r
CLARENCE E MULFORD
I X X N’
t k'lK'd
XKLSON
1(1 I he cor-
the bunk house “How’d I know?
any sisters?”
i i’k'h cbangt'd his
un'iil he seemed
t >zc ironi there to
‘ v i»i»k shack door,
.mod against the
' ■■ iialiously picked
'’cjj;alive end of a
lo(>ked up calmly,
!ii with his work;
But, say! Has she got
“Xo!” yelled Johnny, half-way through
the gallery m search of ’ •
uru u ' . "■ clothes.
VV hen he emerged Cookie looked him over
Am t It funny, Kid, how a pipe’ll stink up
clothes? he smiled. Johnny's retort was
made over several yards of ground and
when he had mounted Cookie j-elled and
waved him to return. When Johnny had
obeyed and impatiently demanded the
- an\-t hing rasping reason, Cookie pleasantly remarked: “Now
onl to quiver it shore an’ give her my love, Kid. ” *
Johnny’s reply covered half a mile of
trail.
II
The sheriflf w’as standing before the
Palace saloon when Johnny rode past, and
he could not keep quiet. His comment was
so judiciously chosen as to bring white spots
on Johnny’s flushed cheeks. The Bar-20
plincher was not famed for his self-control,
and, wheeling in the saddle, he pointed a
quivering forefinger at Mr. Nolan’s badge
ol office,so conspicuously displayed: “Bet
ter men than you have lied behind a badge.
Come down an’ see me to-morrow without
it, ” he invited.
Mr. Nolan flushed, hesitated, and walked
away. To fight in defense of the law was
his duty; but no sane man warred on the
Bar-20 unless he must. One might censure
Mr. Cassidy or Mr. Connors, or pick a fight
with any of the rest of the outfit, except
Johnny, and not get killed; but he must not
harm their protege. Mr. Nolan not only
walked away but he sought the shadows
and held communion with himself. If he
could only get the pugnacious and very
much spoiled Mr, Nelson to fracture some
law!
Meanwhile Johnny had reached the
Joyce cottage, and was admitted by Miss
Joyce herself.
‘‘Good evening. You are late!” she
chided, dimpling attractively.
He critically regarded the dimples, while
he replied that he had paused to slay the
sheriff but, knowing that it would cause
him to lose more time, had postponed the
event.
“Oh! ” she exclaimed, clasping her hands.
“ You must not do that! ”
“Weil, of course, not if yo’re agin it.”
“But v.’hat did he do?”
“Mustn’t tell. But do you really want
him to live?”
“Why, of course! What a foolish ques
tion!”
“ But why do you? Do you—like him? ”
“ I like everybody. ”
“Yes; an’ everybody likes you, too,”
and his smile faded. “Do you like—him
trrv much?”
“I wish you wouldn’t ask foolish ques
tions.”
“Yes, I know. But do you? ”
“I’ll not say. ”
“Then you do.”
“I don’t think you’re nice to-night,” she
pouted. “ You’re awfully jealous. ”
“Gee! I should think you’d want me to
be jealous. I only w’ish you was jealous of
me. Norah, I’ve just got to say it now,
an’ ”
but he did not
“Shor^^^Tf- f V pre^h?fadva"lS^
^“Wh^^T’ d ' hL^y S?h%he w^^^^
b- anythinfi of the continued it was with a rush: “I am not
kind!” she mortcd “Didn'l you just free-I haven't been for a w«k. I’m no^
r “y more—and I've been leading you
iCs, i did. But I didn t VN'ant you to on! What are you thinking? Tell me!”
Hopalong, never going to shoot a man when he’s help-
wth a rismg inflection. Only *^sh I less. ’ ' - -- *
knowed!”
’ I’ihenics executed
• in.iU'h; I'or Cookie’s
i l.inis. If Johnny
.1 ]'>rofanely and
J .ininuis, why meals
:inie. it would be
' heave something
i- ^hort-cut speech.
