey. " I wish, I 
 wish I'd not refused a gun." 
 
 But if he had made a motion he would 
 have been a dead man before he could draw 
 any weapon. Nothing but the steady strength 
 of quiet endurance saved him. He heard 
 Crowle talk and never took in what he 
 said. 
 
 " I'm to get off the cars at Jatan and 
 swear," he said to himself. " I'll not get off. 
 I'll swear nothing. The day after to-morrow 
 I'll go back to Painted Rock, and — and I'll 
 buy a gun." 
 
 White came through the car from the 
 caboose at the end of the train three times, 
 and each time the madman opposite Bailey 
 hid his weapon and grinned hideously. 
 
 " It's the darkest night I ever saw," said 
 
 120 
 
PARTNERS ONCE 
 
 White, " it's as black as the inside of black- 
 ness." 
 
 " By God, it's black for me," said Bailey's 
 mind. '' I wonder whether Wliite has a 
 gun to lend? " 
 
 He heard himself say there would be a 
 thunderstorm. He heard White deny it. 
 He heard Crowle's teeth grinding like a mad- 
 man's, and underneath, and yet above all 
 things, he heard the rolling of the cars and 
 the click of the wheels as they passed the 
 joints of the rails. He said to himself that 
 the road-beds of the railroads of the United 
 States were very bad. " Especially in the 
 West." 
 
 Then they heard the locomotive go "hoot, 
 hoot," and White went out. 
 
 "We're coming to Jatan, you dog," said 
 Crowle, "and I'll get out there, and you'll 
 follow me or I'll come back and drag you 
 out." 
 
 " What for ? " said Bailey. 
 
 " Because I say it. I'll have you on your 
 knees, swearin' you'll not go to the court 
 agin', and not come back to Painted Rock." 
 
 121 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " I'll go back," said Bailey in a queer, tired 
 voice. 
 
 They heard the grinding of the brake blocks, 
 and the train slackened down. 
 
 ''Are you gettin* down?" said White, 
 looking in the car. 
 
 " When she stops we are gettin' down," 
 said Crowle. 
 
 They heard a voice outside. Bailey 
 listened, and the words came to him, but 
 not to Crowle. 
 
 ''The East-bound express cracked a rail," 
 said the voice, "my gang is put tin' in 
 another." 
 
 " Ain't it dark ? " said White. 
 
 " Never knew it so black," answered the 
 section boss, who had been speaking. *' You 
 want one lantern to find another. 'Tis a 
 night for two niggers to lose touch of each 
 other, ain't it ? " 
 
 And the car stopped dead. 
 " Ain't we goin' to draw up a bit farther ? " 
 asked White. " Why, my caboose and half 
 the passenger car's on it still." 
 
 " Waal, you won't go through, I reckon," 
 
 122 
 
PARTNERS ONCE 
 
 said the section boss. " The boys won't be 
 
 long." 
 
 White came into the car where Bailey and 
 Crowle were. Crowle was on his legs. 
 
 " I reckoned you were getting off, Mr. 
 Crowle," said White. 
 
 Bailey saw a strange look in his face, and 
 heard a strange intonation in his voice. 
 
 " Is this Jatan ? " asked Crowle. 
 
 " It's— it's Jatan," said White. 
 
 " I don't see no lights." 
 
 " There ain't none just here," said White. 
 
 Crowle moved to the door, and White went 
 
 out. 
 
 " You come," said Crowle, and somehow 
 
 Bailey followed. 
 
 " Here you are," said White, and holding 
 a lantern he flashed it in Crowle's face. 
 
 " Damn your lantern ! " said Crowle. He 
 thrust White aside and got upon the 
 step. 
 
 " You come off," he said to Bailey, and 
 Bailey's eyes were good enough to see what 
 Crowle did not see. 
 
 ** Good God ! " said Bailey as the other went 
 123 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 down one step. White grabbed him by the 
 collar. 
 
 " Don't jump, Crowle ! " said Bailey. They 
 had been partners for years in Kootenay. 
 
 But Crowle jumped, and uttered a hideous 
 shriek and turned over and over before he 
 reached the rocky ground a hundred feet 
 below him. The tail end of the train was on 
 Jatan trestle, but Jatan itself was miles away. 
 Bailey heard his body reach the rocks with a 
 hideous crash. 
 
 " He's dead," said White. 
 
 " You — " stammered Bailey — " you " 
 
 " I've saved your life, Mr. Bailey." 
 
 The engineer whistled " off brakes," and 
 White left him peering over into the depths 
 beneath. But he saw nothing, and went back 
 into the car. 
 
 " The day after to-morrow I'm going back 
 to Painted Rock," said Bailey. White came 
 in presently and sat down beside him. He 
 was very pale. 
 
 " Have you got a drink on you ? " asked 
 White. 
 
 124 
 
VI 
 
 THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 Though there were but sixty miles between 
 Painted Rock and Red River City, and sixty 
 miles in Texas are nothing, Ben Williams and 
 Sage-brush Greet had never met. Many had 
 hoped they would come together : both the 
 law-abiding and the lawless desired it ; the 
 representatives of the anaemic law were at 
 one with the red-handed in this matter. For 
 when two such as Ben and his equal, who 
 was known familiarly as " Sage," do happen 
 to run into the same town, there is usually 
 one funeral, if not two, which will be attended 
 by a thousand thankful mourners. 
 
 For Ben w^as the terror of Painted Rock, 
 and Sage ran Red River City. They ac- 
 knowledged no superiors and endured no 
 equals. They were quick on the trigger ; quick 
 125 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 in their wits; and, so it was said, of bloody 
 and remorseless courage. Though there were 
 some who would have taken either of them 
 at a disadvantage, they were never found 
 " unheeled " or unwary. They were sober 
 as sobriety goes in the West ; no man ever 
 saw either of them " full." It does not pay 
 bad men to get full. And they had records, 
 to which white painted boards rotting in the 
 cemeteries of their respective towns bore 
 bitter witness. Both had been tried for 
 murder in their early days. Both had been 
 acquitted. The acquitted homicides of the 
 West are men to beware of ; they hanker to 
 use their guns. 
 
 They talked about these tyrants with bated 
 breath in Painted Rock and Red River, for 
 no one ever knew who would crawl to Ben or 
 Sage and say — " Old man. Bill was shootin' 
 off his mouth about you at the American House 
 las* night." 
 
 And then perhaps Bill went where all men 
 go in time. But he went ahead of time and 
 went feet foremost. 
 
 It is true that certain quiet men, who did 
 126 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 not gamble and did not haunt saloons for the 
 purpose of swallowing the early cocktail, 
 were not afraid of either of them. I knew 
 such a one in Painted Rock, and he was a 
 student of humanity, though he would have 
 been indignant and suspicious if one had 
 called him a psychologist. We often talked 
 of Ben, and sometimes Sage-brush too. 
 
 " I'd like 'em to collide," said the Colonel; 
 "I'd love to see a head-on colHsion between 
 these two steers. I'm a quiet man and 
 peaceful now, Charlie, but there are times 
 I hanker after my long -lost youth and the 
 right hand I lost at Gettysburgh. Yes, sir, 
 I hanker after it. A man with no right claw 
 hez to be peaceful and good, when no manner 
 of practice can make his left hand shoot 
 straight." 
 
 He sighed rather bitterly, and I encouraged 
 him. 
 
 " You've had your time. Colonel. And 
 now Ben Wilhams is having his." 
 
 "I'd admire to see his sun set," replied old 
 Webb, caressing the stump of his right hand. 
 " He threatened to blow a hole through little 
 127 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Bobby White last evenin', so I hear. For 
 Bobby will run wild in Gedge's saloon, and he 
 puts his hard-earned dollars into faro, which 
 is foolish, and he's a good boy and clever. 
 I'd fair admire if Sage-brush took Ben down. 
 And if Ben did up Sage 'twould be no loss to 
 his perticular locality. And I'm thinking, 
 Charlie, that Ben's time is comin' along fast.'* 
 
 I asked him why he said that, and the old 
 man screwed his face up thoughtfully before 
 he spoke. 
 
 " My son, I've lived long, for I'm over the 
 three-score and ten biz by three years. That's 
 a fact. And I've seen a powerful sight of 
 bad men in my time, you bet. I heven't 
 ranged all along the Rockies from the Wind 
 River Mountains and Butte, through Colorado 
 and Arizona right to here, without seeing of 
 'em rise and shine in splendour and fizzle out 
 in blood. And some lose their narve and git, 
 and start again, far away from the ha'nts where 
 they was notorious, as peaceful citizens. One 
 I knew earned an honourable livin' for years 
 after losin' his narve by cuttin' wood. I've 
 watched Ben this last year, and I see signs 
 128 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 in him. I wish Sage would run over here. 
 I'm half-minded to ride over to Red River 
 and throw out a dark hint to him." 
 
 But I own I saw nothing in Ben Williams 
 to make me agree with Colonel Webb. I was 
 younger than the Colonel, and didn't know 
 he knew more than I did. I said so, and old 
 Webb smiled. 
 
 " When you're seventy-three, my son, you'll 
 run up agin a power of young men that knows 
 a blame sight more'n you do. And I'm 
 prophesyin' here and now you won't agree 
 with 'em any. I think, yes I do, that I'll 
 ride over to Red River. I'm very much 
 fatigued by thishyer Ben Williams, and I'd 
 sure grieve to see him shoot up Bob White. 
 Bob's a clever boy, so he is. There's the 
 makin's of a fine man in Bob. And there's 
 the makin's of a fine corpse in Ben. I'd fair 
 admire to see Ben a corpse. I tell you what, 
 Charlie, this comes because no one cowhided 
 him when he was young. He brags he was 
 never put down in his life, never took water, 
 not even from his old Dad. He'd make a 
 handsome dead desperado, so he would." 
 I 129 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 If he was older than I, I gave him some good 
 advice. 
 
 " If you rake up Sage against him, and he 
 hears of it, Colonel, he'll not be put off shoot- 
 ing because you've no right hand." 
 
 '' That's so," said Webb, " that's so. But 
 there are times when a man hez to do his 
 duty. Bob's young, and I never tole you 
 that I look on him as a kind of relation. I 
 would have married his grandmother if she 
 hadn't married another man before I sot 
 eyes on her. That was her mistake, pore 
 thing; and ez a result I've run around the 
 West ever sence. I'll ride over to Red River 
 ter-morrer, sure." 
 
 I paid little attention to what he said, 
 and went about my owm business. But two 
 nights afterwards he came into Hamilton's, 
 where I was boarding, and called me out. 
 W^e sat down in a couple of rocking-chairs, 
 and he spoke low. 
 
 " I went to Red River, Charlie." 
 
 " Did you see ' Sage-brush ' ? " 
 
 " To bee sure," said the Colonel, as he lit 
 a ten-cent cigar. 
 
 130 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 " What sort is he ? " 
 
 "Bgosh," said Webb, "he's been hard 
 and tough, and is yet. But what troubled me, 
 CharHe, was that the Hfe's tellin' on him too. 
 I could see it. You cayn't be a bad man and 
 a terror for nothin'. You hev to pay for it. 
 I hear talk about iron narves, Charlie. You 
 mark me, there ain't no iron narves, my son. 
 I could guarantee to make a hero, built of 
 chilled steel, tremble and cry in time. Holdin' 
 your Hfe in your hand breaks a man's narve 
 in the end. That's clotted wisdom as thick 
 as butter. But I threw out dark hints to 
 Sage - brush that now was his time to do 
 up Ben. They've been scared of each other 
 this long time. I let on I reckoned Ben's 
 narve was goin'. A man like Sage-brush 
 Greet understands that, becos he hez his own 
 experience to go on. Sage will be over here 
 in a day or two. Lay low and say nothin'. 
 I've told no one but Bob. Bob loves me like 
 a son. I've been some good to Bob, because 
 of his grandmother, pore thing." 
 
 The good old chap smoked quietly for a 
 while, as we looked out over the darkening 
 131 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 plaza. On the right side of it rose up the 
 dark form of the gaol. Webb pointed at it 
 presently with his finger. 
 
 *' What's that calaboose for, Charlie ? It's 
 for hoboes, pore harmless hoboes, and a drunk 
 Mexican, but the elite" (he called it eelight) 
 " of crime don't go thataway. As I get old 
 I'm more for law." 
 
 He sighed and rose. 
 
 " D'ye think I'd hev rode over to Red 
 River if I'd bin young with a right hand, 
 Charlie ? Not by an entire barrel-full. I'd 
 ha' bin Sheriff and City Marshal and desperado 
 myself, and I'd ha' seen peace and law and 
 order flourishing like timothy in an irrigated 
 cultivation patch, flourishing right here in 
 Painted Rock." 
 
 He walked across the plaza homeward. 
 
 Next morning I met young Bob White on 
 Main Street, where he worked in a store 
 which sold everything from candy to 
 coffins. 
 
 " Did the Colonel tell you ? " asked Bob. 
 ** He did so, I'll bet. This is a great show 
 we'll have, CharHe. Jest think of the old 
 132 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 chap ridin' over to Red River to rake up 
 Sage agin' Ben W^illiams ! " 
 
 I yanked him hard by the coat, for one of 
 WilHams' parasites, and all "bad men" have 
 them, was loafing on a barrel of hardware 
 within a few yards of us. 
 
 " Dry up, you immortal young ass," I 
 said, as I looked at the loafer. 
 
 " Oh, he's nigh full and heard nix," said 
 White contemptuously. But I wasn't sure, 
 and, as it turned out. Bob was wrong. It 
 pays in no town to talk too much, and in a 
 Western town to " shoot off one's mouth " is 
 the most deadly form of folly with loaded 
 weapons. 
 
 " He'll turn up to-night, I hope," said 
 Bob. " I'll be in the American House then to 
 see." 
 
 " Much better stay at home," I replied. 
 " If there's shooting don't run up against 
 any lead." 
 
 But a kind of morbid curiosity took me to 
 
 the American House myself about seven 
 
 o'clock in the evening, and I had a drink 
 
 with half a dozen, and stood liquor in my 
 
 . 133 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 turn, as one has to, and then, with a cigar 
 in my teeth, I sat down on the other side 
 of the room. The bar was on the right side 
 as one entered. I hadn't smoked half the 
 cigar, known, by the way, as a Havana-filler, 
 when Ben Williams walked in and breasted 
 the bar. He was almost the only man in 
 the town who dared call for a lemonade 
 without some remark being made, and he 
 called for one now. As he drank it the even- 
 ing drew in and the bar-tender lighted the 
 lamps. I knew the man well by sight, and 
 it was quite true, as the Colonel said, that 
 he would make a handsome corpse. He 
 stood very nearly six feet, and had a close- 
 cropped dark beard which did not hide the 
 cut of his strong chin and jaw. There was 
 the look in his eyes which is common in all 
 courageous men out West, only it was greatly 
 accentuated in him. I own it was hard to 
 look him squarely in the face for long. It 
 would have been impossible save for the fact 
 that, like all such men, his eyes seemed 
 to take in the whole room as well as the man 
 he was talking with. He dressed very quietly 
 134 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 and neatly, for he took a pride in his appear- 
 ance. I could not see quite what the Colonel 
 meant. The man appeared perfectly sound. 
 He had killed eight men, one at Fort Worth, 
 where he had been tried and acquitted on 
 the ground of self-defence, three in Arizona, 
 and four in Painted Rock and at Sweetwater. 
 He carried his " pistol," as we all did, in a hip- 
 pocket. But, unlike most of us, he had his 
 pocket cut to carry one and had it lined with 
 leather. He was a dead shot. 
 
 When he spoke I did think that I noticed 
 something a little strange in his voice. There 
 was a sharper tension in it. And he looked 
 round the room almost carefully. When Tom 
 the bar-tender lighted the lamps at the back of 
 the bar, over the shelves on which the "nose- 
 paint " stood in gaudy bottles, Ben Williams 
 spoke sharply. 
 
 " Sa}^ put out that lamp," he said, pointing 
 to the one which shone most upon his own 
 face. The other one, as he stood sideways 
 to the bar, was a little behind him. 
 
 " Why ? " asked Tom, who had grit, as 
 bar-tenders must have. 
 135 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Because I say so," said Ben. And in 
 spite of his grit Tom put the lamp out thought- 
 fully. He glanced across the room and 
 caught my eye. He lifted his eyebrows and 
 looked at the door. The very next moment 
 a stranger entered, or, at any rate, one who 
 was a stranger to me. Nevertheless I was 
 quite aware that the new-comer could be no 
 one else than Sage-brush Greet, for Tom's look 
 at me and the little incident of the lamp 
 said a great deal to anyone who understood 
 the West, even if I had not been expectmg 
 the desperado from Red River. And now 
 if I had had what Westerners call "horse- 
 sense" I should have got up and left. I 
 did no such thing, for the old Colonel walked 
 in behind Sage-brush and sat down by me. 
 If I had less grit than the old man I couldn't 
 show it. The very atmosphere of the long 
 room became electric. I saw Pillsbury the 
 gambler, who was making up his faro lay-out 
 in the back room, lay down the cards. He 
 passed his hand mechanically over his hip- 
 pocket, and sat down quietly. Outside the 
 glow of the evening was dying rapidly, and 
 
 136 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 the lights of the stores and the Texas Saloon 
 opposite began to show themselves. Men 
 that were passing stopped to speak with 
 others. Sam Grant, the bar-tender opposite, 
 came out on the side-walk. I saw his white 
 shirt-front as he leant against a post. A 
 little hum rose outside. I saw a boy running. 
 A yellow dog sat in the dusty road and 
 scratched himself. I heard voices, and though 
 I could distinguish no words I knew what 
 they said. 
 
 " Sage-brush is in there with Ben Williams." 
 
 The fat old Dutchman who kept a quarter 
 
 dollar hash-house stepped inside and put 
 
 his lamp out. He wasn't the man to take 
 
 chances. 
 
 And all this time I was looking at Sage- 
 brush. He was long and thin and very 
 hard, so men said. They reckoned at Red 
 River that he was a very "stout" man, and 
 in the language of the great West "stout" 
 means strong. Ben was dark and ruddy, 
 but Sage was fair and had long tawny 
 moustaches. His eyes were small and grey, 
 his jaw heavy, his forehead overgrown with 
 137 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 hair that grew downwards, though it was 
 close-cropped. He walked up to the bar 
 lightly. I heard the Colonel speak to me. 
 
 " He's left-handed," said the Colonel. " Ben 
 hasn't the best of it though his right hand is 
 free." 
 
 For, as I said just now, Ben Williams' left 
 side was to the bar. 
 
 " I'll take a lemon squash, bar-keep," said 
 Sage. His voice w^as perfectly quiet and not 
 unpleasant. Tom made him his drink, and 
 Sage turned politely to all the rest of us. 
 
 " I'll be obliged, gentlemen, if you'll breast 
 the bar and order your own especial poison," 
 he said. 
 
 We rose and ranged up to the bar, and 
 all of us, Williams and Pillsbury, of course, 
 included, took a liquor. 
 
 '' Take one with me, Mr Greet," said the 
 old Colonel. 
 
 And Sage said he would take one later if 
 the gentleman didn't mind. Williams hadn't 
 spoken till now. 
 
 " Are you Mr. Greet of Red River ? " he 
 asked politely. 
 
 138 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 " That's me," said Sage. 
 
 " My name's Ben Williams," said Williams. 
 
 " I'm glad to see you," said Sage, " and 
 shall be pleased to see you over at Red River." 
 
 We got back into our seats. I felt a little 
 easier in my mind. There would be no 
 trouble. I said so to the Colonel, and he 
 never answered. Over the way the side-walk 
 was thronged. I saw Bob White among the 
 men there. Then I looked again at Sage and 
 Ben. From where I sat Ben's face was some- 
 what in shadow, for the nearest lamp was 
 behind him. I could see Sage very plainly. 
 
 " You're away off," said the Colonel. 
 *' There'll be hell up Fourth Street and blood 
 on the face of the moon this night." 
 
 As the night outside grew darker I saw both 
 men better. I perceived the growing tension. 
 Tom stood back against his shelves and 
 polished glasses. He did it mechanically, for his 
 eyes were fixed on the men on the other side 
 of the bar, who leant against it carelessly and 
 yet rigidly. Neither took his eye off the 
 other, and the old Colonel put his foot on 
 mine. 
 
 139 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Ben will cow down," he said. '* I can 
 see it." 
 
 " This is a quiet town," said Sage presently. 
 
 " I reckon to keep it quiet," said Ben 
 Williams. His eyes were burning : Sage's 
 narrowed to slits. 
 
 " I do the same for Red River," he said. 
 
 Up to now, though they had looked at each 
 other, they had not met for more than a mere 
 glance with their eyes. But at this moment 
 old Webb nipped me so hard that I restrained 
 an exclamation with difficulty. The men 
 were staring at each other steadily. I glanced 
 into the back room and saw Pillsbury close up 
 his faro lay-out. By this time his room 
 should have been full. The street was full 
 instead. But Sage and Ben were visible to 
 the gathered crowd, and everyone outside was 
 silent. They knew, for all the quiet, that a 
 duel was going on inside, and a duel more deadly 
 and horrible than any shooting. These two 
 silent devils were putting their minds, their 
 reputations, their courage, into the cock-pit 
 against each other. 
 
 "Good God!" said the Colonel. He 
 140 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 moistened his dry lips. It was a horrible 
 hour. 
 
 Each of these men had slain many : both 
 had defied the law and put it in the ditch. 
 To both of them a thousand bowed down. 
 The rumour of their deeds had spread across 
 the south. They were heard of from Galveston 
 to El Paso. The life they led tried them high. 
 They came to a dreadful final test this night, 
 and something, I knew not what, seemed 
 to tell me that there could be no such tragedy 
 as this. 
 
 They appeared equally matched. I heard 
 old Webb sigh ; his eyes were almost bolting 
 from his head. Tom, as I knew, had plenty of 
 courage. I heard that his hand trembled a 
 little as he put a glass down behind him. The 
 silence of the two who fought was strange and 
 dreadful. Pillsbury, who was no chicken, 
 spoke to me about it afterwards. First I 
 watched one and then the other. If I had 
 pulled a gun on them neither would have seen 
 me move. For these two the whole world was 
 lost. They saw nothing but each other's eyes, 
 perhaps each other's deep and inward mind. 
 141 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 The Colonel whispered to me without turn- 
 ing— 
 
 " I never reckoned on this, Charhe." 
 There was something that no one could 
 have reckoned on in the men before us. Both 
 of us had seen death in strange and horrible 
 shapes. The old Colonel had slept among the 
 piled dead of many awful fields. And I had 
 seen sudden death too, and murdered men 
 whose slayers none discovered, and death by 
 disease more dreadful than death by knife 
 or bullet. But neither of us had ever seen 
 two such men fight merely with their eyes, 
 with their intent minds, with their very souls. 
 It seemed to me that both forgot that they 
 were armed, that they carried lethal weapons. 
 Here was one who said he was afraid; and 
 the other said that he was afraid. And they 
 struggled strangely with their own discovered 
 weakness, and their nerves were strung and 
 trembled until it seemed to us who looked on 
 that we could hear the sound of our own hearts 
 and theirs. 
 
 I was sorry for them, and almost grieved 
 to see them come to this test. A strange 
 142 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 momentary anger rose in my heart against old 
 Webb, who had brought this thing to be. 
 He told me afterwards that in that hour he 
 repented, for this was so much worse than 
 the shedding of blood that till then it seemed 
 he had beheld nothing awful in his life. 
 
 But as we sat there, motionless, unable, 
 the long bloodless duel went on. We saw 
 their lips move now, but no words were spoken, 
 and we guessed darkly at the silent thoughts 
 they muttered. Did one's eye flicker, or was 
 it only the flicker of a lamp ? Did they 
 murmur, or was it the breathing of the awe- 
 struck crowd that watched at the door ? 
 Both of them sighed surely. Did one's hand 
 move ? Was that a shaking nerve ? I looked 
 again at old Webb, and saw that he had 
 bitten his lip ; a little trickle of blood ran down 
 his smooth-shaved chin. His hand trembled 
 surely ; I felt it on my arm. If he, who had 
 seen and done so much, and was only a spectator 
 with so little at stake, felt this, what did those 
 feel who had their very souls on the table, 
 those who loved power and the fear of men ? 
 We saw one doomed : out of this only one 
 143 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 could issue. And for the man who was defeated 
 what remained but laughter and biting scorn, 
 and the rebellion of those he had put beneath 
 his heel ? There are men who have played 
 poker for stakes that meant ruin, temporal 
 ruin. This was a game that meant death at 
 least. It might mean a more horrible thing : 
 it might mean the degradation of a man. 
 
 They had reckoned this up in their minds : 
 both of them saw it : both knew that to pull 
 a weapon now meant the acknowledgment of 
 defeat. A mere motion of the hand would 
 imply resort to physical means to save a life 
 which had lost that honour of a man that 
 endures even in the fine scum of the big world 
 they lived in. 
 
 I looked at Ben. He moistened his lips a 
 little, and Webb got hold of me with his left 
 hand and crushed my arm. 
 
 " He's going under," he murmured. 
 
 But I saw Sage's lips move too. And was 
 it true that the light showed in a clearer, 
 brighter patch upon his forehead ? It seemed 
 to me that it did. I'm sure it did. The 
 Colonel said later that it did. I'm sure that 
 144 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 Ben Williams saw it, saw that Sage's brow was 
 damp with sweat. Good God ! when he spoke, 
 as he did suddenly, my own heart stood still. 
 
 " You're a hell of a bad man ! " said Ben. 
 The words split the air like the crack of a pistol 
 in darkness. I saw Sage-brush writhe, saw 
 his mouth open, saw his dry tongue upon his 
 lower lip. Ben moved up to him. His eyes 
 were like coals, and he laughed. 
 
 " You're a hell of a bad man. Greet," he 
 said again. And poor Sage's jaw waggled ; 
 his lip dropped. I heard the Colonel gasp. 
 And Ben spoke again as he thrust his right 
 hand out. 
 
 " What's that you've got. Red River ? " 
 he asked. He thrust his hand deliberately 
 under Sage's jacket, and took his "gun" from 
 him. It was hideous, it was monstrous. It 
 seemed to me that I saw a writhing thing 
 beneath his heel. Tears, yes, tears, ran down 
 Sage's cheeks, and he shook like a poor 
 fascinated beast. An hour ago he had been 
 a man ; now he was lower than the poorest 
 beast that limps vainly from inevitable 
 death. 
 
 K 145 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Ben spoke again, as he looked at Sage's 
 six-shooter. 
 
 '' Boys shouldn't be allowed to carry 
 weepons,'* he said. And so saying he jammed 
 the nuzzle of the gun against the beaten man's 
 cheek. He raked his skin with it. Then he 
 took it, " broke " it down, and shot the 
 cartridges out on the bar. Sage cried. I 
 saw tears run down his long moustaches. He 
 shook like an aspen. I heard a horrible laugh 
 outside. I could have struck the man who 
 laughed. But we sat paralysed ; not one of 
 us moved, not even when Ben took hold of 
 Sage's moustache and wagged his head to and 
 fro. But I heard the old Colonel groan, and 
 I knew that if he hadn't been maimed he 
 would have done something that the rest of us 
 could not do, or feared to do. For though I 
 knew that Sage-brush's life was safe, I knew 
 that no other's was. A word from anyone 
 now would end in murder. 
 
 " Get out of this," said Ben; " get out of 
 my town. Go back to Red River and tell 'em 
 what I've done to you." 
 
 He turned the poor wretch round and kicked 
 146 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 him to the door. He kicked him off the 
 side-walk into the street, and then going back 
 picked up Sage's " gun " and threw it after him. 
 The Colonel went out, and I followed him. 
 Sage was sobbing in the dust. His horse was 
 " hung up " close by. I saw Bob White in the 
 front of the crowd, standing close by the store 
 at which he worked. I know now that I noticed 
 an open barrel close by him. Some of Ben's 
 parasites laughed. One mean hound kicked 
 " Sage " as he lay, and the Colonel, who was 
 standing by, caught him by the ear with his 
 left hand and nearly wrenched it off. He 
 never saw who did it, and no one told him, 
 though he went howling to Ben, who still 
 stood by the bar. Ben struck him across the 
 mouth, and ordered some brandy. He needed 
 it. And then he came out, just as Sage- 
 brush was getting to his horse. A boy 
 picked up his six-shooter from the dust and 
 ran with it to him. I heard Greet's despair 
 as he spoke to him. 
 
 " I don't need it no more. I'm not a man," 
 he said, and he rode away through the parting 
 crowd \vith his head upon his breast. And 
 147 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 then, when the tragedy was played out, as it 
 seemed, the tragedy began. For Ben WilUams, 
 after his victory, lost his self-control. He 
 had been tried, and tried high, and now broke 
 down into the desire to kill. He knew, and 
 none knew better, how near a thing it had 
 been. But for the lamp which shone more 
 upon his opponent than on himself he might 
 have been crawling in the dust. He saw the 
 Colonel and fell into a bloody rage. 
 
 " You old dog, you fetched him here for me," 
 said Ben, and there was running slaver on his 
 lips. The crowd parted suddenly like a 
 divided wave. I was ten yards from the old 
 Colonel, and saw him standing upright like a 
 man. He threw his hat upon the dusty 
 road. 
 
 " Shoot me, then, you hound," he said. 
 And even as he spoke Ben's pistol cracked, 
 and the men about us groaned. I saw the 
 old Colonel fall, and even as he fell, and almost 
 before he touched the ground, I saw Bob 
 Wliite run to the barrel by the store. From 
 it he took the bright head of a four-and-a-half 
 pound axe, and he threw it straight at Ben 
 148 
 
THE MAN WHO TOOK WATER 
 
 Williams. It glittered in the lights from the 
 saloon, and it struck Ben fairly with the edge 
 upon the temple. He threw up his hands, and 
 as they went up the muscles of his dead 
 hand pulled the trigger of his pistol and the 
 bullet went into the air. He fell prone in the 
 dust, and writhed a little, and then lay quite 
 still. And Bob was on his knees by old Webb, 
 crying. 
 
 But the Colonel didn't die that time, though 
 he went very near to it. Bob and I, and for 
 the matter of that the whole town, nursed 
 him through his trouble, and everyone was 
 glad to see his white head again when he 
 crawled down Main Street once more. Bob 
 had no trouble over Ben Williams' death, 
 for the jury which sat upon him declared that 
 it was the most justifiable homicide which 
 they had ever heard of. 
 
 " You see, I wam't heeled," said old Webb. 
 " I had nary a gun on me. I do think, Bob, 
 that if Ben had shot straight some of you 
 would have strung him up." 
 
 All the town said so. But I have my 
 doubts, for Ben Williams had a good few 
 149 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 steers and plenty of money. And straight 
 shooting, combined with money, will go a 
 considerable way in the Panhandle of Texas 
 even now. 
 
 " And what's come of poor Sage ? " asked 
 the Colonel. Not a soul knew till weeks 
 afterwards, when a man came in from El 
 Paso. 
 
 " After he crawled out of Red River, he 
 drank and gambled all he had," said El Paso 
 Smith, " and then he rode the drawheads of a 
 train from Big Springs to our town. And 
 now he's washing dishes at a low-down hash- 
 house kept by a Mexican ! " 
 
 "Is he tough any more ? " asked the 
 listeners. 
 
 " Tough ! " sneered El Paso Smith. 
 " Why, a Dutchman could slap his face any 
 day and he'd take water then and there." 
 
 150 
 
VII 
 
 A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 Scurry County is in the south of the Pan- 
 handle of Texas, and its southern border Hes 
 some forty miles or so north of Painted Rock. 
 But as Painted Rock is the only town there- 
 abouts everybody in Scurry County knows 
 it. It is the trading centre of the district, 
 and on the north-west plateau of Texas forty 
 miles is not too far to ride for a drink, when 
 a drink or a jamboree is indicated. It is 
 not too far, either, to ride for the purposes 
 of love-making, as Jack Higginson of Ennis 
 Creek in Scurry knew well enough. The 
 boys out there love space and distances and 
 the fine clear atmosphere of the prairie, and 
 they know in their hearts there is nothing 
 so good as the air on which they were bred, 
 or the girls who grow up there with them. 
 151 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 And that is why Jerome Shaylor, who was a 
 very quiet "boy" of twenty-five, though he 
 had no objection to Jack's riding into Painted 
 Rock to see Mary Smith, had a very great 
 objection to Mr. George B. Remington's 
 riding out to the creek to see Mamie Griggs, 
 who was the belle of about thirty square 
 miles of prairie country. 
 
 " I shed shoot him straight," said Jack 
 Higginson ; " the man what puts as much 
 as his little finger between me and my Mary 
 will get shot up some, and I'm the man that'll 
 do it, and the boys know it. Ride in with 
 me to the Rock, Jerome, and we'll call on 
 thishyer Mr. Remington and show him 
 death a-stickin' out a foot, lying coiled in 
 his path like a rattler. Say, will you do it ? " 
 
 Jerome was unhappy, and scratched his 
 nose in doubt. 
 
 " You see, there's Paw," he said, referring 
 to his father. " Paw's dead agin shootin' 
 ever since he shot Jake Meadows. Jake's 
 bin a sore burden to Paw ever since, bein' 
 lame, and ridin' out here to see Paw and 
 borrow money, moaning about his leg and 
 152 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 his bust-up prospects in life. Paw says 
 he'll shoot no more, and he says if any of his 
 sons shoot there'll be serious trouble in Scurry 
 County, and I darsn't run up agin Paw, him 
 bein' the man he is." 
 
 For Colonel Shaylor, who really had been 
 a Colonel in the Confederate Army, was a 
 very hard man to deal with, and kept his 
 family tightly on the rein, hke the fierce old 
 patriarch that he was. Jack Higginson re- 
 cognised what an obstacle ''Paw" must be, 
 and shook his head. 
 
 " It's mighty hard lines havin' a father 
 like your'n," he said; "an* I think it's a 
 forsaken pity he didn't shoot straight when 
 Meadows invited death. If Meadows had 
 been dead, your ole Dad would ha' got over 
 it by now. His borrowin' money perpetual 
 on account of his wounded leg keeps the 
 thing green in the Colonel's mind." 
 
 " That's so," said Jerome. " He said that 
 to Meadows." 
 
 " Did he ? " 
 
 Jerome nodded. 
 
 " And the limpin' ole scarecrow lets on he 
 153 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 wishes he hed. You cayn't do nothin' with 
 a thing Hke that. He rubs his derned ole 
 leg and sobs, and Paw gets mad and hands 
 out the dollars, wishin' it was lead. And 
 then he says, * The boy o' mine that resorts 
 to guns in a difficulty ain't goin' to seecure 
 no blessin' of mine and no share o' my 
 property.' " 
 
 " Hum," said Jack, " that's very hard on 
 a high-sperrited son o' Texas. I say, I'll 
 think upon it as I ride into the Rock, Jerome. 
 And mebbe I'll ask Mary's opinion. She's 
 no love for thishyer derned Easterner 
 Remington. She says he daren't walk out 
 in the Rock when it's dark. But I dunno, 
 women sez very spiteful things, and Remington 
 don't look so easy to scare as that. I'll 
 think it over, Jerome." 
 
 " I wish you would," replied Jerome; " and 
 now I must whack into this derned ole mes- 
 quite for firewood. I wish I hed Remington's 
 neck under the axe." 
 
 And Jack Higginson rode into town think- 
 ing. 
 
 " Blame me if I know," said Jack. "After 
 154 
 
 I 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 all, I reckon Remington would cow down 
 without shootin' if he was told that the 
 bo3^s of Scurry County had reckoned that 
 Mamie Griggs wasn't for export, but for 
 home consumption. Jerome ought to go to 
 him and talk to him^ straight. I reckon he 
 would, only he's scared his gun would go off 
 of itself. But Jerome's a good boy, so he is, 
 and it's mighty hard he's fitted with a father 
 that don't beheve in natur'. My ole Dad 
 ain't that sort. By gosh! I think I'll see 
 Remington myself. I ain't scared of him, nor 
 of no father, nor of my gun. I'll take him 
 on the way to Mar^^'s, so I will. He's a 
 bit of a lawyer. Well, I'll tell him law ain't 
 no sech property out here." 
 
 He dropped dowTi from the prairie and 
 saw Painted Rock shining in the sun by its 
 river and its sand-dunes. In another ten 
 minutes he loped on his broncho into the 
 town, and pulled up on South Street, outside 
 a pretentious, brick-fronted building of which 
 all the rest but the front was of wood. He 
 hitched his pony to a post and slouched into 
 Mr. Remington's office. He found his man 
 ^55 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 working in his shirt-sleeves at a table covered 
 with papers, and he stood gazing at the lawyer 
 with a complicated feeling of contempt and 
 respect. It took Jack about a minute and 
 a half to sign his name, and he felt that it 
 was impossible to despise Remington quite 
 so thoroughly as he wished when he saw 
 the disturber of Scurry County write about 
 twenty words in half the time. And then 
 Remington looked up. 
 
 *' He has a keen eye,'' said Jack. " I 
 dunno, maybe he won't scare worth a cent." 
 
 " Well, sir," said the lawyer, *' and what 
 can I do for you ? " 
 
 " You don't remember me ? " said Jack. 
 
 " I can't say I do," replied Remington. 
 
 " I'm Jack Higginson, from Ennis Crick, 
 Scurry County," said Jack, " and I mind 
 seein* you out to Mr. Griggs a month back." 
 
 Remington nodded. 
 
 " Ah, to be sure, I think I remember you 
 now. What can I do for you, Mr. Higginson ? 
 Anything in the legal way ? " 
 
 "Not much," said Jack; ** I do despise 
 havin' anythin' to do with law, and so does 
 
 156 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 Dad. And we mostly reckons out in Scurry 
 County that we ain't takin' any. What I 
 wanted ain't nothin' to do with law. Some 
 of us out yonder hev been talkin' about 
 you, and we reckoned we'd tell you about 
 it." 
 
 Remington pushed his chair back a little, 
 and looked straight at Jack. 
 
 " You've been talking about me, eh ? 
 Well, there's no charge for talk, Mr. Higgin- 
 son." 
 
 " I ain't so dead sure of that," replied 
 Jack. " I've known big bills for talk, sure's 
 death. But I reckon you're a man that acts 
 fair and haven't no desire to cause trouble." 
 
 "That's so," said Remington; "but come 
 to the point." 
 
 " The point is," said Jack, " that you air 
 causin' trouble in Scurry County. It's talk 
 around the Crick that you air courtin' Mamie 
 Griggs." 
 
 " Miss Griggs ! " said Remington. 
 
 " Miss Mamie Griggs," said Higginson. 
 " It's talk around the Crick that you air 
 courtin' her, and the boys out thataway 
 157 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 hev considered the matter, and hev come to 
 the conclusion that she ain't for export but 
 for home consumption, and that the boy 
 who's to hev her is Jerome Shaylor." 
 
 " And what does the lady say ? " asked the 
 lawyer. 
 
 " Haow ? " said Jack blankly. 
 
 " What does the lady say ? " 
 
 " Demed if I know," said Jack hastily. 
 ''But that ain't the point. The point is 
 what we say, and what Jerome says; and 
 Jerome is a terror, and mighty cruelto strangers 
 and set agin' 'em. And he reckons that she 
 ain't to be cut out of the herd and branded 
 by a stranger like as if she was a maverick ; 
 and he reckons, moreover, that he ain't goin' to 
 stand by and see the iron put on her." 
 
 " Indeed," said Remington. 
 
 And Jack's enthusiasm for his friend ran 
 away with him. 
 
 " Yep and indeedy," said Jack. " He sez 
 he'll fill up any stranger with a fine quality 
 of lead as comes around her corral. She's 
 the flower of the flock and the flower of the 
 prairie, and Jerome savs he'll kiU and shoot 
 
 158 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 up any stranger that looks at her. And all 
 the boys along the Crick reckons to back him 
 up ; and we says that you bein' a legal lawyer, 
 and probably stuck on peace, will see that the 
 only safe way of proceedin' is to keep outside 
 the borders of Scurry County, and prob'ly 
 to return home by an early East-bound 
 express." 
 
 " And if I don't I am to be shot up ? " 
 asked Remington. 
 
 " Considerably shot up," said Jack with 
 much emphasis ; "so to speak, riddled like 
 a sieve." 
 