:'t the cook flound-
ra!>:e—which he
I'-.'ai I'rom johnny,
'"•n evinciti*': undue
•jui)crs for nearly a
t bo tapeworms,
' tiie only meal
lu rnn^re. Johnny
' ' I' lokie strangled
hand, but smiled
’•''U.i^h?*’ he asked,
^ ' rlothes.
I f'pin,’’ and the
r-'ady.”
'ir it twenty minutes
: > juick," he replied.
. hall’-past tive. He
! i>o match he had
; . I.
> i' 'iv It is belief and ac-
J oiiny's remarkably
■I ir aiid general gala
l/;> - ^ was a woman—
»> ’ >v(nild have denied.
1 n n washing Ginger,
r !ie- a cay use it's a
id' (.'linger belonged
1  \Mn*d that lone dollar.
:i Johnny,
j Lucas?' ’ inauired the
vi
“BETTER MEN TUAN YOU HAVE LIED BEHIND A RAIXIE.
DOWN AN-" SEE ME TO MORROW WITHOUT iT.”
think he was a murderer,” he explai
Even Cookie would find it hard to get
U
injily at the attire:
.1 habit i)t j)uttin’ on
are you?”
■ I t, ■ uhics produced:
’ l.ince.
At'loded the cook.
One's mind needs to
lie properly to a man
!!■ had made a ghastly
'1 ;'ve th’ boys cold grub
a'iil the cook began to
"id hook his head: “Got
nan on his foot before
: and gasped: “Invite?
hicrh-toned thing-a-bob.
' i'!. too."
?^iiorted the cook, de
ll ■f'y know you? An’ I
• > l>roke. Show me that
that’, why I’ve got to
coir.'all feathered up, too?'’
^ sMn't dress like that to
>h(' got any sisters?”
'^•fully.
■ ' .ikin'about?” '
answered the cook,
tell you something,
me have a invite to
't. An’ before you
') lliippy’s boots some
■I I>:i>ty shine it’ll look
‘ ‘ vfiu get to th’
■ make it hard an
'■f'M)m ers that only
' ^ like a dinjg-store.
■ ■ 'h' fumigatin’. ’’
'■ iMl dolefully whiffed
■ h.i'l paid two bits a
' It wa-' not necessary
hi' .li(l
y»re ra/.or, too,”
' i' 'Jlly.
'i'lll. I ain't goin’ to
» ay, arc you shore
'iigge«ted Cookie,
hich clothes are
th’ wide, wide
blankets on when
^n’ I got a
green—but th’
“Yes, what did he do? ” she cried eagerly.
“Who? Nolan?”
“Yes, yes; tell me.”
“I don’t mean him. I was going to tell
you something that ”
“That you’ve done and now regret?
Have you ever—ever killed a man?” she
breathed. ••
“No; yes; lots*of ’em,” he confessed,
remembering that she once had expressed
admiration for^ brave and daring men.
“Most half as many as Hopalong; an’I
ain’t near as old as him, neither. ”
“Oh, Mr. Cassidy! Won’t you bring
him up some evening?"”
“ Not me. I brought one friend up onct
an’ had to lick him to keep him away. ”
“Why, the idea! But Mr. Greener’s
like Mr. Cassidy. He’s so brave, and a
wonderful shot. He told me so. ”
“ Huh! Told you! Well, well. Why, he’s
a child; an’blinks when he shoots. Here—
can he show a gun like mine?” and he held
out his Colt, butt foremost so she could see
the notches he had cut that after
noon. A fleeting doubt went through his
mind at what his outfit would say when it
discovered said notches; the Bar-20 cut no
notches: it liked to forget.
“Oh! Are they—are they?” she whis
pered, drawing back.
“They are. There is room for Nolan,
an’ his owner,’ ’ he suggested.