 " That would be inconvenient," said 
 Remington, " very inconvenient. And what 
 would you think of me if, to adopt the lan- 
 guage current in this romantic locality, I took 
 water and an express ? " 
 
 " We'd think you war wise," said Jack, 
 " but our opinion of you would be poor. 
 We'd reckon to forget you quick, havin' better 
 to remember." 
 
 " Your candour is refreshing," said the 
 lawyer. " But I happen to be an American." 
 
 " From the East. Our opinion of the East 
 159 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 is poor," said Jack Higginson. " Our opinion 
 of them as was raised East isi lean to a degree." 
 
 Remington nodded. 
 
 "So it seems," said the lawyer; "and if I 
 decided to shift my stakes at the request of 
 the innocents of Scurry County I should agree 
 with you. I suppose Mr. Jerome Shaylor 
 has made you his intermediary in this 
 matter?" 
 
 " His what ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I mean he asked you to come and tell me 
 this ? " 
 
 " That's what it comes to," said Jack 
 rather uneasily. " We cayn't allow no stranger 
 to cavort about in Scurry County." 
 
 " Is that all ? " asked Remington. 
 
 " That's all," said Jack. 
 
 " Then I wish you good-afternoon," said 
 Remington. 
 
 " And what am I to teU Jerome ? " 
 
 " Tell him I shall be in the romantic 
 neighbourhood of Ennis Creek some time 
 the day after to-morrow," said the lawyer. 
 And Jack Higginson opened his mouth, shut 
 it, opened the door, went out and shut that, 
 i6o 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 and stood by his pony shaking his head, as 
 if flies were worrying him too. 
 
 " I hev my doubt about his havin' been 
 raised in the East," said Jack. " But it's 
 done now ! W'Tiatever ole Colonel Shaylor 
 says, Jerome will hev to shoot him some." 
 
 And after thinking over the matter he 
 rode on to see Mary, who gave him still more 
 to think of when he told her what he had 
 done. 
 
 " And what will Mamie say ? '* she asked. 
 
 '' Blessed if I know," repHed Jack. " That's 
 what the law-sharp says." 
 
 "If I know girls she'll make you wish 
 you were dead," said Mary viciously. ** How 
 do you know she doesn't like him best ? " 
 
 Jack shook his head sulkily. 
 
 " She cayn't possibly like a law-sharp and 
 a stranger. And now it's fixed. Jerome 
 will hev to shoot him some, because I said he 
 would. And then the ole Colonel will be 
 mad." 
 
 " You've done a very silly thing," said 
 Mary. " What would you do if I liked some- 
 one better than you ? " 
 L i6i 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 '' I'd shorely slay him in the tracks, Mary," 
 said her lover, " and I would jump upon him, 
 and become ravin', tearin' luny, and turn 
 myself loose upon the town and do up all my 
 enemies." 
 
 *' Oh dear! oh dear ! " said Mary, " I think 
 men are dreadful. Would you really do all 
 that ? " 
 
 " I would," replied Jack; " shore pop I'd 
 do it." 
 
 " And what should I feel like ? " 
 
 " You'd shorely be sad and lonesome, 
 both bein' dead," replied Jack. " But I 
 reckon you don't love no one better, do you, 
 Mary ? " 
 
 "No," said Mary; "but I think you are 
 foolish all the same, and I shall write to 
 Mamie and tell her about it." 
 
 Jack looked awfully alarmed. 
 
 " You won't do that, Mary ; she'll be on to 
 me like, oh, like a coyoot on a sick sheep, 
 and I'll feel as mean as if I was raised East." 
 " You shouldn't interfere then in what 
 isn't your business," said Mary. " I'll write 
 now, and you shall take the letter to her." 
 162 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 "Shorely that's playin' it low down on 
 me," urged her lover plamtively. 
 
 " I can't help that," said Mary. " I won't 
 have Jerome killed." 
 
 " You mean you won't have Mr. Remington 
 killed," suggested Jack. 
 
 " I mean nothin' of the sort," said Mary. 
 " Mr. Pillsbury, the gambler, told father only 
 yestiddy that Mr. Remington was the best 
 shot in Painted Rock." 
 
 Jack gasped. 
 
 " You don't say that, Mary ? " 
 
 "I do," said Mary; "and he's not an 
 Easterner either. He comes from Alabama." 
 
 " Alabammer ! well, I'm doggoned," said 
 Jack. " And I talked to him just s'if he 
 came from Philadelphy ! I shore think Jerome 
 has run agin a snag, talkin' of killin' him. 
 For what with the ole Colonel's derned foolish- 
 ness, Jerome cayn't shoot worth a cent." 
 
 But Mary wrote her letter to Mamie, and 
 Jack took it very unwillingly, and rode back 
 to Ennis Creek at the slowest pace he could 
 get out of his pony. 
 
 " Alabammer ! Oh, good men comes from 
 163 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Alabammer," said Jack; "I'm some alarmed 
 that Jerome will hev to back down. I'll per- 
 suade him to peace. But thishyer letter lies 
 heavy on my mind. Mary's mighty cruel to 
 send it by me. Women is some spiteful, so 
 they are. I do dread seein' Mamie now ! " 
 
 And he rode to the Griggs' house up Ennis 
 Creek as if he was going to his own immediate 
 execution. He met Jerome at the ford just 
 below the ranch, and pulled up. 
 
 " Jerome, my son," said Jack, " I've shore 
 a sad confession to make, and it's a deal 
 tougher than cuttin' mesquite with a blunt 
 axe. I'm a blamed fool, so I am, and the 
 proof of it is the way I feel. And there's 
 further corroboratin' written evidence of it 
 in my pocket, very convincin'. I'm no better 
 than a burro, and I own I'm worse than 
 a mule." 
 
 " What's wrong now ? " asked Jerome in 
 great alarm. 
 
 " When I rode in to Painted Rock," said 
 
 Jack, "I'd gotten it all clear in my mind, 
 
 and now it ain't no clearer than a riley crick. 
 
 I reckoned I'd see Remington myself and 
 
 164 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 set out the sitaation clear. So in I went, and 
 I s'plained to him that we 'uns didn't want 
 him near, and not in the county. I further 
 said we was clearly of opinion we could even 
 do without him in Texas, and I said the 
 East-bound express was hankerin' to haul 
 him back East. And he was cool as a January 
 mornin'. So I played the rest of my hand, 
 and I said you w^as yellin' for his blood and 
 would shoot him up on sight. And I allowed all 
 the boys in Scurry County was ekal set on his 
 immediate decease." 
 
 " And did he crawl down ? " asked Jerome. 
 
 " Not a solitary crawl," groaned Jack. " On 
 the contrary, he bucked up s'if he'd took a 
 cocktail, and he intimated that I could ac- 
 quaint you with the interestin' fact that he 
 would be in the rowmantic neighbourhood of 
 Ennis Crick the day arter ter-morrer. And it 
 shore seemed to me that you'd hev to shoot 
 him, in spite of your Dad." 
 
 " It looks like it," said Jerome, ''but I 
 don't much want to." 
 
 Jack shook his head again. 
 
 " That ain't all. I went on to see Mary, 
 165 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 and like a derned silly galoot I let on I'd 
 seen Remington. And under pressure I re- 
 vealed all I'd said; and she was tearin' mad 
 with me, and she revealed the fact that 
 Pillsbury told her Dad that now Ben Williams 
 is deceased Remington is the quickest on 
 the trigger of any man to Painted Rock." 
 
 " Pillsbury allowed that ? " asked Jerome 
 in obvious alarm. 
 
 " Pillsbury took his oath to it," said Jack; 
 " and, moreover, it seems that Remington 
 is from Alabammer, not from the East. 
 It 'pears to me I've bin wildly foolish this 
 day, and I regret it on your account ; all the 
 more because Mary wrote a letter to Mamie, 
 and I've got it bumin* like mustard in my 
 left-side pocket. And she swore me to give 
 it her. And I feel meaner than a trapped 
 coyoot, and I a'most wish I'd died in my 
 youth." 
 
 And Jerome swore viciously. 
 
 " So do I," he yelled. " Jack, you are 
 the biggest inter ferin' fool in Scurry County." 
 
 " Speak up," said Jack ; " say it again, 
 rub it in, I allow you're right, I'm the biggest 
 i66 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 fool in Texas ; I've more square miles of 
 idiocy in m}^ territoary than any man I 
 know." 
 
 And Jerome relented. 
 
 " You done your best," he said. " If he'd 
 crawled do\\Ti it would ha' bin all right." 
 
 Jack shook his head. 
 
 " That's where the flaw was," he said. " And 
 now I'll face the music of Mamie's voice, like 
 a man if I can." 
 
 And when he got to the Griggs' house, and 
 found ]\Iamie outside, he showed his courage 
 by hastily dropping the letter into her hand 
 and driving the spurs into his pony. 
 
 ** I wonder why he did that ? " asked the 
 belle of Scurry County, as she saw him gallop- 
 ing as hard as a stampeding steer do^^Tl the 
 trail to the creek. 
 
 And when she had read Mary's letter she 
 knew. 
 
 " I wish he had stayed," said Mamie, and 
 the manner in which she said it was a promise 
 of a hot day for Jack when next she saw 
 him, unless indeed something happened before 
 then to moderate her justifiable wrath. 
 167 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " I wonder Mr. Remington didn't shoot 
 him," said Mamie, sighing. " Oh, I wish I 
 lived in a town or a city ; I'm tired of Ennis 
 Creek." 
 
 And while she was thinking that the prairie 
 was monotonous, and that the cowboys 
 were not all they imagined, Jerome and 
 Jack Higginson were sitting gloomily outside 
 the house of Jerome's '* Paw," wondering 
 what would happen or ought to happen, 
 when Mr. Remington of Alabama, who was 
 the best shot in Painted Rock, came out to 
 Ennis Creek the day after to-morrow. 
 
 " Things is alterin'," said Jack bitterly. 
 " Here's this fencing coming along ! Sheep 
 takes the place of steers. You cay n't ride 
 ten miles without crossin' wire ten times. 
 The buffalo ez a thing o' the past. There's 
 not a head of 'em left even on the Staked 
 Plain. Easterners comes here, Law comes 
 here. I shall get up and git. The girls 
 ain't what they was. Mary's all right, but 
 mostly we ain't got a look-in with an Eastern 
 drummer. Chuck it up, Jerome, and go to 
 Arizona." 
 
 i68 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 "I ain't stuck on Arizona," said Jerome; 
 " Fm stuck on Mamie." 
 
 " But is Mamie stuck on you ? " asked 
 Jack. " When did you ask her last ? " 
 
 " Not sence we was both ten," said Jerome 
 uneasil}'. 
 
 " That's a long time lost, ain't it ? I asked 
 Mary every time I run up agin her this last 
 seven years." 
 
 " Well, I never reckoned on no Remington," 
 said Jerome bitterly. " I'm stuck, fair 
 stuck. If I kill thishyer Remington, Paw 
 won't give me no start; and if Remington 
 kills me, I'm shore out of it." 
 
 *' That's so," said Jack Higginson. " I own 
 you don't seem to hev no luck. Supposin' 
 you conclude that Mamie ain't the girl you 
 took her for, Jerome ? From what Mary said 
 it seems girls are dead set on havin' their own 
 way. It seems like this, that if she's set on 
 Remington, she won't hev you if you kill him ; 
 and if she's set on you, she won't hev Reming- 
 ton." 
 
 " It looks like it," said Jerome; " but what 
 of that ? " 
 
 169 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " It stands to reason, the way I look at it," 
 said Higginson, " that arter all Mamie hez 
 the call of both of you, and shootin' seems 
 vain. It goes agin a man to own it, but it 
 looks a solid fact. For once I own I don't see 
 what good killin' a man is. I'd go to Mamie 
 and ask her straight what her mind is, and if 
 she says ' you,' you hev the laugh on Reming- 
 ton ; and if she says Remington, you kin look 
 for another girl." 
 
 " I don't want to look for no other," said 
 Jerome angrily. 
 
 " But you must," urged Jack, " of course 
 you must. She'll be mad if you do. Mary 
 said as much. It appears women isn't the 
 same as men. They hate to lose any man ; 
 but if a man don't want a girl he don't 
 care if she marries any galoot, even from 
 the East. You go up to the Griggs', and 
 speak your mind plain and fair and square to 
 Mamie." 
 
 '' I will," said Jerome. 
 
 " Right off ! " 
 
 " Ter-morrer," said Jerome. 
 
 " It makes you mad, I reckon, to think she 
 170 
 
A SCURRY COUNTY WOOING 
 
 can as much as think of Remington," said 
 Jack, " even if he is from Alabammer." 
 
 " It does make me mad," said Jerome. 
 
 " There's prettier girls than Mamie, after 
 all," said Jack. " Do you reklec' that fair- 
 haired girl to Fort Worth, the time we took 
 steers to Saint Louey ? " 
 
 " Oh, she was a daisy," said Jerome 
 pensively . 
 
 " She said you was a mighty fine-lookin' 
 young feller," said Jack. " I never tole you 
 that. When will you speak to Mamie ? " 
 
 Jerome shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " She ain't treated me fair. I'll ask her 
 the day arter ter-morrer." 
 
 " Remington's comin' that day." 
 
 " Let him come," said Jerome. " I ain't 
 one to go where I ain't wanted. There's just 
 as pretty girls as Mamie. Your Mary's just 
 as sweet." 
 
 "She is," said Jack; "and I know it. 
 She says you're a good-lookin' chap, Jerome." 
 
 " Straight ? " 
 
 " She says it." 
 
 " I seed a Mexican girl at El Paso that 
 171 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Mamie ain't in it with/' said Jerome. " Mamie's 
 too much stuck on herself." 
 
 '' She is," said Jack. " She has a bitter 
 tongue, and I'll hear it when we meet." 
 
 Jerome got up. 
 
 '' Look here, Jack, I don't think I'll speak 
 to her at all, for seein' that she said years ago 
 that she loved me dear I reckon she ain't 
 treated me fair." 
 
 " Times I've tho't she didn't,"said Jack. 
 
 " She can marry thishyer Remington if 
 she likes," said Jerome haughtily. 
 
 And she did marry him. 
 
 172 
 
VIII 
 
 AN EXILE FROM '' GOD'S 
 COUNTRY " 
 
 About — 85, if I remember rightly, there 
 was an almighty frost in Florida, almost as 
 bad as the one of — 94, when the orange 
 trees were killed as far south as Indian River, 
 and that was why Ben Habersham shifted 
 stakes and came into Painted Rock. It 
 was also the reason why I knew him, and 
 it was the reason that Susy Habersham 
 became acquainted with Samuel J. Weekes, 
 who owned a cattle ranch on the upper 
 waters of Wolf Creek, a saloon at Big Springs, 
 and a store in Painted Rock itself. Haber- 
 sham was a big, loose- jointed, slop-built Simple 
 Simon, who took to erecting windmills for 
 irrigation as he had raked up an agency for 
 some new kind of wind fakement, on the 
 ^73 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 strength of which he came West. He worked 
 for himself at first, and then became a partner, 
 so far as windmills were concerned, with 
 Weekes. He fitted up a number of them in 
 the town. One he put up for Ginger Gillett, 
 who had a great notion for flowers and fruit, 
 both hard things to raise in the neighbourhood 
 of Painted Rock. He fixed another for my 
 friend Gedge, the gambler from Georgia, 
 who had a shack outside the City limits with 
 what he delighted to call a "park." It was 
 four acres of dust, sand and alkali and prairie 
 dogs, and his " vines " were a measly lot of 
 creepers that died at the first south wind, 
 if any survived the March northers. Haber- 
 sham called Florida " God's country." When 
 a man out West does that you may reckon him 
 a failure. The man who doesn't fail is he 
 who takes enough root for the time to forget 
 the State he came from. That is what Ginger 
 Gillett said and did. 
 
 " I don't reckon to palaver none about 
 
 where I come from," said Ginger with decision, 
 
 " nor do I reckon to wail any about what I 
 
 left behind. There's a complete and finished 
 
 174 
 
AN EXILE FROM "GOD'S COUNTRY" 
 
 set of plumb rank failures howling in Painted 
 Rock about this and that State being ' God's 
 Kentry/ They make me sick and tired. 
 ' God's Kentry ' is finished, and the State of 
 Texas is still in our hands to work up and put 
 the poHsh on. But the women is the worst at 
 it. They don't remind me none of the women 
 of forty-nine that old-timers tells about. 
 They had grit, and could stand off Injuns. 
 These ladies cayn't stand off a mosquito, 
 and they weep sadly at a centipede. Mis' 
 Habersham's that kind, and cayn't cut a 
 steak without makin' faces at the j'int she 
 hacks it off of with averted face. The women 
 from ' God's Kentry ' ain't fit to raise Texans. 
 They raise too much riot over trifles." 
 
 But she was a pretty little woman, and even 
 the fastidious Ginger Gillett lowered his bull 
 voice in her presence, and was exceedingly 
 polite when he met her on Main Street. The 
 cowboys said she was " a daisy " when they 
 swaggered past her with cropped heads, a 
 tooth-brush in their waistcoat pockets, and 
 a very high opinion of themselves in their 
 little minds. 
 
 175 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " There'll be trouble over Mis* Habersham 
 yet," said Keno Gedge, who knew the world, 
 and had a wife who had been pretty enough 
 to bring one man to the grave and two into a 
 hospital before she quietened down in double 
 harness. " She's a danger to this lonely 
 society of bachelors, my son, and you can 
 lay what you like on it. If I was Habersham 
 Fd see she had no sort of conversation with 
 Sam Weekes. Weekes ain't to be trusted 
 with women, you can see that in his eye, if 
 his record didn't prove it." 
 
 They said his record did prove it. 
 
 " Does Habersham know it ? " I asked. 
 
 " Habersham don't know no thin'," said 
 Gedge bitterly. " He knows enough about 
 oranges to be froze out of Florida, and enough 
 about windmills to set one up in my park 
 that won't draw water." 
 
 Keno Gedge, according to Habersham, 
 beheved that a windmill created water in a 
 dry well. 
 
 " We ain't on good terms over that dry 
 windmill," said Gedge, " or Fd get Mis' 
 Gedge to drop him a hint that Weekes is 
 176 
 
AN EXILE FROM "GOD'S COUNTRY" 
 
 after Mis' Habersham. He's the only man 
 in Painted Rock that don't see it." 
 
 That was true enough, as I found out after 
 a month or so. There was an extraordinary 
 reluctance among the quieter inhabitants of 
 the town to say anything about the matter. 
 It was no one's business but Habersham's, 
 and Habersham was just the man to kill the 
 fool who warned him there and then. Never- 
 theless there was talk, and the baser-minded 
 sort soon averred that the talk had a sound 
 basis to go on. There was a strange row 
 about this in the i\merican Saloon which was 
 very characteristic of the place and its people, 
 and, for the matter of that, of the West like- 
 wise. It was started by Sibley Ranger from 
 Double Mountain Fork, who used to come 
 into to\vn and fill up beyond any limit of 
 discretion once a fortnight. 
 
 " Haow's George Weekes' huntin' pro- 
 gressin' ? " he asked Gedge, who was sitting 
 on a bench wdth Pillsbury. 
 
 " Did you speak to me ? " asked Gedge, 
 with a danger signal in his voice. 
 
 " To you, Keno Gedge," said Ranger, 
 M 177 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " to bee sure I did. I asked how's Weekes* 
 hunt after the Floridy lady goin' on ? Is 
 she caught yet ? " 
 
 Gedge rose from his seat and walked up 
 to him. He was little but was as hard as 
 wire, and now he was in a dangerous rage. 
 
 " Mr. Ranger," he said, in a voice that had a 
 rasp in it, " do you know that it's admitted 
 on all hands that you're the biggest fool that 
 ever showed up in Painted Rock ? ' ' 
 
 Ranger's hand was lying on the bar, and 
 Gedge put his on it. Ranger found that 
 iron grip immovable. 
 
 " You ain't for startin' a difficulty with me 
 for sayin' what everyone says ? " he asked 
 quietly enough. 
 
 " If you say it again there wiU be trouble," 
 said Gedge. " Do you understand me ? 
 There'll be serious trouble, and I don't want to 
 hev my business interrupted by being obliged 
 to leave the town till your funeral is forgotten." 
 
 Not a soul spoke a word. The bar-tender 
 wiped a glass, put a bottle straight, and stood 
 quietly expectant. 
 
 " You talk high," said Ranger. 
 178 
 
AN EXILE FROM "GOD'S COUNTRY'* 
 
 " I talk down to you," said Gedge. 
 
 Ranger showed for once an adequate sense 
 of the situation. 
 
 " Well, if you put it that way," he said, 
 " I reckon I take it back. I'm not in your 
 class as a shot, I own it; and if I was to 
 follow my unreasonable desires and bash you 
 with this tumbler I know I'd be dead, and 
 no use to my dependent relatives. I take it 
 back, Gedge. I'll say no more about it. 
 Set up the drinks, Tom." 
 
 And Habersham walked into the saloon 
 just as we all made a move for the bar. No 
 one thought any the worse of Ranger for 
 " taking water." There are ways of doing it, 
 and, fool or none, he did it right. 
 
 " Habersham, drink with me and these 
 gents," said Ranger. '* Me and Gedge has 
 been arguin', and Gedge hez won. I own 
 it." 
 
 " What's the trouble ? " asked Habersham, 
 laughing. 
 
 " Gedge let on he reckoned me a fool," 
 replied Ranger, " and a leetle discussion 
 ensued. I am a fool, and I'll stand nose-paint 
 179 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 to prove it. How's windmills going ? Is 
 the wind sufficient to send 'em round ? I'm 
 thinkin' of havin' one fixed over to my ranch, 
 and I'll grow roses agin' Keno at his park." 
 
 That was the end of the trouble. But when 
 talk had got so far it was bound to go further. 
 And it did. The elite of Painted Rock looked 
 shy at poor Mrs. Habersham, who apparently 
 never got as much as a hint upon the scandal. 
 At any rate she never wilted under the public 
 gaze, and went about as gaily as ever. Gedge 
 talked to me about her, and talked a little 
 gloomily. 
 
 " One w^oman is all I care to understand," 
 he said, " and I own freely after twenty-five 
 years of matrimony that Mrs. Gedge is frequent 
 as hard to fathom as Ginger Gillett when he 
 starts bluffin' at poker. He's the best amatoor 
 at kyards in the county, and Pillsbury owns it, 
 as I do. For all I know Mis' Habersham may 
 be bad down to bed-rock, or she may be no 
 more than a pretty fool. There's times I put 
 up one hypotheesis, and there's times I argue 
 from the other. Women are shorely sad 
 enigmas, and apt to cause woe. If Habersham 
 i8o 
 
AN EXILE FROM "GOD'S COUNTRY" 
 
 hears any hint of what is spoke of I've a notion 
 he'll go plumb mad and bring Mr. Weekes* 
 career to a prematoor close, — whether with 
 justice or without I ain't just now inclined 
 to state. There are times when the worst 
 views of human natur' come natural, and 
 therefore I'll wander over to the drug store 
 and get Bailey to quote me a price in 
 pills." 
 
 The next day I rode to Snyder, Scurry 
 County, and stayed a week with Chapman, who 
 kept the Snyder Saloon, and I missed the 
 newer developments of the Habersham story. 
 But I came in for the conclusion at any rate, 
 for I met Sibley Ranger riding out when I 
 came within ten miles of Painted Rock on my 
 way back. 
 
 " How^dy ? " said Sibley, and I replied 
 " Howdy ? " with all the cordiality of the prairie. 
 He pulled up close to me, and our horses put 
 their noses together. 
 
 " There's goin' to be trouble over to Painted 
 Rock," said Sibley Ranger. 
 
 " What trouble ? " I asked. 
 
 " About Mis' Habersham and Sam Weekes. 
 i8i 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Some galoot hez bin fillin' up Ben's mind with 
 suspicions about her, and they say he ain't 
 spoke to a soul this three days. I met him by 
 the court-house, and he was ez white as raw 
 cotton, and was talkin' to himself. When a 
 man does that it's real dangerous ; there's 
 trouble afoot, to bee sure. I hankered some 
 to stay and see it out, but I'd fixed to see old 
 Mackenzie over to my place about them steers, 
 and if I missed him he'd be worse to deal 
 with than a rattler. I never did see sech a 
 man, plumb locoed he is at times. Gedge is 
 very sore about the Habershams : he's stuck 
 on Mis' Habersham himself, eh ? " 
 
 I thought Mr. Sibley Ranger was safer at 
 Double Mountain Fork than in town, and 
 said so. 
 
 "Waal, I dessay," he drawled; "my 
 tongue's my cross, and it'll get me into trouble 
 shore. I own it. But if you hurry up you 
 may see the crisis. The crisis is comin' along 
 or I ain't a jedge of crisises. There was that 
 look about Ben Habersham which nat'rally 
 eventuates in the deadly exhibition of a double- 
 pronged scatter-gun, or I'm the closest example 
 182 
 
 I 
 
AN EXILE FROM "GOD'S COUNTRY" 
 
 of high discretion in north-west Texas. So- 
 long ! " 
 
 I reached town by way of Wolf Creek at 
 sundown, and the first man I saw on the street 
 was Ginger Gillett. The City Marshal looked 
 worried. 
 
 " Mr. Gillett, I fear your responsibilities 
 are weighing on 3^ou," I said. " You are 
 wearing a sad expression this moment. Who's 
 been shot and killed since I saw you ? " 
 
 " Peace reigns so far," said Ginger, " and 
 there's no such demand for coffins as to raise 
 the price yet awhile." 
 
 " I met Sibley Ranger as I came in, Gillett, 
 and he let on there was trouble sticking out a 
 foot in town." 
 
 " Dam-fool Ranger's right," said Gillett. 
 " It's about Habersham. Some woman hez bin 
 raisin' hell in my town by speakin' to him, and 
 if I could locate her I'd do some talkin'. Poor 
 Ben's mad : he ain't spoke to Mis' Habersham 
 for three days, and he caymps out on the 
 verandy. She kem to me weepin' some, and 
 she let on there' d be killin' if he warn't calmed 
 down. She vows she don't know what's 
 
 183 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 wrong with him, and I jest couldn't tell her ; 
 I couldn't ! " 
 
 " Then you think there's nothing in it ? " 
 I asked. I got off my horse and walked 
 towards the busiest part of the town with 
 him. 
 
 *' Not on her side," said Ginger, scratching 
 his red head. '' She's only silly. But Weekes 
 ain't no innocent. Barrin' that I'm reespon- 
 sible for the peace of this locality, I'd jest 
 as soon as not attend his funeral. I never 
 had no weakness for him ; there's a deal too 
 much of the hundred per cent, usurer about 
 him." 
 
 " Does he know he's liable to die suddenly ? " 
 
 " I told him so," said Gillett. " And so did 
 Smith, my deputy. He ain't put foot outside 
 his store since the day before yesterday. Other- 
 wise he shows grit, and is tolerable easy, to 
 jedge by appearances." 
 
 We came by Weekes' store. 
 
 " There he is now," said Gillett. " But the 
 store isn't lighted up. He knows better than 
 to do that." 
 
 I touched him on the arm. 
 184 
 
AN EXILE FROM "GOD'S COUNTRY" 
 
 ' You're thinking more how to save Haber- 
 shanr. than Weekes, Ginger." 
 
 " To bee sure," said Ginger. " I ain't stuck 
 on Weekes, and I hke Ben all right, and I reckon 
 I like Mis' Habersham enough not to want to 
 see her a widow. For the truth is she loves 
 Ben well." 
 
 " I think you'd better find an excuse for 
 locking one of them in the calaboose," I said. 
 " Or you might pick a quarrel with Weekes 
 and lay him out for a spell." 
 
 Ginger Gillett stopped suddenly. 
 
 " I say, old man, that's a notion ! Derned 
 if I don't think it over. I want peace in 
 Painted Rock. I've my own reputation to 
 think of. Painted Rock says to me, ' Ginger 
 Gillett, give me peace, put down riots, and let 
 peaceful citizens live till their time comes.' 
 And I say, ' Right, that's my idea when I took 
 the position of Marshal.' After supper I shall 
 interview Mr. Weekes, for so far Habersham 
 ain't committed any open act of rebellion 
 agin me, and I cayn't arrest him on suspish, 
 not much." 
 
 And then we parted, I to go to Hamilton's 
 
 185 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 for my supper and he to consider how to save 
 his reputation for peace and law and order. 
 It came very nearly being wounded badly 
 in less than two hours. 
 
 After supper and a smoke at Hamilton's 
 I walked across the plaza, and to and fro there 
 for a while, and then strolled into Main Street. 
 Habersham's house was in the outskirts of 
 the town to the north-west, and to get to 
 Weekes' from his place he had to go through 
 Main Street to get to South Street, where the 
 store was. My luck happened to make me the 
 very first man to see Habersham that night, 
 and when I saw him I was shaken up. He 
 was white and fevered, haggard and strained, 
 and his eyes were like live coals. That might 
 have passed, perhaps, but he carried a shot- 
 gun, and it was notorious that he was one of 
 the few men in the town who never carried a 
 weapon of any kind. He never saw me as I 
 passed, and for a moment I was paralysed. I 
 knew that he was going to Weekes' store, and 
 that if he got there he or Weekes would not 
 survive the meeting. There were men in 
 town who would have said it was none of their 
 i86 
 
AN EXILE FROM "GOD'S COUNTRY" 
 
 business. There were others who would have 
 been glad to see Weekes filled up with lead. 
 I had no liking for him, but I had for Haber- 
 sham. I called to him suddenly — 
 
 " Mr. Habersham ! " 
 
 He stopped dead, and I walked back to him. 
 If I could only hold him in talk for a minute I 
 might see Ginger Gillett or his deputy on the 
 street. At the worst it would give me a 
 minute or two to think. And in a minute 
 anything might happen. 
 
 " What is it ? " said Habersham. 
 
 " Oh, by the way," I said, " I've just come 
 down from Snyder, where I was staying with 
 Chapman. He told me he wanted you to 
 put him up a windmill." 
 
 This was a lie on the spur of the moment. 
 Chapman cared about nothing but horses 
 and poker, and Ennis Creek gave him all 
 the water he wanted. 
 
 " I'm not on windmills any more,'* said 
 Habersham thickly. " Oh, God ! windmills. 
 Oh, go to hell ! " 
 
 He tore his coat away from my hand and 
 went fast, all the faster perhaps from my 
 187 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 hindering him. There was only one thing to 
 do, and I did it. I had not the least desire to 
 get myself into a difficulty, and if he saw me 
 run ahead of him he was in the mood to kill 
 me first and Weekes afterwards. Neverthe- 
 less I meant getting to the store before he 
 did. There was only one way to do it. I 
 ran into the American Saloon, calling to Gedge. 
 It is never advisable to run into any gambling 
 saloon in a hurry and without warning. The 
 place was tolerably full, and Gedge was dealing 
 faro. 
 
 " Hallo ! " said Keno, " what's the trouble ?" 
 " Tell Gillett to come to Weekes' place 
 now," I cried, and with that I pulled aside 
 the window-blind at the end of the room 
 and jumped through the open window, and 
 left the crowd buzzing. 
 
 Habersham had to walk two hundred yards 
 down Main Street before he got to South 
 Street. By going through the window I 
 had one side of a triangle to his two, and 
 though the open space was dark, and littered 
 with empty kerosene- and fruit-cans, I made 
 good time across the big barren lot. I felt 
 i88 
 
AN EXILE FROM "GOD'S COUNTRY" 
 
 sure I was a minute or two ahead of Ben 
 when I came to the store. I thought as I ran. 
 
 " m make Weekes lock the door and lie 
 low," I said. " If he w^on't, and kills Ben 
 Habersham, it will be against him." 
 
 But I prayed that Ginger Gillett would 
 come quick. This was his business, and he 
 was in his element in dealing with such things. 
 Perhaps I was a fool, and yet I saw poor 
 Mrs. Habersham's face, and remembered her 
 as she was when she sat talking of the fruit 
 and flowers of " God's country." 
 
 I ran into the store. Ginger Gillett and 
 Smith were there before me ! It seemed 
 a miracle at the time, but I knew after\vards 
 that my words to Keno Gedge had nothing 
 to do with it. 
 
 The store was long and deep, and one dim 
 lamp only lighted it. On one side were 
 dry goods on shelves and stacked on the 
 counter. The other side was filled with 
 hardware, with shining tins, with lamps, and 
 all kinds of household gear. The back part 
 of the store was in deep shadow. It was 
 full of casks and bales of all sorts. From 
 189 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 the tie-beams hung clothes of various sorts, 
 slickers or oilskins, long boots, and some 
 big cow-hats. 
 
 And I knew that Gillett and Weekes were 
 having trouble. Weekes was tall and dark, 
 and wore a beard. Some women said he 
 was a handsome man. Men as a rule did not 
 like him. Gillett had owned to having no 
 love for him. 
 
 " You've brought it on yourself/' said 
 Gillett angrily, " and Til have you know I'm 
 City Marshal." 
 
 " Go to hell ! " replied Weekes. " You can't 
 drive me, and you bein' Marshal don't faze 
 me worth a cent. If Habersham shows his 
 nose here I'll kill him." 
 
 I heard that as I came in. 
 
 " Habersham's coming here with a shot- 
 gun," I cried. We heard steps even then, 
 and I saw Weekes pull a six-shooter from his 
 hip-pocket. With his left hand he made 
 a motion to knock the lamp over. What 
 happened then was so sudden and so amazing 
 that I fell back. Before the lamp fell I saw 
 Smith, Gillett's deputy, shift his "gun" so 
 190 
 
AN EXILE FROM ''GOD'S COUNTRY" 
 
 that he held the barrel, and he struck Weekes 
 a heavy blow with the stock upon the head. 
 He fell heavily, and at that moment there was 
 a shot, by whom fired I could not tell. And 
 then Habersham appeared at the entrance. 
 The lamp had had little oil in it, but it blazed 
 upon the floor, and by its flames, before 
 Gillett thew a slicker on them and trod them 
 out, I saw Weekes lying on his back with a 
 great red splash upon his face. Then there 
 was darkness. 
 
 " My God! " said Habersham. He too had 
 seen w^hat I saw. 
 
 " You're too late, Habersham," said 
 Gillett coolly. I saw Habersham's figure 
 waver against the outer light of the stars. 
 
 " I — I meant to kill him," he said in a 
 dreadful whisper. " And who's done it ? " 
 
 " I have," said GHlett. 
 
 I sat down on a keg by the hardware counter, 
 and as I did so Gillett lighted a match and 
 another lamp. Then I heard quick, light 
 footsteps outside, and Mrs. Habersham came 
 running. She saw no one but Gillett, and he 
 had his back turned. She thought he was 
 191 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Weekes. I knew she thought so, and was in 
 dread what she would say. She did not see 
 Habersham. If she spoke a word that would 
 have tallied with the slanders of the town 
 he would kill her. But she cried — 
 
 " Mr. Weekes, oh, sir " 
 
 And then she fainted dead away in her 
 husband's arms. These words had saved 
 her and saved him, and in his state of madness 
 they came, I felt, like cooling waters. For 
 they expressed the truth of her innocence, 
 if they said nothing as to the blamelessness 
 of the man whose body lay stretched upon 
 the floor. 
 
 " Good God !" said Ben Habersham, — " good 
 God ! " 
 
 He dropped his gun and held the poor 
 woman in his arms. 
 
 " Take her away before she comes to, 
 Ben," said Gillett. And Habersham carried 
 her outside. I followed him, and helped 
 him with her. But suddenly he said — 
 
 " Don't touch her." 
 
 He picked her up in his arms like a baby, 
 and almost ran up the solitary road. I 
 192 
 
AN EXILE FROM ''GOD'S COUNTRY" 
 
 wondered that there was no one about. They 
 must have come to the conclusion at the 
 American Saloon that I was crazy and not 
 to be taken notice of. I walked back into 
 the store. I couldn't understand how it 
 was that Weekes was dead. I had seen 
 Smith strike him with the butt of his "gun." 
 Who had fired the shot ? 
 
 Gillett was sitting on the dry goods counter, 
 swinging his heels and whistling. 
 
 " That was well played," said Gillett coolly. 
 " There will be peace in Painted Rock this 
 night." 
 
 Smith annexed a quarter cigar from a 
 box and salved his conscience by dropping 
 in a nickel. 
 
 " Who killed Weekes ? " I asked. 
 
 " Nobody killed him," said Gillett scorn- 
 fully. " I thought you tumbled to the 
 racket. He ain't dead. Smith downed him 
 with the butt, and I pulled off to give it 
 reality." 
 
 Weekes groaned. 
 
 " CaU that dead, eh ? " asked Gillett 
 callously. 
 
 N 193 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " But I saw a thundering lot of blood," 
 I said; " I'm sure I did." 
 
 " Tomayto ketchup only," said Ginger 
 Gillett. " I like finish. Tomayto ketchup, 
 nothing more ! " 
 
 Weekes sat up. He looked horrid. 
 
 194 
 
IX 
 
 THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 He was always known as Brazos Dick. Like 
 so many of the men in the West, and for the 
 matter of that the men in all other places, he 
 was for ever shooting off his mouth about the 
 glories of the place he had come from. He 
 said that the feed on the range at the 
 back of Ennis Creek was a fraud compared 
 with that on the Brazos River, especially on 
 the North Fork where he had been bom. He 
 was also of opinion that the horses in that 
 neighbourhood were away above any horses 
 raised within a hundred miles of the Colorado, 
 on which river Painted Rock stands. He 
 also said that no man's father came within 
 a thousand miles of his father either as a man 
 or a " buckero," which was his way of pro- 
 nouncing " vaquero." He also let on that 
 195 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 his father's son was a real daisy and knew all 
 there was to know about horses and steers, 
 but he did it all with such a delightful air of 
 confident innocence that no one took offence 
 or attempted to show him that he did not know 
 everything. He was a dear good chap, kind 
 to horses and dogs, and to all men who weighed 
 less than himself. They were numerous, as 
 he scaled two hundred and twenty pounds 
 without his long boots and his mesquite 
 leggings and his " gun," which was equal to 
 any gun ever " pupped." He became a 
 friend of mine, and developed an extraordinary 
 curiosity about other places than the Rio 
 Brazos which led to certain out-of-the-way 
 events in the life of any ordinary cowboy. 
 He asked questions all day long when we were 
 together. When we were apart he apparently 
 spent his time thinking what he should ask 
 me next. The following is a fair example of 
 what happened each time we met. 
 
 " Say, Charlie, youVe never bin in Cali- 
 fornia, hev you ? " 
 
 I had been in the Golden State, and said so. 
 
 " Do you reckon to like it ? " 
 196 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 " Oh, it's all right." 
 
 " Tell us all about it, Charlie. What's 
 wages like thar ? Tain't all wheat, is it ? 
 Is San Francisco any sort of a town ? Would 
 I like it ? Was you ever to Sacramento ? 
 I've heard that Sacramento is as hot as Yuma. 
 Is it ? Is there many cowboys in the State ? 
 I'd admire for you to tell me about California. 
 For an Englishman I must say that you're 
 death on travel and hev seen some. Go 
 ahead, old son." 
 
 Another day he would rope me in to tell 
 him all that there was to be told about British 
 Columbia. 
 
 " I'd hev gone thar, Charlie, if it hedn't bin 
 British. Thar ain't no true freedom where 
 your flag flies. Is it true they'd hang me if 
 I killed a man fair that I hated and hed sent 
 word to that I'd shoot on sight ? " 
 
 " It's mighty likely, Dick." 
 
 He shook his head with great disgust. 
 
 '* I call that a hell of a country," said Dick. 
 
 " Now tell us more about your town, London. 
 
 Did you say that it would reach hayf way 
 
 from thishyer ranch to Painted Rock, and is 
 
 197 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 there more folks in it than in the hull o' Texas ? 
 Oh, I say, it must be a place that ! Though it 
 is British Fd admire to see it. Is it a gay 
 place ? Gayer than San Antone ? B'gosh 
 I'd admire to see it, so I would." 
 
 He was never tired of talking about places 
 that he had never seen. He differed from the 
 average Western American of the stay-at- 
 home variety in not believing that what he 
 had not seen was not worth seeing. But he 
 owned that he found it a little humiliating to 
 have to come to an Englishman for informa- 
 tion about Missouri and Oregon and Washington 
 Territory. 
 