“Norah! Can’t you seel Don’t you
know how much I ”
“Yes, indeed! it must be awful to feel
such remorse, ” she quickly interposed.
“Remorse nothin’! Them fellers de
served what they got! ”
“And vow a murderer! I never thought
that of y(7M.” she rejoined.
“Why, Norah!” he cried in amazement.
“To think that you have human blood
on ”
“ Xorah! Norah, listen; won’t you?”
‘ ‘ On your hands! How dare you call
here!’^
around that, he thought.
“How glad I am that he doesn’t blink!
I’d hate a man who w'as afraid to shoot. ”
“ Well, how ’bout me? ’’
“But you’ve killed men, your brothers.”
“Well—say—how can I kill without
killin’?” he demanded, with exasperation,
“ Greener's killed’em, too.”
“ Yes, but he doesn't blink! ”
“Neither do
“ Yes; but you shoot to kill. ”
“ Lord pity us—don’t he? ”
“ Y-e-s, but that’s different,” she replied,
smiling bright!}', ifi
Johnny looked around the room, his eyes
finally resting on his hat.
“Yes, I sec it’s different. Greener can
kill, an’ blink! . I can’t. If he kills a man
he's a hero: I’m a murderer. I kinda
reckon he’s got'th’ trail. But I love you,
an’ you’ve got- to pick my trail—docs it lead
up or down? ”
“ Johnny Nelson! What are you saying? ”
she demanded, arising.
“Something turrible, mebby. I don’t
know; an’ I don’t care. It's true—so there
you are. Norah, can’t you see I do?” he
pleaded, holding out his hands. “Won’t
you marry me?”
She looked down, her cheeks the color of
fire, and Johnny continued hurriedly: “I’ve
loved you a whole month! When I’m
ridin’ around I sort a’ see you,an’ hear you.
Why, I talk to you lots when I’m alone. I've
saved up some money, an’ I had to work
hard to save it, too. I’ve got_some cows
runnin’ with our’n—in a little while 111 have
a ranch of my own. Buck’ll let me use th’
east part of th’ ranch, an’ there’s a Aill over
there that’d look fine with a house on it.
I can’t w’ait no longer, Norah, I've got to
know. Will you let me put this on yore
finger?” He swiftly bent the pin into a
ring and held it out eagerly: “ Can I ? ”
She pushed him away and yielded to a
sudden pricking of her conscience, speaking
swiftly, as if forcing herself to do a disagree
able duty, and haling herself at the moment.
“Johnny, I’ve been a—a flirt I When I saw
you were beginning to care too much for me
I should have stopped it; but I didn’t. I
amused ipyself—^but I want you to believe
one thing, to give me a little credit for just
one thing; I never thought what it might
mean to you. It w^as carelessness w'ith me.
But I w'as flirting, just the same—and it
hurts to admit it. I’m not good enough for
you, Johnny Nelson; it’s hard to say, but
it's true. Can you, will you forgive me?”
He choked and stepp>ed forward holding
out his hands imploringly, but she eluded
him. When he saw the shame in her face,
the tears in her eyes, he stopped and laughed
gently: “But we can begin right, now, can’t
we? I don’t care, not if you’ll let me see
you same as ever. You might get to care Tl^HEN the sheriff and his posse called
for jne. And, anyhow, it ain’t yore fault. aX the Bar-20, before breakfast the
I reckon it’s me that’s to blame. ” following morning, they found a grouchy
At that moment he was nearer to victory outfit and learned some facts.
A murmur of wistful desire arose and
Lanky Smith restlessly explained it: “He
rampages in ’bout midnight an’ wakes us up
his racket. When we asks what he’s
doin’ with our possessions he suggests Ave go
toh—1. He takes Aw rifle, Pete’s rifle, Buck’s
brand new canteen, ’bout eighty pounds of
ca’tridges an’ other useful duffle, all th’
tobacco, an’ blows away quick. ”
. “ On my cayuse, ” murmured Red.