 " It ain't the same thing askin* you for 
 pointers about your own country," he said 
 very kindly. " It ain't up agin me any that 
 my stock of knowledge about London and 
 England is scanty to a painful degree, but I 
 own it smites me hard that you know nigh on 
 to all the States in the Union and all I know 
 is somethin' of the Texas Panhandle, with a 
 few tangled memories of a jamboree in San 
 Antone and Fort Worth. I tell you, Charlie, 
 Fm death on hittin' the road and seein' things. 
 198 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 If my pore ole father ever kicks I've made up 
 my mind to pull my freight out of this and 
 travel. Tell me how much it would take for 
 me to cross the seas and see London. I'm 
 death on seein' London. Lord, hayf the way 
 from yer to Painted Rock and houses all the 
 way ! " 
 
 Whenever he came into Painted Rock he 
 let on that he was pining in the sorest way to 
 see London, until the boys began to call him 
 " London " instead of " Brazos." He didn't 
 mind it in the least, for he was the best- 
 tempered boy between the Arkansaw River 
 and the Rio Grande. 
 
 " Shoot off your mouths," said Dick, " but 
 you will be mad when I come back and tell 
 you about the biggest City in the world that 
 ole N'York ain't so much as a patch on. If 
 N'York was as big as London the galoots from 
 the East would be too big for their boots. I 
 ain't stuck on men from the East, and it is 
 pie to me to think that their demed ole city 
 ain't as big as the one they hev over in England. 
 It ain't that I like Englishmen much, though 
 Charlie here is all hunky in his own way, but 
 199 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 I'm down on them that comes from the East, 
 I'm down on 'em every time. So's Mr. 
 Pillsbury, and so's Keno Gedge, and Ginger 
 Gillett lets on he fair despises 'em. What's 
 poison to a man like Gillett gives me in- 
 digestion." 
 
 Nobody paid any attention to Dick's 
 avowed intention of visiting England. They 
 didn't believe him. England was a long waj^ 
 off, and nothing to brag about anyhow. 
 Everyone knew that. Pillsbury the gambler 
 voiced the general opinion. 
 
 " What good men are left in that kentry 
 keep on comin' away," said Pillsbury. " Stat- 
 istics prove it. And the makin' of the United 
 States was the loss of England, and we bein' 
 made the remainder ain't worth seein'. And, 
 moreover, I despise Yeurope, all Yeurope. 
 There they sits in their little kentries, each 
 howlin' he's the boss of the Universe, like 
 rival roosters on dung piles, and here we sits 
 lookin' at 'em and smilin', and knowin that 
 we could whip the lot one-handed. Oh, give 
 us a rest about England and London, Dick, 
 do give us a rest." 
 
 200 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 Dick gave them all a rest. But he didn't 
 give it me. By the end of the year he knew 
 as much about gettin' to " Yeurope " cheaply 
 as I did. 
 
 " I ain't goin' by way of N'York," said 
 Dick. " When the old man pulls his freight 
 for another world,— -and he says, poor ole Dad, 
 that he's only waiting for the word ' Gee ' to 
 make a move,— I'll fix up with Sam Smith 
 to run my place, and I'll hit the road for Noo 
 Orl'ans and get aboard for England. If I 
 hit N'York first I'm sadly afraid I'll stick 
 there like as if I was in a sloo. There's a 
 powerful draw in a big city, so there is. Now 
 San Ant one " 
 
 A month afterwards I was riding on the 
 prairie by Wolf Creek, where the road from 
 Snyder comes into town, and I saw Dick in 
 the distance. He was clad in his best clothes 
 and mesquite leggings, and had a new necktie 
 on, a blazing red one with black spots on it, 
 and wore a new cow-hat. When he saw me he 
 let a yell out of him and came loping up 
 joyfully. 
 
 ''What luck!" said Brazos, "what luck! 
 
 201 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 I'm glad to see you, my son, for Fm off this 
 day for London ! " 
 
 He sat upright in the saddle, and smiled 
 bravely at me. Certainly he was a fine 
 handsome boy. But I had not heard of old 
 Dick's " pulling his freight " for another 
 world. I said so. 
 
 " Oh," said Dick, " you didn't hear of it ! 
 Poor old Paw went off ten days ago. He 
 went out with all his load very easy : smiled 
 at me, he did, and said he'd hed a good life 
 of it, takin' it all round ; and he said, more- 
 over, that I'd bin a good son to him (which 
 ain't in the least trew, but it pleased me to 
 hev him let on thataway), and that he was 
 goin' home to Maw, who died when I was a 
 year old. And so he died." 
 
 There was a tear in his eye as he spoke, 
 but he brushed it away, pretending that it 
 was a fly. 
 
 " But you ain't in any sort of mourning, 
 Dick," I ventured to say. 
 
 *' Oh," he replied blankly enough, " ain't 
 I ? I tho't the black spots on the neckerchief 
 was moumin'. I wanted to sport one without 
 
 202 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 spots, but I said ' no ' to myself, ' not till 
 you're well away from home.' " 
 
 I said that perhaps the black spots were 
 enough, and he cheered up. We rode back 
 to Painted Rock together. 
 
 " You come to the deep6 on the quiet 
 when the next East-bound express rolls 
 threw," said Dick, " and say good-bye to me. 
 I feel some shook up, and partial skeered at 
 the notion of seein' England, but I'm bound 
 to do it." 
 
 He was bound to try to do it, at any rate, 
 for he started on the next express, without 
 a soul knowing he was gone but myself. I 
 told the boys that night, and Pillsbury shook 
 his head. 
 
 " Fort Worth will slake his ardour and get 
 his money," said the gambler. " At the very 
 farthest Noo Orl'ans will see him and go one 
 better. Brazos Dick will be crawlin' back 
 hyar in about a week, beatin' his way along 
 the T.P." 
 
 But for two months not a word was heard 
 of Dick. I began to think that he had per- 
 haps got through the entanglements of " Noo 
 203 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Orrans," and was really in London. I sighed 
 to think of Piccadilly and Fleet Street and 
 Charing Cross. I saw the crowds and heard 
 the perpetual thunder of the traffic, and 
 remembered many old friends by whom I was 
 half forgotten. I cursed poor Brazos Dick 
 for making me feel that I was in exile on the 
 high plateaus of north-west Texas. 
 
 Then I went one day to Sweetwater on 
 business, and caught by the skin of my teeth 
 the late express back to Painted Rock. As 
 I went into the dimly-lighted smoker I looked 
 around me for any acquaintance, and the 
 very first person I set eyes on was Brazos 
 Dick. But the boy was fast asleep, with his 
 long legs outstretched on the opposite seat 
 as far as the uncomfortable carriage would 
 let them go. I sat down by Brazos, wondering 
 if he had really been to London. I looked 
 up into the rack overhead and saw, instead 
 of his cow-hat, a bowler ! In its ribbon was 
 the conductor's slip for the ticket. I took it 
 down, and inside it I read " London. Extra 
 Quality ! " The boy had done it then. He 
 had been to my little town and had seen the 
 204 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 wheels go round, without a doubt. I wondered 
 what he had seen, what he had done. And 
 yet, after all, what could a mere wild Western 
 cowboy have seen or done in a fortnight in 
 England ? When I said that I forgot how 
 much had sometimes happened to myself in 
 a few days. I remembered and sighed. Then 
 Brazos sighed and yawned and woke up. 
 
 " What, Charlie ! " he said as he uncoiled. 
 
 " Brazos, old man," said I. We shook 
 hands. 
 
 " You got there, Dick ? " 
 
 " You bet. I got there ! " 
 
 " Like it ? " 
 
 " Oh, blazes ! can I tell ? I'm glad to be 
 back. Say, tell me is this Texas, old man ? 
 Is there such a place ? I'd admire to hear 
 there's a kentry called the Panhandle ! Did 
 any son of a gun ever mention the River 
 Brazos to you ? " 
 
 " You've had a time ? " 
 
 Brazos sighed. 
 
 " Amazin' ! " 
 
 " Good ? " 
 
 " Sir, there ain't words " 
 
 205 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " ReaUy ? " 
 
 " Wonderful. Charlie, I'm speechless. I 
 seen your town, Charlie ! " 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " Made me feel like a kid." 
 
 "Tell us!" said I. "D'ye know Pic- 
 cadilly ? " 
 
 " I began thar," he whispered. " Oh, I 
 had a holy terror of a time. Piccadilly ! I 
 should smile. And Pall Mall and the Strand 
 and Oxford Street ! I admire. I tho't I 
 knew somethin', Charlie, I did ! And me 
 green as spring on the range. Me know 
 any thin* ! " 
 
 " Tell me what happened ? " 
 
 Could any Londoner, any man born in 
 London, and for years subdued to its en- 
 chantments, be otherwise than crazy to hear 
 what this big child had done there ? 
 
 " Wait," said Brazos. " I'll hev to tell 
 the boys. We ain't far from Painted Rock. 
 We'll go to the American House and I'll stand 
 up and say to them, ' Hev a liquor with me, a 
 kid as used to know nothin' and now knows 
 he's green ez grass.' Wait." 
 206 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 He was full of everything, and yet couldn't 
 speak. I could see that. He needed a little 
 oil ; just a cocktail, or something equivalent, 
 to set him free. But I let him hold his tongue. 
 We were near the Rock. Presently we 
 reached it. He took his grip-sack and got out. 
 The dep6t was dark enough, — not a soul 
 spotted him in his bowler. We walked up 
 town together. 
 
 " Painted Rock," said Brazos, " Painted 
 Rock, a little one-hoss collection of shanties in 
 a perairie ! London, oh, my ! " 
 
 We walked into the American House and 
 found the usual gang there, Pillsbury and 
 Gedge, and Gillett the City Marshal, taking a 
 drink. 
 
 '' What ho ! " said Pillsbury, " here's our 
 pilgrim from Noo Orl'ans kem back again ! 
 What did I say, boys ? I told you that Noo 
 Orl'ans would ketch holt of young Dick, if he 
 got so far. Did you, Brazos ? " 
 
 " I did, Mr. Pillsbury," said Brazos calmly. 
 " Like it ? Was the gals daisies ? " asked 
 Gillett. 
 
 " I never seen one of 'em," replied Brazos. 
 207 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 '* Gentlemen, step up and breast the bar and 
 drink with me. I'm glad to be back ! " 
 
 There was something in Brazos that struck 
 them all. He certainly wasn't so young. He 
 spoke with an air. Something of his ancient 
 ingenuous look had disappeared. The men 
 knew he was one of them. 
 
 " We wm/' said they. 
 
 " Here's to Texas and to you, gentlemen," 
 said Brazos, " and to London Town ! " 
 
 " Eh ? " said PHlsbury. 
 
 " London Town; London in England," said 
 Brazos. 
 
 " You Ve bin thar ? " 
 
 *' Yep," said Brazos. 
 
 " Straight ? " 
 
 " As a straight flush,'* said Brazos. 
 
 They stared at him. 
 
 " You don't say ! Why, you ain't bin 
 gone six weeks ! " 
 
 *' Eight," said Brazos. " Six weeks at sea, 
 one in London, and one away in the perairies 
 and mountings in the no'th of England. 
 Boys, it's a town ! Boys, it's a kentry ! " 
 
 The news went around. In twenty 
 208 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 minutes, nay, in ten, the bar-room was as full 
 as if there had been a killing there an hour 
 before. 
 
 " Tell us ! " they said. " D'ye mean to 
 
 say 
 
 " Oh, I mean it ! " 
 
 They appealed to me. 
 
 " You know London, Charlie. Is it a 
 straight game Brazos is playin' with us ? " 
 
 I said it was as straight as any game ever 
 played. I took his hat and showed them. 
 They sighed and turned again to Dick. 
 
 " Tell us, Dick." 
 
 " Yes, do," said I. " Give Dick a chance, 
 boys. Don't smother the weary wanderer." 
 
 " Get on the table, Dick," said the bar-keep. 
 
 " Good word," cried Pillsbury. " Give 
 Dick a chair. Boys, Mr. Dick of the Rio 
 Brazos will lecksher on that haunt of tyrants, 
 Britain ! " 
 
 The room hummed applause. And Dick, 
 in spite of his remonstrances, was hoisted on 
 the table. 
 
 " We stand the leckshurer drinks," said 
 Pillsbury. Dick drank and took a seat, 
 o 209 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Give it lip ! We'd admire to hear," said 
 many. 
 
 "Hold your row!" said others. "Oh, 
 shut your mouths and give Dick's a show ! 
 Speak up, Dick." 
 
 And Dick spoke up. 
 
 " I said I'd go, and go I did. Mr. Pillsbury 
 here allowed I'd get bogged down in Fort 
 Worth or Noo Or'lans, but I didn't. Charlie 
 here gave me the straight racket, and to add to 
 my luck I run across a sea-captain in the cars 
 near Noo Orl'ans as got into a difficulty with 
 a tough in the cars, and, as he said, bein' a 
 stranger in a far ken try he didn't know how 
 to handle toughs. I walked in and choked that 
 tough good, and me and the conductor booted 
 him off' n the cars, and thishyer sea-captain was 
 much obliged. And he said (his name was 
 Daniel Tuckett of the steamship Liverpool 
 Belle), ' You want to go to London, do you ? 
 Well, you come along o' me and I'll plant you 
 in London River for a little over four bits a 
 day ' (half a crown he called it), ' and we'll be 
 goin' about three weeks, and for a friend in 
 need like you I'll do it for less.' And he done 
 
 210 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 it, for he charged me ten dollars all the way, 
 and the grub was throwed in, not to say it was 
 good, but they had no better. And so I went 
 to sea with him, and the first thing I knew was 
 that I couldn't eat, and it alarmed me caun- 
 siderable. I said to the captain — ' I cayn't 
 eat. It's the first time this hez occurred.' 
 Says he, ' Bimeby, in about half an hour, 
 you'll be doin' much worse than not eat.* 
 * Why ? ' says I. ' It's sea-sickness comin' on 
 you,' says he. ' I never heerd of it,' I tells 
 him. He replies, ' Then it'll surprise you all 
 the more.' And it did. I wuz that sick for 
 three days there's no tellin' about it. It's 
 worse a deal than too much liquor, for that 
 comes to an end in time, and this seems a fair 
 stayer and no fatal error. However, bimeby 
 I gets over it and feels very good, and gets out 
 on deck and fell about some, the boat bein* 
 unsteady, and the sea like a rollin' perairie, 
 and very uninterestin', as I told the captain. 
 And he says the sea's always thataway or too 
 interestin', and he tells me a fair horrid yarn 
 about a wreck. I disremember all the details, 
 but I remember they scared me some. And so 
 
 211 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 we goes on, and after a thousand years, boys, 
 we sees a light, and he says; ' That's the 
 Lizard.' ' What Lizard ? ' I asked, and he 
 laughed some and said it was the tail of 
 England ; and so we sails along up a place called 
 the Channel, though I seen only parts of one 
 side to it, and at nights there was towns strung 
 all along like lighted cars, very handsome to 
 see. And we got around a corner with more 
 lights, and into a river. He tells me, ' This is 
 the finest river in the world,' and I didn't 
 contradict him none, though I tho't of the 
 Brazos and my own home perairies. And 
 the green grass was curious to see. And then 
 we seen millions of steamboats and ships, and 
 smoke ahead like a perairie fire. And I asked 
 Tuckett where the fire was, and he said it was 
 London. It made me sad to think I'd come 
 so far to find her burnt up, and when I said 
 so he sat down and nearly died. It appears, 
 boys, they burns coal in London town all the 
 year in several million fireplaces, and don't 
 see the sun ever in consequence. And then the 
 river narrowed and there was more houses, and 
 then so thick no green could be seen any- 
 
 212 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 where, and then more, and it was London. 
 And Tuckett takes my ten dollars and says if 
 I wants to go back in a month he can take me, 
 and if in less a friend of his w^ill, and he gives 
 me the address of a hotel, but I didn't go to 
 it. I went to one Charlie here told me of, near 
 the Strand. But I thanked old Tuckett all 
 the same, for he was a good sort. And I got 
 into a kaib, a kind of London buggy, and we 
 drives seventeen thousand miles, more or less, 
 through streets, and at last comes to a narrow 
 sort of caiion where my house is. And I gets 
 a room there, and the gal that showed it to 
 me smiled and says, ' You're an American, 
 ain't you ? ' I didn't deny it, but how she 
 knew so quick beat me. And my trouble 
 begun that very night, boys. And now I'll 
 hev another drink." 
 
 " What'll you take ? " asked Keno Gedge, 
 who was very much interested in spite of 
 the fact that gambling had no show that 
 night. 
 
 " B'urbon, sir," said Dick. He drank and 
 began again. 
 
 " Well, gentlemen, soon as I was fixed up, 
 213 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 I took my gun, which I hedn't carried on 
 board the ship, and loaded her and shoved 
 her in my hip-pocket, and out I goes. It was 
 nigh on to nine o'clock then, and the clurk 
 in the office seeing me going out, says, * Don't 
 lose your way, sir,' and I says, 'D'ye think 
 I'm a tender-foot, sonny ? ' But I forgave him. 
 I went into the Strand, and sure enough I 
 knew I was a tender-foot. Charlie here useter 
 let on about the Strand and moan over it 
 some, sayin* that Painted Rock was dull to 
 it in spite of occasional gunning matches : 
 I tell you here, Charlie was right. It was 
 gay and lighted and busy as if the hull world 
 was there. And ladies came up and spoke 
 to me kindly, saying they could see I was a 
 stranger, and I said, * Not so strange ez that, 
 ma'am,* and I bowed myself off and wandered 
 threw Trafalgar Square, very hunky with 
 fountains and a monument to some English- 
 man that fought in the wars. It was a real 
 gay old monument, with lions to it handsome 
 as paint, but not like any I ever see in books, 
 and certainly not like our ' cougars.' And 
 ez I went several strangers spoke to me, 
 214 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 saying they see I was strange ; and I put *em 
 off, for I reckoned to hev heard of bunco- 
 steerers before then, and I got along up to a 
 Circus — the Circus of Piccadilly. This was 
 gay as a festival, and the number of buggies 
 and omnibuses was tremenjus. I tried to 
 cross the street three times, and each time 
 went back agin ; and then at last a big police 
 officer led me across like a little child, and he 
 said, ' You're an American ? ' I said, ' Howdy 
 know ? but I am. Kin you come and hev 
 a drink ? ' But he said he couldn't, but he'd 
 no objection to drink my health later. So 
 I said I'd do the same to him later, and went 
 aw^ay. And from w^hat I learnt afterwards 
 I reckon he reckoned to be donated two bits 
 to do it with, but I didn't know. And then 
 I see a place where they says ' Amer'can 
 drinks.' I hez one, and I tells the bar-keep that 
 they wuz doubtless drinks, but I warn't sure 
 they wuz Amer'can. He surprised me some 
 by sayin', ' They cajm't be as Amer'can ez 
 you, my son, for I own what I mix cayn't 
 be known to kem from Arizona a mile off.' 
 And I owned that he hed me thar, though it 
 215 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 was Texas I originated in. It appeared he 
 was an Amer'can, and we talked a bit, and he 
 told me hayf the men in the bar-room was 
 the worst sort. And I went out later and 
 wandered here and thar and ever5rvvhere, 
 and finding it mighty lonely, though as full 
 of interest as any dime novel, boys. But 
 I begun to feel as if I hed to hev someone to 
 speak to or bust, and that skeered me some, 
 for ez a stranger in a great city at night I 
 feared I'd fall into bad company. And 
 perhaps my lookin' s'if I was from Texas 
 made folks speak to me. And you see, boys, 
 I'm tall and big, and there wuz few bigger on 
 the street than me. And my cow-hat seemed 
 to excite cur'osity. And then about this 
 time the streets was plumb full, a regular 
 jam of gals and gentlemen — fellers in a rig-out 
 I'd never seen beef ore, mostly shirt-front and 
 studs, cur'ous to see, but what for I didn't 
 tumble to. The street was thick with the 
 London buggies, queer concerns with a man 
 on top at the back of 'em, with his lines 
 goin' over the front, the derndest arrange- 
 ment I ever heerd of. And there was trouble 
 216 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 for me comin' along, and I never knew it. 
 My cur'osity was too big to allow me to fall 
 a victim to wiles, gentlemen, but I'd never 
 been in a crowd beefore bigger than a crowd 
 in Painted Rock at an election or a fight, 
 and presently I run into a man as big as my- 
 self, him in the white-shirt arrangement beefore 
 spoken of, and it appears I trod on his toes, 
 and he swears some. So I says I was sorry; 
 and so I was, for I'm heavy, boys, and my 
 foot ain't a number three by no means. But 
 he was a gentleman and no mistake, and says, 
 * All right, my son,' or words to thet effec*, 
 and we parts. And yet hayf an hour later 
 the terms him and me wuz on would surprise 
 you. And as to where we wuz and who he 
 wuz, I leave you to guess while I hez another 
 drink." 
 
 " Who was he, Dick ? " asked the crowd 
 anxiously. 
 
 " And where did you get to ? " 
 " And did you and him get friends ? " 
 " We done so," said Dick, \nping his 
 lips with a silk handkerchief. I saw some- 
 thing in the corner of that handkerchief 
 217 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 which gSive me a surprise. It was a 
 coronet. 
 
 " We done so," repeated Dick. " But I'm 
 running ahead of the team. I walked along 
 considerin' what a dern cur'ous world it was ; 
 thinkin' that this hed bin goin' on ever since 
 I knew Texas, every night so to speak, and 
 me thinkin' Fort Worth was the crowdest 
 place on earth. And I tho't of some you hyar 
 gentlemen, some of the youngest ez lets on 
 they knows everythin'. And I remember 
 Charlie lookin' at some of you very peaceful 
 and contented when you allowed he was 
 green because he didn't know somethin' as 
 you did. And I says, ' Dick, my son, it's 
 possible some folks in Texas is as green as 
 grass after all.' And the tho't of them as I 
 knowed was green struck me powerful, and I 
 laffed. And I goes into a back street, called, 
 I think, Jackville Street, with few folks in it, 
 and I yells, I fair yells, boys. Tain't no good 
 deny in* it, I saw I was green. And just then 
 the same son of a gun as I'd trod the foot 
 off of turns up Jackville Street, Picc'dilly, and 
 paysses me. And jus' then I hears a scream 
 218 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 further up the street, and I opens the flaps of 
 my ears at this. So did the White-Shirt. I 
 makes three strides and paysses him, and 
 further up in a doorway I sees three big galoots 
 hed a gal in a doorway, and her cryin', and 
 one big brute hammerin' her. And White- 
 Shirt he sees me payss and kems alongside 
 again, and he says, ' Bullies,' and I says, ' To 
 be sewer.' ' We'll down 'em.' says he, and 
 I lets on I'm his sort. And we goes for the 
 three, and beefore I knew it there was four ; and 
 White-Shirt and me was havin' the time of 
 our lives. I downs one joker and one other 
 downs me. And then there was five of 'em 
 somehow. They sprang up like feed after 
 rain in spring, boys. But White-Shirt was 
 gay and tough, and he fair massacreed one 
 tough with one blow, and again there was 
 four. And one downs me again, and I got 
 fair mad and got up again and I pulls my 
 gun. And White-Shirt, who to all appeerance 
 had eyes in the back of his head, says, ' Don't 
 shoot, sonny, give him the butt ; ' and I give 
 it my joker, and the sight I made of him would 
 have done you all good to see. So then 
 219 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 there was only three again; and White-Shirt 
 plugs another, and he upended and investigated 
 the material of the side-walk with the back 
 of his head, and then there was two. And 
 now to them two was added about three 
 hundred women, and five hundred chaps in 
 white shirts, and a thousand police, and me 
 and one of the remaining gang went waltzing 
 through 'em, and my own big White-Shirt 
 he had the other. And I lands mine again 
 and again with the butt, and then I got that 
 mad I said to myself I'd shoot and kill. And 
 I shot, but didn't kill, for White-Shirt did 
 up his man and knocked up my arm 
 as my gun went off into the air. And we 
 all went down in a heap, us and the 
 thousand police as they calls the bulls. And 
 I owns I knows no more, for they squeezed 
 the life out of me, tons of 'em. And when I 
 came to, I and Wliite-Shirt was bein' led 
 gently up steps in a dark court, and so far's 
 I reklec' we had an interview with a very 
 fierce w^hite-head old jayhawk at a table, and 
 I hears WTiite-Shirt say very angry, ' If you 
 won't bail my friend out, I'll be demed if 
 
 220 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 you shall me/ And the old hawk says, ' Well, 
 my lord, if that's your decision we'll try to 
 make you all hunky till the mornin'. For 
 two of these men 'as their skulls fractured, 
 and your friend fired his gun and no fatal 
 error.' " 
 
 He asked for another drink. 
 
 " Was he a lord, then ? " asked the entire 
 crowd. 
 
 " He was," said Dick. " And I ain't goin* 
 to say he was much the worse for that. I 
 doubt if any man in Painted City could do 
 him up with his hands, if biting and gouging 
 was forbid. However, to resoom. I found 
 myself in the early dawn in a narrer room 
 without much accommodation to stretch in. 
 I was in the cooler, and I felt very cool and sad 
 to think whar I'd landed. However, the 
 bull brings me cawfee, which was all I could 
 take, and he grins at me s'if he was pleased. 
 And I asked him where the lord was. And 
 he said he was in the next room ; and he let 
 on that it was lucky for me the men we'd 
 killed (if we'd killed any, but he warn't sure) 
 was bad characters and known to the police ; 
 
 221 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 and he said, furthermore, that it was also 
 lucky my partner was Lord Cheviot, a gay 
 kind of a rooster, and very popular with 
 everybody. For it seems that the magistrates 
 are skeered to do very much to lords, because 
 they are so powerful. ' It's likely you'll be 
 all hunky,' says the officer. ' I wouldn't be 
 alarmed much, my son.' And I wasn't. 
 And at half after ten me and White-Shirt 
 was took out and presented to a nice old 
 gentleman with gold-rimmed spectacles on, 
 sitting high up. A policeman interduces us, 
 mentioning that we distinguished ourselves 
 the night before in Jackville Street. And the 
 old gent looked very stern, but I seemed to 
 see that White-Shirt knew him, and he says 
 to me, ' It's all right, my boy,' says White- 
 Shirt. And I says, ' Well, my lord, if it 
 ain't it cayn't be helped.' And then a 
 policeman let on that the Johnnies we'd gone 
 for w^uz in hawspital. ' What, all of 'em ? ' 
 asks the old gent. ' All, your reverence,' 
 says the officer. And the old boy caun- 
 gratulates Lord Cheviot on his record. And 
 my lord saj^s what happened, and the police 
 
 222 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 fetches in the gal they jokers was hammerin', 
 and she tells the trewth, with a black eye, 
 and sobbin', pore thing. And what they 
 done then I don't know, only that the old 
 gent says he will caunfiscate my gun. With 
 that I reemonstrates. ' Your reverence,* says 
 I, ' what '11 I do without my gun when I'm 
 back hum to Texas ? ' And he allows fewer 
 guns in Texas won't harm the State any. 
 So I reckon he'd bin here, though from the 
 look of him it didn't seem as if he'd ever 
 roamed the perairies. And out we goes, me 
 and the lord. The lord he done something 
 and signed something, and so did I, and it 
 seemed that if one of our victims finally 
 perished we wuz to come up and be fined five 
 shillings (which is a dollar and two bits) or 
 take a week in the chain-gang. Then we 
 goes out. And the lord says to me, * Now, my 
 son, you come along of me and tell me all 
 about it.' And I likes him and his ways (and 
 so would you if you'd seen him in the trouble), 
 and we took a kaib and drove to his rooms 
 in the further back parts of Picc'dilly. 
 
 " Waal, gentlemen, you may guess I was 
 223 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 sure some perplexed to know haow to handle 
 a lord, but it comforted me some to see that 
 he had a black eye just like any other" man. 
 Lords I'd heerd of in books, and knowin' I was 
 not in my owm kentry, it seemed to me that a 
 lord might be difficult, but this one was a 
 gentleman and no fatal error. He treated 
 me square, and seemed pleased to know me, 
 and he said that I'd handled those fellers 
 right. And when we came to his rooms, 
 which was in Hayf Moon Street, he said 
 'Shake,' and I shook, and we washed off the 
 blood in baths, and he loaned me a shirt, of 
 which I was in sore need. And he had a man 
 who bro't it to me and brushed me down very 
 civil, and as quiet s'if he brushed cowboys 
 from the Brazos every day, and presently he 
 says, 'Sir, breakfast is on the table.' And I 
 hed breakfast, of which I was in sore need. 
 And the lord said, * You're a daisy. Tell me 
 where you come from, and what you're doin' 
 here, for sure you saved my life, sonny.' 
 And I instructed him haow I came here, and 
 told him haow Charlie filled me up with London. 
 I asked him if he knew you, Charlie, but he 
 224 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 said he was sorry he didn't. Oh, he was very 
 poHte, though he cursed some at times. And 
 I told him all I knew, and then he said he'd 
 a raynch himself out in this kentry, some- 
 where up by the Staked Plain, and that he'd 
 offen meant to kem out and see it, but that 
 his raynches in the no'th of England took up 
 his time some ; and I asked him if the Queen's 
 Court occupied him any, for I reckoned to 
 know that lords hang around the Court ; and 
 he said he warn't stuck on the Court any, 
 and preferred bein' on his own raynch. 
 And, to cut the thing short, boys, he said, 
 * Dick, my boy, I like you, and ez you've 
 little time to spare, you'd better take my 
 man and see London, and in three days you 
 can kem with me to my lordship's ra5mch 
 in the no'th, and I'll show you some horses 
 and cattle,' and I said I would. Boys, it 
 was luck. For, what's more, he said my hotel 
 warn't any good, and as I was to be with him 
 he could give me a room in this Hayf Moon 
 Street ; and I said it was a dandy idea, and 
 fetched my grip-sack away. So there I was 
 all in with a duke, or a yearl, or a visscount, 
 P 225 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 for I read a book in his place which told the 
 
 names of lords. But final I found out he was 
 
 a yearl. So I called him * Yearl,' and he said 
 
 I'd better not for some reason, but that if I 
 
 liked I could call him * Cheviot,' or, if I was 
 
 any bashful. Lord Cheviot. But I reckoned 
 
 he didn't like bashful folks any, so I called 
 
 him Cheviot, and he called me Brazos, for 
 
 I'd informed him what the boys called me to 
 
 Painted Rock. And that night he said we'd 
 
 dine together, and he fixed me up with a 
 
 white-shirt suit same as himself, and I thought 
 
 no small pertaters of myself, though I didn't 
 
 understand it any ; and to my etarnal surprise 
 
 the same old magistrate that caunfiscated 
 
 my gun came to dinner with us at a mighty 
 
 dandy hash -house somewhere around. And 
 
 the magistrate was as kind an old boy as ever 
 
 I seen, and in spite of my noo soot he knew 
 
 me right away, and smiled, oh, he did smile, and 
 
 so did me and Cheviot. And I sot and told 
 
 'em all about Texas, boys, and about the ways 
 
 we hez of havin' difficulties, and about Ben 
 
 Thompson, and so forth, and he was some 
 
 surprised. And I said I tho't it wrong of him 
 
 226 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 to caunfiscate my gun, for I felt cold and 
 helpless and hopeless without it. And he said 
 it was his dooty, boys, but that he'd now a 
 better notion of Texas, and that he seed a 
 gun was one of the necessities of life in Texas, 
 and that his dooty didn't interfere none with 
 his presentin' me with one as a gift from a 
 friend. And I said if that was so I'd like a 
 forty -four Smith and Wesson. x\nd next 
 momin' he sent me one, a real daisy of a gun, 
 and here she is ! " 
 
 While he took another drink the boys looked 
 at Dick's new gun, and said she was all right 
 as a gun. And Pillsbury owned that he'd 
 considerable respect for that magistrate, who 
 was, he thought, a man. 
 
 " And when we'd finished hash pile," went 
 on Dick, "we went to a theayter, and saw a 
 show which made me laff caunsiderable ; but 
 what it was about I cayn't say, as we kem 
 in late and reetired early, and went to Cheviot's 
 Club, where he interduced me to more lords 
 and some men as was soldiers, but not in 
 gay attire jest then. And I sot among 'em, 
 being tol'rable full and gay, and told 'em 
 227 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 abaout Texas and Painted Rock ; and I men- 
 tioned most of you by name, especially you, 
 Mr. Pillsbury, and you, Mr. Gedge, and you 
 Mr. Gillett, and told 'em your deeds and 
 exploits, which caused great wonder and 
 excitement, and more chaps came araound, till 
 the room wuz nigh as full as this. And they 
 seemed caunsiderable pleased with me, boys, 
 though I say it, and several of 'em asked me 
 to come and see 'em. But when I'd accepted 
 some two score invitations to caystles, Cheviot 
 let on that I was comin' no'th with him, and 
 I said they would excuse me, and they laffed 
 some, but said I was to please myself and 
 Cheviot. And Cheviot previous had related 
 all that occurred in Jackville Street, and how 
 he came to own that black eye. And they 
 fair made me blush with what they said. I 
 cayn't relate it all. And about two o'clock 
 me and Cheviot retired to our shack in Moon 
 Street, and I slept some and no fatal error. 
 " Next day, boys, Cheviot's man took me 
 araound to the Tower, and to some big churches ; 
 but the Tower fetched me most, for it was full 
 of ancient weepons and steel fixin's to wear 
 228 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 in wars. And at last I says to the man, 
 * Sonny, let us let up on these side-shows, for 
 I'm weary unto death.* For the autumn 
 round-up and all its doin's ain't hayf so 
 fatiguin' as seein' London, and I beg you, boys, 
 to remember it. And the day after that 
 Cheviot, seein' I was some fatigued, said we'd 
 go to Cheviot Caystle, and we took the cars and 
 travelled nigh on to ten hours, and kem to his 
 old fort, which was wonderful. In my trunk 
 down to the deep6t I've pictures of it, and I'll 
 show 'em ter-morrer. They give me a room 
 the size of a cattle corral, and a bed whar it 
 took me all my time to find myself when I 
 woke in the mornin' ; and there was hundreds 
 of servants, and I'd a man given me to look 
 after my things, which was mostly my gun 
 and a tooth-brush, for I reckons to travel with 
 little more. And then Cheviot showed me his 
 horses. Boys, I tho't that the River Brazos 
 horses was the last word of Prov'dence, but I 
 now thinks different. I don't hanker to rise 
 envy and jealousy in your bosoms, but Cheviot 
 had horses you could shave at so bright they 
 shone. They was big and fine, and oh, boys, I 
 229 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 did hanker to own 'em. I said to Cheviot, 
 ' Waal, Cheviot, some would envy you this 
 great caystle, and some would pine to be a 
 yearl, but all I says is that if folks offered me 
 horses of this stamp in exchange for my 
 immortal soul I'd be horrid scared to face the 
 awful choice/ And he laffed, and said I could 
 any rate ride one if I liked, and that he'd one 
 no man could ride if I'd like to try him. And 
 me bein' a real broncho buster, as you boys 
 know, I reduced that haughty animal to 
 miserable subjection in twenty minutes by the 
 golden hands of his clock in the stables. And 
 the stablemen and grooms who'd grinned to 
 see me tackle the broncho was some surprised. 
 And then it appeared that there was a lot of 
 ladies comin', and they fazed me a deal more 
 than any untamed, fiery mustang ; but Cheviot, 
 who was some cynical, cheered me up by 
 sayin' horses and womenfolk was all the same 
 all the world over, and that I needn't be 
 scared. So I bucked up, and when a duchess 
 asked me how I was, I said, ' Quite hunky, 
 Duchess,' and she looked some surprised at 
 something, but what it was I couldn't say. 
 230 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 And then a countess tackled me, and I didn't 
 know who she was. So I says, " Are you a 
 duchess, or a yearl, or what, ma'am ? ' and 
 she let on she was a countess. All you've 
 got to know in tackling folks like this is to know 
 how to name them, and your trouble's over. 
 'Tain't like it is in Texas, where ' ma'am ' will 
 serve the lot, from the President's wife down 
 to the poorest. But I reckon now to know 
 who's who in these aristocratic gangs, and the 
 girls was very pleasant, and some of them daisies 
 to look at. I got mighty popular, for there 
 warn't no one I warn't friends with, and the 
 men was pleased to hear about Texas. They 
 evidently pined for Texas. I noted that all 
 through. It's common talk to run down 
 Englishmen in Texas, boys, but ' Texas ' is 
 all in their minds ; they hanker to be free and 
 ride our perairies . They envy us the gay life we 
 lead, and I see this even while I pined for 
 things they hed. And there was one Lady 
 Caroline Cheviot that I commenced to pine for 
 heavily, and she took to me some, and we sot 
 by each other at dinner, and she helped me out 
 with my difficulties with the hash, — for there 
 231 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 are difficulties with the hash, boys, — and she 
 consoled me by sayin' that any one of the men 
 there would be just as much a tender-foot in 
 Texas ; and I said, ' You bet, Lady Caroline. 
 I could teach 'em something thar/ And I 
 yearned to be rich and a lord (I own it, boys, 
 and there ain*t no need to laff), for I wanted to 
 say to her, ' Be mine,' and I darn't. And 
 next day I goes to Cheviot and tells him all 
 about it. 'I see the difficulties, Cheviot,' I 
 says, and he owns there was difficulties. And 
 it appears the chief difficulty was that the 
 pore gal had to marry a duke from somewhere, 
 and Cheviot owned the duke was a no good 
 galoot. But, as he said, the gal had payssed 
 her word, and there warn't no good thinkin' of 
 it. So I tho't as little of it as I could, and I 
 might hev stayed a while longer if it hadn't 
 bin' that the first ole duchess that spoke to me 
 took a horrid fancy to me. She was all 
 clothes and paint and powder, so that no man 
 ever saw the real duchess but only the faked 
 outside. And one night she took me by the 
 hand, she bein' very old, and said she thought 
 I was the nicest young man she ever see, and 
 232 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 I draws my hand away sudden and flies to 
 Cheviot. Now Cheviot saw at once I was disg- 
 nuntled, and he asked me what was wrong, 
 and after caunsiderable pressure on his side, for 
 I hated to give a duchess away, I told him the 
 trewth, and he said I'd better fly, for she was 
 very haughty and caunsiderable experienced, 
 and much given to havin' her own way ; which 
 he said was very usual with duchesses, especially 
 when they was dowagers, which is a kind or 
 specie of duchess. And so I packed up my 
 gun and my tooth-brush and returned him his 
 white-shirt soot. But that he wouldn't hear 
 of. He presented it to me, and said I'd oblige 
 him if I'd take it, and with it another gun ; and 
 I took 'em. And then Cheviot said I'd 
 always be welcome at his caystle, and that next 
 time he'd see the duchess was engaged else- 
 where. And we shook and parted ; and as I 
 was goin' he gave me a letter to the super- 
 intendent of his raynch up to the Staked 
 Plain, which said that he was to give me the 
 ch'ice of all horses on the raynch except the 
 superintendent's own. And that letter's in my 
 pocket, and I reckon to show it on that raynch 
 233 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 shortly. And then I fled back to London, and 
 took the boat run by old Tuckett's friend, 
 and then back to Noo Orl'ans and so on to 
 here, boys. And though I hed a good 
 time and a surprisin* time, I'm glad to be 
 back with you all. For it's easier to get 
 on hyar than among duchesses, and I own 
 it." 
 
 Pillsbury took the word, and spoke with 
 dignity. 
 
 " Gentlemen," he said, " if some I know had 
 reelated these surprisin' adventures to us I 
 should hev said they lied, but I reckon that 
 the modest way in which our friend Brazos 
 Dick hez reelated them caunvinces us all of 
 their trewth. Dick, my son, get off of the 
 table and take a drink with me." 
 
 And Dick got off the table blushing with 
 pleasure. 
 
 Then Ginger Gillett intervened. 
 
 " But there's a diff' culty in my mind, 
 Pillsbury," he said. " Dick here says he was 
 bailed out to answer to the charge of more or 
 less killin' some men in a certain Jackville 
 Street. Ain't that so ? " 
 234 
 
THE TALE OF BRAZOS DICK 
 
 " That's so," said Pillsbury. He turned to 
 Dick. 
 
 " Cheviot told me not to pay no attention to 
 that," said Dick. " He said he would pay up 
 if need be. And, moreover, the magistrate said 
 it was all hunky, and that he grieved caun- 
 siderable that me and Cheviot hadn't killed the 
 lot." 
 
 " That alters the case, I own," said Gillett. 
 " If the magistrate said that, and after all 
 he gave you another gun, why, it's evident he 
 approved. Here's to you, Dick, my boy." 
 
 We all drank to Dick. 
 
 235 
 
X 
 
 A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE 
 MOUNTAIN 
 
 Old Bill Higginson had the reputation of 
 being very sudden, and there isn't the least 
 doubt that he was sudden. He would be 
 as sweet and mild as a southerly breeze in 
 spring when the prairie begins to show what 
 it can do in the way of flowers, and before 
 any man could find out the shadow of a reason 
 he was as bitter as a March norther with all 
 his kindness curdled. In such cases he was 
 apt to pull a gun on anyone, and it was only 
 the fact that he was old, and as white-headed 
 as young cotton, that he was not killed once 
 a day at least. 
 
 Old Bill Hved with his wife and daughter 
 on a feeder of Double Mountain Creek, in 
 the north-west of Texas. 
 237 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " A bewtiful country, suh," said Old Bill 
 when he was good-tempered and things well, 
 " a bewtiful country, and the feed is just 
 right. My steers is fat, and water's plenty. 
 I'm a happy and contented man, suh. I ask 
 nothin' of Prov'dence, I ask nothin' of no man, 
 but am ready to give to all. That's me, suh." 
 
 He dressed in an antique black frock-coat, 
 and wore a Panama hat. Both dated " from 
 befo* the wah, suh ! " there was no mistake 
 about that. He rode about the ranges and 
 the prairie on an ancient broncho, not quite 
 so antique as his clothes, but so antique that 
 the cowboys said the "pinto" had been in 
 the ark. 
 
 " He was a fine animal," Old Bill said with 
 a heavenly smile, when things went well. 
 ''You mayn't believe it, suh, but that pony 
 I've refused two hundred dollahs for." 
 
 But when Bill was in trouble, when his 
 temper got out of gear, he was a different man. 
 
 " Suh, this God-forsaken kentry of Texas 
 is my blight and bane. It's the backwater 
 of Nowhere River. I pine in these solitudes, 
 and ache for my own kentry ! " 
 238 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 His own country was Alabama. 
 
 " If I wahn't married and cussed with a 
 family I would put the saddle on that wuthless 
 pinto and ride Home to die, suh," was Bill's 
 remark when he was " thataway." "Give 
 me Alabama's flowery meads and niggers, or 
 give me death, as the Constitution of the 
 United States says." 
 
 His family was one daughter, and if he 
 was " cussed " with her, there were many young 
 men who would have thought themselves 
 blessed if Amanda Higginson had so much 
 as smiled on them. She was plump and fair, 
 and very engaging, and called her mother 
 ''Maw" and her father "Paw," as they do in 
 the Southern States. And girls were scarce 
 around Double Mountain, while at that time 
 cowboys were plentiful; for Texas was not 
 yet fenced in, and sheep were not ousting 
 cattle. 
 
 When Old Bill was happy he said " Amandy " 
 was the apple of his eye. He said she was 
 the finest girl between the 49th Parallel and 
 the Mexican border. She was going to marry 
 a rich man, said Bill. \\Tien any cowboy 
 239 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 came round with a courting look in his eye 
 and a new necktie on, Bill developed madness. 
 
 " I'll stand thishyer crowd off with a shot- 
 gun, Mary," he said to his wife. " Amandy 
 is the gal to wed millions. There's no gal 
 like Amandy. Cowboys is poison to me, and 
 I'll make 'em food for cayoots if they kem 
 languishin' around this raynch. You tell 'em 
 so, d'ye hear? I'll feed 'em to the beasts 
 of the field." 
 
 He snorted, and his white eyebrows looked 
 very fierce. The young men in chappareros 
 and guns fought shy of him. It is horrid to 
 be confronted with a "gun" when one comes 
 courting, for it is, of course, almost impossible 
 to kill one's prospective father-in-law without 
 discouraging the lady. That is what the 
 boys felt, and some of the boldest of them 
 quailed before Bill Higginson on that account. 
 
 "If we kills Ole Bill, Amandy will look 
 sideways on us," they murmured. But they 
 persevered, for Amandy was a daisy and a 
 flirt, and looked at them under her eyelashes 
 till they all felt that love for them bloomed 
 in her tender heart. And it has to be owned 
 240 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 that she loved them all equally, or very 
 nearly equally, not having yet made a choice. 
 If there was one of them rather ahead of the 
 others in Amandy's favour it was Joyce 
 Briggs. However, Joyce didn't know it, and 
 Morgan Harris and Tom Galpin and Merrick 
 Gaylord and Billy Prentiss all thought they 
 had a look-in, and accordingly were very 
 jealous and hopeful. And indeed there is no 
 doubt they all had a chance, seeing the sort 
 of man old Higginson was, and the way he 
 went to work to keep Amandy safely corralled. 
 As Em'ly Price said (she lived the other side 
 of Double Mountain Creek, and had a father 
 who did as he was told) it was a wonder 
 Amandy "sot quiet" and endured. 
 
 " I ain't hankerin' to wed none of 'em, 
 Em'ly," said Amandy, tossing her pretty 
 head. " They worries me wuss than a hoss 
 in fly- time. I cayn't go out but I find one of 
 the boys hid behind a mesquite." 
 
 " You reckon, as your Dad says, that you'll 
 merry a millionaire ? " said Em'ly. 
 
 " I don't reckon to merry at all, yet," said 
 Amandy. But she didn't understand her 
 Q 241 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 father, or the ways of Providence, or the nature 
 of Billy Prentiss. Nor did she know that 
 her uncle, who lived over on the Salt Fort of 
 the Brazos, took an interest in her doings, 
 and knew so much scandal that he actually 
 knew more than ever occurred, in spite of 
 having been once badly " shot up " for talking 
 slander of a prominent citizen of Painted 
 Rock. Indeed there was much that Amandy 
 didn't know, and perhaps she knew as little of 
 her pretty self as she did of anything or any- 
 one else. 
 
 Now it happened one bright day in the 
 later spring, when northers were over and 
 the prairie flowers were out, and aU things 
 were heavenly, and the cattle were lively 
 and the wind sweet, she put on her sun- 
 bonnet to keep her skin from freckling and 
 took a little walk on the prairie away from 
 the creek. And as she might have expected, 
 and perhaps did expect, she presently saw 
 someone loping towards her, and presently 
 she saw it was Billy Prentiss, and she lifted 
 up her nose, so to speak, and prepared to 
 be "some haughty," as the boys said she 
 242 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 often was. And Bill being a good, gentle boy, 
 weighing two hundred pounds at least, and 
 fair as day and as blushing as rosy dawn, 
 feared her terribly, but came on all the same, 
 and prepared to tell her again that he loved 
 the " perairie " she walked on. 
 
 " Good-day, Amandy," said Billy. 
 
 " Oh, it's you ? " said the ungracious 
 Amandy. " Tears to me s'if I warn't allowed 
 to walk the perairies o' Texas free and without 
 guards. Whar did you spring from ? " 
 
 " I wuz jest a-ridin' by " began Billy. 
 
 "You allers is jest a-ridin' by," said 
 Amandy. " An' if you ain't jest a-ridin' by 
 it's Mr. Galpin is, or Mr. Gaylord, or Morgan 
 Harris." 
 
 " Waal, I knowed as your Paw wuz away 
 to Painted Rock, Amandy, and I tho't as it 
 wuz a good time to hev a talk with you and 
 clear things up some. For I'm gettin' fair 
 desprit, Amandy, and I owns it." 
 
 " That's w^hat Morgan says, and Merrick, 
 
 and Tom. You all says it ; and what I've got 
 
 to dew with you bein' desprit beats me, Billy 
 
 Prentiss. Cayn't a girl go a-walkin' on the 
 
 243 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 perairie owned by her own father without bein' 
 confronted with cowboys sayin' they're desprit, 
 and doin' nothin' but sayin' they're desprit ? " 
 
 So fair an invitation to do more than merely 
 "say " would have inspired a knowing citizen 
 of Painted Rock to immediate attack, but 
 Billy Prentiss didn't recognise the invitation. 
 Nor could he know that he looked just then 
 exceedingly engaging, and very handsome, 
 even better-looking than Joyce Briggs, whom 
 Amandy had reckoned to see instead of 
 him. 
 
 " Tis you're fault I'm desprit," urged 
 Billy. " You know I loves you more than I 
 loves my own Hfe, and I've said it repeated." 
 
 Amandy tossed her head. 
 
 " So's Joyce and Merrick and Morgan, and 
 the lot o' you ; an' if I payssed my word to one 
 the others would be desprit. And I don't 
 love no one, and if I did 'twould be no good, 
 for Paw allows, ez you know well, Mr. Prentiss, 
 that he'll blow a hole threw any cowboy as 
 he ketches sight of within a hundred rods of 
 me. And to-day he's very mad about every- 
 thing, and was outrageous in denouncin' you 
 244 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 and Joyce before he pulled out for the Rock. 
 
 So it ain't my fault, thar ! " 
 
 *' I don' care the snap of my finger for 
 your Paw and his gun," said Billy. " If you 
 says you love me I'll merry you right off, 
 and he cayn't shoot his son-in-law 'thout bein' 
 reckoned a mean man. An' he won't neither ; 
 for I kin take care o' myself, and he knows it." 
 
 Amandy fired up. 
 
 " I suppose you reckons if he came arter 
 you, then, you'd shoot him ? " she asked. 
 
 " I'd hev to, maybe," declared Billy. 
 
 " What, shoot my ole Paw ? " 
 
 " Not 'less he pulled on me, Amandy." 
 
 " The idee o' my merryin' a man that 
 allows he'd shoot my Paw," said Amandy. 
 " The idee's rediklus, Billy Prentiss, and you 
 knows it. I ain't a-goin' to expose my Paw 
 to danger. Not but that the danger 'ud be of 
 bein' tried for killin' you, for he's deadly with 
 weepons." 
 
 " Deadly be — consamed," said Prentiss. 
 " The ole galoot cayn't shoot for sour apples. 
 The only gun he's any good with is his mouth." 
 
 ** That lets me out," said Amandy furi- 
 245 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 ously ; " don' you speak disrespectful of my 
 Paw. You and me has finished, Mr. Prentiss, 
 not that we ever begun " (here she tossed 
 her head) " as I knows of. You cayn't be 
 insultin' to Paw and stay in with me " 
 
 " Oh, I ain't intendin' to insult him any," 
 protested Billy in distress ; " all I allowed wuz 
 as he cayn't shoot any, and that he's gay and 
 free with his tongue, as everyone knows." 
 
 But Amandy wouldn't listen. 
 
 " If you ain't civil to Paw, you cayn't get 
 me to talk," she declared ; '' and I'll be thankful 
 if, when we meets, you'll payss me by, Mr. 
 Prentiss. I'm fair sick of desperation mixed 
 with oncivility to my parents, for you never 
 even so much as payss the time of day with 
 my pore mother." 
 
 Billy exploded. 
 
 " Why, Amandy, Lord's sake, how kin I ? 
 when your Paw sits outside with his hair 
 a-bristlin' and a gun ready to shoot if we 
 kems within hayf a mile ? It's fair rediklus to 
 speak so." 
 
 But at that Amandy turned about and 
 walked towards the house. 
 246 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 " Oh, Amandy ! " said Billy. 
 
 She paid no attention. 
 
 " Oh, Amandy, Amandy ! " he repeated. 
 
 " Miss Higginson, if you please," said 
 Amandy coldly. 
 
 " Miss Higginson, then," implored Billy, 
 leading his horse after her. 
 
 " Nor ' Miss Higginson ' don't work neither," 
 said Amandy triumphantly. 
 
 And then Billy stayed in his tracks and 
 said no more. When he had recovered himself 
 a Httle Amandy was entering her "Paw's" 
 house without a look in his direction. 
 
 " I'm fair desprit," said BiUy Prentiss. 
 
 He was then aware of a horseman coming 
 up behind him at an easy walk. As he 
 mounted they met face to face, and though 
 Billy did not know who the man was, he felt 
 that he was strangely like Old Bill Higginson. 
 
 " Mout be his brother," said the cowboy. 
 " And I dew believe he hez a brother the other 
 side o' Double Mounting." 
 
 " Good-day," said the stranger. He looked 
 at Billy rather too curiously, and Billy was 
 in no mood to be looked at. 
 247 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Day to you," he said sulkily. " Will you 
 know me agin, stranger ? " 
 
 The stranger started, and said hastily that 
 he " wam't " looking for anything but Bill 
 Higginson's place. 
 
 " Waal, thet's it, and you're welcome to 
 it," said Billy, as he put spurs to his broncho 
 and loped off. The stranger pulled his own 
 horse round and stared after him. 
 
 " I b'lieve that was Amandy with him, and 
 that he was a-kissin' her, or my eyes deceived 
 me," said Bill Higginson's brother. " He 
 sure looked frightable s'if he suspicioned some 
 I'd c'ot him. This must be told to Bill. It 
 will make Bill mad." 
 
 He rode to the house and alighted. Mis* 
 Higginson and Amandy came out. 
 
 " Mary, my dear, and Amandy, how air 
 you ? " asked George Higginson. " And 
 wheer's Bill ? " 
 
 " You're welcome, brother-in-law," said 
 Mis' Higginson, " but Bill's to Painted Rock, 
 and won't be hum till to-night. Kem in 
 out o' the sun and set daown. Amandy will 
 look arter your hoss." 
 
 248 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 And George Higginson went in. 
 
 " I'm right glad to see you," he said; " and 
 I've all sorts o' news for Bill. Bless me, I 
 ain't bin hyar for nigh on to a year, and how 
 Amandy rises up, and I dew reckon the cow- 
 boys kems araound after her some, don't they, 
 Mary ? Oh yep, you bet. And Bill, is he as 
 dead sot on standin' of 'em off with a Win- 
 chester or a double-pronged scatter gun as he 
 was ? Waal, to be sure, to be sure. Gawd 
 bless you, Amandy. You're a good gal to 
 look arter your old uncle's boss, and as spry 
 and pretty a gal as I've set eyes on in Texas 
 thess year payst. And if you say ' eat,' 
 Mary, I'm with you, for I'm as hungry as a 
 buzzard and could eat onything." 
 
 By aU this it may be judged that George 
 was very full of himself, and had a tongue 
 balanced in the middle which was easy to set 
 clacking. He certainly loved to talk, and as 
 he talked he couldn't help congratulating him- 
 self on the sad news he had for Bill. He 
 watched Amandy hke a cat. 
 
 *' Sly pussy-cat she ez, to bee sure," he 
 said. " To look et her you'd never suspicion 
 249 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 that a large and powerful cowboy hed been 
 puttin' heavy and lovin* pressure on her short 
 ribs, and a-kissin' her fit to bust, as I see with 
 these eyes of mine." 
 
 He was sure of it, and the detail of the 
 love-scene grew on him every moment. 
 
 " Yes, Amandy, my love. I'll hev another 
 wedge o' thet pie. My indigestion don't 
 permit me to eat your aunt's pie, but thess 
 pie ez pie, and I kin consciously declare it is pie, 
 and not rock, nor a door-mat, nor last yeer's 
 mud, nor onythin' unwholesome. In the 
 matter o' pie me and yur aunt has trouble, 
 but I minimises friction now I'm older by 
 never tacklin' it." 
 
 And as he ate the pie he saw Amandy and 
 the large and powerful cowboy. 
 
 " Her a-lookin' up at him so confidin' and 
 lovin', with tears in her eyes, pore dear, and 
 a-liftin' up thet rose-bud of a mouth to his 
 large and powerful one, and all the time 
 her knowin' how useless it was to buck 
 up agin' Ole Bill's firm and judishus inten- 
 tion to wed her by force to a millinaire 
 when one kems along. ' Oh, how sad, 
 250 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 but how trew ! ' as Brother White says 
 exhortin'." 
 
 He told Mis' Higginson and Amandy all 
 about everything on his ranch over his side of 
 the country, and said how Seth Smith was 
 supposed to be dead on account of horse- 
 stealing. But how he died he wouldn't say. 
 And he further said that the feed on the 
 ranges wasn't what it had been, and that he 
 hated sheep, and that Hfe was a burden, and 
 his wife's pie hideous (for he loved good pie), 
 and he then went into pohtics, and said what 
 he thought of McKinley and Queen Victoria 
 and the Germans and the Mexicans and all the 
 world. 
 
 But all the time his very fertile imagination 
 was working on the subject of Amandy and 
 the large cowboy. His talk presently followed 
 his mind. 
 
 " You ain't merried yet, Amandy ? " he 
 said, with a nervous laugh. 
 
 " I ain't a-thinkin' o' merriage," returned 
 Amandy. 
 
 " 'Pears to me you should think of it," said 
 her uncle; " there's sad dangers in this world 
 251 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 for the unmerried, specially unmerried gals. 
 Ain't there, Mary ? " 
 
 '' Mebbe, George," said Mis' Higginson, who 
 was very weary of her brother-in-law and 
 troubled little about Amandy's " merriage." 
 She had heard too much of it from Bill. 
 
 " I'd Hke to see you merried right off," 
 mused George, who was sadly afraid he'd seen 
 more than he had known at first. He got 
 surer of it every minute. 
 
 " I ain't reckonin' to be merried," said 
 Amandy angrily. 
 
 " You ain't, Amandy ? " 
 
 " No, I ain't." 
 
 George shook his head. Evidently the bad 
 and wicked and large cowboy wouldn't marry 
 her! 
 
 " I'll speak to Bill. We'll see if he won't," 
 said George to himself. " No cowboy kin 
 insult and destroy any o' our fam'ly without 
 invitin' deestruction." 
 
 By now he was absolutely sure he had seen 
 dreadful things. 
 
 " Pore little gal ! " said George ; " but I'll see 
 her righted. Oh, won't I, jest ? " 
 252 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 He went on to explain some of the dangers 
 of the " unmerried " state, and denounced 
 gay seducers until Amandy fled and Mis' 
 Higginson yawned. She hadn't seen any 
 gay seducers around her neighbourhood, 
 and wasn't troublin' none about 'em, she 
 said. 
 
 *' Pore woman ! " said George; and then at 
 sundowTi Bill returned in his Studebaker 
 wagon drawn by two mules, and he found 
 his brother with his mouth open, while 
 Amandy and her mother were horribly 
 exhausted. 
 
 " Thank the Lord, here's Paw," said 
 Amandy, as she flew out to greet him, when he 
 came trotting up to the door. 
 
 " In the mawTiin', when he's quiet and 
 rested, I'll get him on one side and reelate 
 thess 'disaster to him," said George. " But 
 I'll hev another drap o' tea, Mary. 
 Tellin' the noos makes one dry, so it does, 
 though I'm not one to talk 'cept on 
 occasion." 
 
 That evening George and Bill talked against 
 each other, but George kept on dropping hints 
 253 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 as to coming trouble. He said he'd have to 
 ask advice on a " p'int " in the morning, and 
 when Bill desired to hear it now, he said he had 
 to think of it. 
 
 " Oh, you're too melancholy and suspicious 
 to live," said Bill, who was in a jovial mood. 
 " Bless me, with a nice Httle raynch and a 
 few head o' good steers, and a wife like my 
 Mary and a gal like my Amandy, and a hoss 
 to ride like my pinto, I'm all hunky, and I find 
 Texas pleasant, and the people joyous, and it's 
 a good world, George, so cheer up some and let 
 up on your gloomy hints o' trouble, for you've 
 nothing to worry you." 
 
 And poor George said his own troubles were 
 nothing. 
 
 " My natur' is sech, Bill, that I worry not 
 at all about my own woes, but the woes of 
 other ignorant and innocent people fills me 
 with the intensest grief. It done so from a 
 child, and many's the time I've wept sore to see 
 our old dad wallop thunder out o' yur pore 
 little carcass, and you know it." 
 
 " So you did, but that's all over," repHed 
 Bill ; " and there's no need to weep none here, 
 254 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 for I don't wallop Amandy none, for she's 
 the apple o' my eye." 
 
 And George wept a Httle, and said he'd go to 
 bed and think over things. And to bed he 
 went, after a drink or two. As he turned in 
 he solemnly cursed the cowboy, who was, he 
 felt sure, a gay seducer. 
 
 " My gallant cowboy o' the Circle X outfit — 
 for I reckon to hev seen the brand on your 
 pony — your time will kem to-morrow. Bill 
 and me will round you up, and don't you forget 
 it. To think pretty Amandy is the prey of a 
 villain, when Bill reckons her '11 wed a milHon- 
 aire ! " 
 
 Now in the morning Bill got up and sang, 
 for he still felt " all hunky," as he hadn't drunk 
 too much in Painted Rock, and when George 
 heard him singing he was amazingly sad, for 
 the poor victim Amandy was all his mind. 
 He dressed slowly, and went out to find Bill 
 having a smoke before breakfast. 
 
 " Mornin', George," said Bill. " Hope's 
 you're brighter thess mornin' ? " 
 
 " No, I ain't brighter, not a cent's worth 
 brighter. For now the time has kem for me 
 255 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 to speak to you on a sad p'int, and one I'd 
 rather perish miserable in a bHzzard on the 
 perairie than mention," said George. 
 
 " Jerusalem, what's wrong with the man ? " 
 inquired Bill, with sudden testiness. " Here 
 am I as happy as a chipmunk, and he kems out 
 like a corp for sadness, and spiles the very 
 momin' air. What is it, George ? " 
 
 George shook his head. 
 
 " Let us take a little walk, and let me beg 
 you to be ca'm, while I reelates the suspicious 
 events to which I was a sad and horrified 
 witness yesterday," replied George. 
 
 " What events ? " roared Bill furiously. 
 
 " Events that are now as clear as day in my 
 mind," said George, " horrid events, but 
 nat'ral enough, for innocence is innocence 
 wherever you find it, and wicked men are pisin 
 wherever seen." 
 
 Bill's face turned crimson, and his white 
 hair stood on end. 
 
 " Brother George," he remarked in a 
 
 strangled whistle, " if you don't want me 
 
 to apoplex sudden you'll be jest a trifle 
 
 clearer and not so long-winded. What's it 
 
 256 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 all abaout, before I shoots you for alarmin' 
 me?" 
 
 " Be ca'm," said George. 
 
 " I am ca'm ! " roared Bill. 
 
 " It's abaout our dear pore little 
 Amandy " began George. 
 
 " A word agin Amandy and " 
 
 " No, no, brother, you won't. Would I 
 say it was her fault ? And if it wam't 
 with such as the villain I'm a-goin* to 
 mention you cayn't shoot me, your sad 
 brother ! " 
 
 Bill choked. But he put on an air of 
 " ca'mness." 
 
 " Speak, what is it ? " 
 
 " It's Amandy. You reckon she'll marry 
 a millionaire ? " 
 
 Bill made alarming noises, but nodded his 
 head. 
 
 " It'll be well if she marries a large cowboy 
 roamin' thess neighbourhood," said George 
 mournfully. 
 
 " A cowboy, my Gawd " 
 
 Bill could say no more. 
 
 " I seen the pore innocent with hrni. Bill, 
 
 R 257 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Oh, Fm sad to say I surprised 'em. She ran, 
 and he looked at me very fightable and mad, 
 but I kept ca'm so's not to let him know what 
 I seen, and I out-faced him." 
 
 " What did you see ? " whispered Bill. 
 
 " Her and him kissin', and him huggin' her, 
 and — but I'll say no more. You and me will 
 hunt him up and make him merry her right 
 off!" 
 
 Bill didn't " apoplex," but he looked alarm- 
 ingly near it. 
 
 " What was he like ? " 
 
 " Large and powerful, weighin' some two 
 hundred pounds or thereabouts," said George, 
 *' and he'd an ivory butt to his gun and 
 mesquite leggin's and a red shirt, and his eyes 
 was blue, and he warn't bad-lookin', and he 
 rode a big sorrel pony branded Circle X on 
 the near shoulder." 
 
 " That's Billy Prentiss," said Bill Higginson; 
 " sure as death that's Billy Prentiss, who is 
 thess minute — lookin' forward a little — as dead 
 as ever any man was." 
 
 But George grabbed his arm. 
 
 " No, Bill, make him merry her. If you 
 258 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 kill him, whar'll she be, if so be things is the 
 wust ? " 
 
 " Oh, they cayn't be ! " roared Bill. 
 
 " I suspicion some they allers is," said 
 George. " But say you'll make him merry 
 her, and on'y kill him arterwards." 
 
 " I— I will," said Bill. He marched to- 
 wards the house in which Amandy and her 
 mother were. They were quite happy, because 
 they had heard him singing, and when he 
 sang before breakfast it usually meant a 
 happy day. Now he came in like a whirl- 
 wind. 
 
 " Amandy, to your room, gal ! " he yelled. 
 
 " Oh, Paw ! " 
 
 " To your room, gal ! " he repeated. 
 
 " Lord sakes, WilUam ! " said his wife. 
 
 " Silence, woman ! Amandy, to your room ! " 
 
 And Amandy fled like a lamb before a 
 bhzzard, while her father made horrid noises 
 in his throat. 
 
 " George, that batten there," he said. 
 
 George brought him a short piece of wood. 
 
 " The hammer and nails, woman," said Bill. 
 His wife brought them. He nailed Amandy's 
 259 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 door up. Then he went outside and did the 
 same to the window. 
 
 " George, get your horse up, and I'll get the 
 pinto," he said. Mis' Higginson exploded. 
 
 " What's the pore gal done ? " she cried. 
 
 " Don't ask me ! " cried Amandy's father. 
 " If you let her out till I return I'll kiU all 
 my family and the pinto, and fire the house, 
 and kill George, and blow my own head off. 
 Are you ready, George ? " 
 
 " To bee sure," said George in a shaking 
 voice. It seemed to him that he wasn't now 
 so sure that Billy Prentiss was a gay seducer. 
 Bill was terrible. But when Bill got on his 
 hind legs, George was nowhere. Bill was 
 now commander. 
 
 *' I've made a plan," he said, when he got 
 outside and had the pinto saddled up. " You 
 will ride over to Williams' raynch, ten miles 
 to the north-west, George. They've Brother 
 Brandram stayin' with 'em. Tell him to 
 kem over at once to see someone in imminent 
 danger o' death. If he won't come, make him 
 at the p'int o' your gun. I'll seek Billy 
 Prentiss with thess shot-gun. I'll either 
 260 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 bring him or a part of him, or perish. 
 Go!" 
 
 And George went. He wondered if he had 
 seen anything after all. It seemed as if he 
 had, and yet he wasn't sure. But what a 
 terror Bill was ! 
 
 " Pore little Amandy looked some scared," 
 said George, as he rode north-west. " I'm 
 a'most sorry I spoke. Perhaps thess cowboy 
 will be some down on me for takin' a hand in 
 merrying him by force. But now I cayn't 
 help myself. Bill ez that mad he'd chase me 
 to the Pacific if I don't help his notion. I'll 
 hev to fetch Brother Brandram." 
 
 And in an hour and a half he found the 
 Williams' ranch. He inquired for Brother 
 Brandram, and a portly gentleman in black 
 came out. 
 
 "You desire to see me, sir?" said the 
 minister. 
 
 " I dew," said George. " Would you oblige 
 me and my brother Bill Higginson by kemmin' 
 over to our raynch, ten miles south-east o' 
 this spot, to see someone in imminent danger 
 of immediate decease ? " 
 261 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Dear me, of course I will," said Mr. 
 Brandram. " I can get a horse here, and will 
 be ready in a minute. Is it a case of disease ? " 
 
 " Not infectious," said George hastily. " I'll 
 explain it as we go along." 
 
 And Brandram, having got a pony saddled, 
 came away at once. 
 
 " In the midst of life we are in death," said 
 Brother Brandram cheerfully. " Is the sick 
 man a relation of yours, sir ? " 
 
 " Not yet," said George. " I mean he 
 ain't." 
 
 "Is he looking very bad ? " asked the 
 minister. 
 
 " He looks the strongest man hereabouts," 
 said George. 
 
 " How sad ! " said Brandram. " Can you 
 say what's the matter ? " 
 
 ** No, that I cayn't. Bill said it was 
 caunfidential." 
 
 " Confidential ! " said Brandram. " Bless 
 me ! You don't mean it's crime ? " 
 
 *' Oh, by no means, not at all," said George. 
 " There ain't no one killed. But Amandy's 
 locked up." 
 
 262 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 " Amandy ? " 
 
 " She's my niece," said George. 
 
 " But why's she locked up, and what has 
 she to do \\ith the sick man ? " 
 
 " My brother is goin' to hev thet explained 
 or perish," repHed George. 
 
 The minister shook his head. 
 
 " Somehow I don't quite understand," he 
 said. "Is the girl ill ? " 
 
 " Cryin' fit to bust ! " 
 
 " About the d3mig man ? " 
 
 " She don't know he's dyin', and he ain't 
 ezackly dyin', but only like to die," said 
 George in confusion. " My brother's fetchin' 
 him along." 
 
 ** Fetching him along ! In a wagon ? " 
 
 " I reckon he'll ride," said George, " and 
 with Bill behind him he'll ride fast." 
 
 " Humph," said the minister. He pulled 
 up. 
 
 " Kem along, sir," said George. 
 
 " Not before I understand," said Brandram 
 
 firmly. " You say the man's not exactly 
 
 dying but likely to die, and that he'll ride fast 
 
 with your brother — if I apprehend you rightly, 
 
 263 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 he's your brother — behind him. Now why 
 is your brother behind him ? " 
 
 "Why, to fetch him surely," said George; 
 " he wouldn't kem else. But with Bill behind 
 him with a shot-gun he'll come, and no fatal 
 error." 
 
 " This seems strange treatment for a sick 
 man," said Brandram. 
 
 " I never let on he was sick," said George 
 sulkily. 
 
 " Then why do you want me ? " 
 
 " I don't w^ant you none. It's BiU wants 
 you," said George. 
 
 " Unless you explain I will not go a step 
 farther," said Brandram. 
 
 " Won't you ? " said George. " Oh yes, 
 you will." 
 
 And he pulled his gun. 
 
 " You kem or be killed," said George. 
 
 " You surely can't mean to threaten a 
 minister ? " said Brandram, in great alarm. 
 
 " All I want is to save my own hfe," said 
 George firmly; "and if I don't fetch you Bill 
 will kill me, and I'm sorry I was fool enough to 
 say a word about it." 
 
 264 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 " About what, man ? " demanded the 
 minister. 
 
 ** About Amandy," said George. " Now 
 are you kemmin' along, or will you compel 
 me to kill you in your tracks ? " 
 
 " I think ril come," said Brandram rather 
 weakly. " This is very remarkable treatment, 
 sir." 
 
 George put up his gun. 
 
 " I cayn't help it, and when you've done 
 it, ril apologise," he said. " But when you 
 see Bill he'll explain it to you, and you'll 
 understand that what Bill says goes every 
 time. He's a terror, he is." 
 
 They rode on in silence. 
 
 " I wish I understood," said the unfortunate 
 captive, — " I wish I understood." 
 
 Now, about this time, Bill, armed with his 
 deadly shot-gun and mounted on the antique 
 pinto, was just about to come across Billy 
 Prentiss. They told him at the Circle X 
 outfit that Billy was over to Salt Creek, 
 and when Bill got there he found him sure 
 enough. 
 
 " Why, thess is Ole Higginson," said 
 265 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 Prentiss. " What's he a-doin' a-riding araound 
 hyar ? If he was dead I'd be pleased, and 
 mebbe Amandy would be none too sad 
 neither." 
 
 Old Bill rode up. He pointed his shot-gun 
 straight at the cowboy. 
 
 " Don't do that," said Prentiss angrily. 
 ** The dern ole thing might go off ! " 
 
 But Old Bill looked mighty serious. He 
 spoke, and Prentiss knew this was business. 
 
 *' Unbuckle thet belt o' yours and let yur 
 gun fall into the ground," said Old Bill, " or 
 I'll put a double handful of shot into your 
 stummick 'thout another word ! " 
 
 The cowboy looked at him steadily. 
 
 "D'ye mean it, Mr. Higginson ? I own 
 you've got the drop on me." 
 
 " I mean it," said Higginson. His fierce 
 old eyes said so too. 
 
 So Prentiss unbuckled his belt and let it 
 and the gun faU on the ground. 
 
 " Walk away some," said Old BiU. When 
 Prentiss was twenty yards away, Higginson 
 alighted and picked up the weapon. He belted 
 himself with it and mounted again. 
 266 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 " You'll walk ahead o' me to my raynch," 
 said Old Bill in the same awful voice. 
 
 " Cayn't I ride, Mr. Higginson ? " asked 
 Prentiss, looking at his pony tied up to a 
 near mesquite. 
 
 " You cayn't." 
 
 " If I cayn't, I cayn't," said Prentiss 
 cahnly. " But while I walk I'd like to hev 
 some explanation of why you're doin' thess." 
 
 " You'll get it by and by," said Higginson. 
 
 Now it's not at all a pleasant thing to walk 
 ^vith an infuriated madman with a shot-gun 
 just behind one, and Billy Prentiss found it 
 wasn't pleasant. However, Higginson had " the 
 deadwood" on him, and there was no choice. 
 It was " walk " or " die," and he knew it. There 
 are times when a man knows this easily, and 
 Old Bill was plain print to read. 
 
 " It's sure somethin' about Amandy," 
 thought Prentiss as he marched. " Pore 
 little Amandy ! But I'm some surprised ! 
 What'U he do? I reckon he'll likely kHl 
 me." 
 
 It looked very like it. But after half an 
 hour's steady walk the ranch was just ahead 
 267 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 of them. Prentiss owned that he had a pain 
 in his back. 
 
 " Now we'll hear what's the difficulty," 
 he said. And then he saw two horsemen 
 coming from the north-west. The four of 
 them met just outside the door. 
 
 " Thess is the minister, Brother Brandram," 
 said George Higginson. 
 
 " Glad to see you, suh," said Bill grimly. 
 " I've got some business for you, suh." 
 
 " I shall be glad to know why " began 
 
 Brandram, but Bill cut him short. 
 
 " You'll know soon enough. — Mary ! " 
 His wife came to the door. 
 " Let out Amandy," said her husband. 
 " Them as shut her up kin let my da'ter 
 out," said old Mary angrily. 
 
 " I'll speak to you later on, woman," said 
 Bill. " George, get off your horse and let 
 Amandy out." 
 
 George did as he was told. He broke down 
 the nailed batten, and found Amandy with 
 red eyes. 
 
 ''You're to kem out," said George ner- 
 vously. 
 
 268 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 " I won't come out," said Amandy, who was 
 a woman. 
 
 '' You won't ? " 
 
 " I won't." 
 
 " Your Paw says you are to." 
 
 " Tell him them as shut me up kin fetch 
 me out," said Amandy. 
 
 George repeated this to the father. 
 
 " Amandy ! " said the old man. 
 
 There was no answer. 
 
 " Amandy ! " he roared. 
 
 " Ye-es, Paw," said the poor girl. 
 
 " Ef you don't come out before a minute's 
 gone I'll kill Billy Prentiss right here ! " 
 
 The last person in Amandy's mind was 
 Billy Prentiss. Why should he kill Billy? 
 It was very strange. 
 
 *' Oh, kem out, Amandy," said her mother. 
 
 " Don't you kem out if you don't want to, 
 Amandy," roared Billy Prentiss. "If he 
 wamts to kill me, let him." 
 
 But Amandy crept out. 
 
 " I — I don't want you killed, Mr. Prentiss," 
 said Amandy. " What hev you done ? " 
 
 Bill Higginson, still on the pinto, and with 
 269 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 his shot-gun covering the group, roared, 
 " Silence ! " Then he turned to the minister. 
 
 " Merry them two, suh, and do it immejit," 
 he said. 
 
 " Oh, Paw ! " said Amandy. 
 
 " Silence, gal," said her father. 
 
 *' I won't merry him," said Amandy. 
 
 " Don't you if you don't want to, Amandy," 
 said Billy. 
 
 Brother Brandram intervened. 
 
 " If the young lady doesn't want to marry 
 this young man, I can't do it," said he. 
 
 Bill lifted his gun. 
 
 '' You kin and you will, or I'll kill you all 
 and fire the raynch and kill the pinto and 
 blow my head off," said Bill. 
 
 " Steady," said Billy Prentiss. " I'm ready 
 to merry her, and Amandy knows it, for I've 
 bin askin' her this twelve months, but I'd 
 far ruther perish here in my tracks than 
 merry her agin' her will." 
 
 " Then you kin hev five minutes to pree- 
 pare," said Higginson. " Mr. Brandram, say 
 your prayers with him or indooce him to 
 merry her. My last word is said." 
 270 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 It looked as if it was. He took out his 
 watch. There was a long silence. 
 
 " Good-bye, Amandy ; I always loved you," 
 said the cowboy. 
 
 Amandy burst into tears. 
 
 " Oh, it's shameful ! " she sobbed. *' Oh, 
 Paw, you shame me awful." 
 
 " One minute gone," said Old Bill. 
 
 " If you don't love me, don't you merry 
 me," said Prentiss. 
 
 Amandy wept bitterly. 
 
 " I — like you some," said Amandy, with her 
 eyes to the ground. 
 
 " Two minutes," said Bill. 
 
 " If you'd rather merry Joyce or Morgan, 
 don't you mind me," said the cowboy. " I 
 kin die, Amandy." 
 
 George spoke. 
 
 " Bill, mebbe I was wrong " he began. 
 
 "Silence," said his brother; "'tis too late 
 for you to be wrong. 'Tis marriage or immejit 
 death." 
 
 " Oh, mother ! " sobbed Amandy. But Mis' 
 Higginson sat down with an apron over her 
 head so as to avoid seeing anyone killed. 
 271 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Merry him, Amandy," said George. He 
 whispered in her ear. " Merry him, and you 
 kin come and Hve on my raynch, and I'll 
 leave it to you when I die." 
 
 " Three minutes wasted," said Bill. 
 
 " I'll marry you, Mr. Prentiss," said 
 Amandy. 
 
 " Do your duty, Brother Brandram," said 
 Bill, as he returned his watch to his pocket. 
 
 And Brandram did his duty in rather a 
 shaky voice. 
 
 " You're now man and wife," said he when 
 he had done. 
 
 Bill took up his parable again. 
 
 " And now, hevin* merried her, Prentiss, 
 you kin pull out and never see her no more. 
 For you ain't goin' to reap no advantage 
 threw your wickedness. And Amandy, though 
 she bears your name, will hate you evermore. 
 Git up and git ! " 
 
 " But she's my wife," said the cowboy in 
 great surprise. " She'll kem away with 
 me." 
 
 Bill smiled an awful smile. 
 
 " You think so; but you're off it, away off 
 272 
 
A ROMANCE OF DOUBLE MOUNTAIN 
 
 it, Prentiss. If you don't clear out I'll kill 
 you ! " 
 
 Amandy felt that she was a married woman 
 and had new duties. Mr. Prentiss had behaved 
 nobly. She went up to Billy shyly and stood 
 in front of him. 
 
 " He ain't goin' 'thout me, and if you 
 kills him you'll hev to kill me too. You've 
 made me merry him. Paw, and now I'm 
 merried, I'm merried." 
 
 " That's so," said Brother Brandram. 
 
 " So it is," said George. 
 
 " It's gawspel trewth," said Mis' Hig- 
 ginson, coming from under her apron; "and 
 if you kill the boy or Amandy I'll curse you. 
 Bill Higginson, and drownd myself." 
 
 " If you do I'll kill everyone and burn the 
 raynch and shoot the pinto and blow my head 
 off," said Bill, who was now coming to the 
 end of his powers of rage. 
 
 " I will for sewer, in the crick, deep," said 
 Mis' Higginson; "and you'll find your old 
 wife dead and wet where you draw the water." 
 
 " I'll give you five minutes to say you 
 won't," said Bill irresolutely, 
 s 273 
 
PAINTED ROCK 
 
 " Five or ten won't alter me," said Mis' 
 Higginson. " Fd ruther see water than blood 
 any day." 
 
 " You mean it, Mary ? " asked Old Bill. 
 
 '' I does, Bill. Your tantrums fatigue me 
 awful," said Mis' Higginson. 
 
 There was a long pause. 
 
 " Waal, I won't kill no one, at least not 
 to-day," said Bill. He got off the pinto. He 
 stroked the ancient animal's nose. 
 
 " After all, Fd ruther it was you, Billy 
 Prentiss, than Morgan Harris or Joyce Briggs," 
 he said. " I always was down on Joyce 
 Briggs." 
 
 That night Amandy told her husband that 
 she, too, had always been down on poor Joyce 
 Briggs. 
 
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