“Wearin’ my good clothes,” added Billy,
sorrowfully.
“An’ my boots,” sighed Hopalong.
“I ain’t got no field glasses no more,”
grumbled Lanky.
“But he only got one laig of my new
pants,” chuckled Skinny. “I was too
strong for him.’'
“He yanked my blanket off’n me, which
makes me steal Red’s, ” grinned Pete.
“Which you didn’t keep very long!”
retorted Red, with derision.
“Which makes us all peevish,” plain-
-ively muttered Buck.
“Now ain’t it a h—1 of a note?” laughed
Cookie, loudly, forthwith getting scarce.
He had nothing good enough to be taken.
“An’ whichever was it run agin yore face.
Sheriff?” sympat’netically inquired Hopa
long. “ Mighty good thing it stopped, ” he
added thoughtfully.
“Never mind my face!” snorted the
peace officer hotly as his deputies smoothed
out their grins. “I want to know where
Nelson is, an’d—d quick! We’ll search the
house first. ”
“Hold on, ” responded Buck.
Salt Spring Creek y
yo’re nothin’. Don
ain’t here. ”
“How do I know he ain’t?” snapped
Nolan.
“My word’s good; or there’ll be another
election stolen up in yore county,” rejoined
Buck ominously. “An’ I wouldn’t hunt
him too hard, neither. We’ll punish him.”
Nolan wheeled and rode towards the
hills without another w'ord, his posse press
ing close behind. When they entered
Apache Pass one of them accidentally ex
ploded his rifle, calling forth an angry
tirade from the sheriff. Johnny heard it,
and cared little for the warning from his
friend Lucas; he waited and then rode
down the rocky slope of the pass on the trail
of the posse, squinting wickedly at the dis
tant group as he caught glimpses of them
“Perhaps you w’ould better speak to him again, and with no anxiety regard-
out it! ” she retorted. ' ing backward glances. “Lot’s wife’ll have
they
“ X^orth of
Got anything to say? ”
“Yes, yo’re th’ biggest fool I ever saw,’'
replied Greener. “Yo’re locoed through
an through; an’ I’m goin’ to take great
pleasure in putting you away. But I want
to thank you for one thing you did. You
were drunk at the time an’ may not remem
ber it. When you hit Nolan for talking
like he did I liked you for it, an’ I’m goin’
to tell you so. Now we’ll get at th’ matter
before us so I can move along. ”
Neither had paid any attention to X’^orah
in the earnestness and keen-eyed scrutiny
of each other and the first sign they had of
her actions was when she threw her arms
around Greener’s neck and shielded him.
He was too much of a man to fire from cover
and Johnny realized it while the other
tried to get her to leave the scene.
“I won’t leave you to be murdered—I
kno'iv what it means, I know it, ” Xorah cried
My place is here, and you can’t ^eny your
wife’s first request! What will I do without
you! Oh, dear, let me stay! I will stay!
What woman ever had such a wedding day
before! Dear, dear, what can I do? Tell
me what to do!”
Johnny sniffled and \nshed the posse had
taken him. This was a side he had never
thought of. His wife! Greener’s wife!
Then he was too late, and to go on would be
3- greater evil than the one he wished to
eliminate. When she turned on him like a
tigress and tore him to pieces word by word,
tears rolling down her pallid che"eks and un
told misery in her eyes, he .shook his head
and held up his hand.
“Greener, you win; I can’t stop what’s
'11 (ell
yo’re a sheriff; down here he said, slowly. “But II
3n’t search no house. He ^ ’ f u ''"'•rf: f
don t treat her like she deserves, 1II (
COME
“Why, I’m thinking what Nolan said.
An , Xorah, listen. You say you want me
to forgive you? Well, I do, if there’s any-
thmg to forgive. But I want you to prom
ise me that if Greener don't treat you right
you'll tell me. ”
“ What do you mean? ”
“ Only what I said. Do you promise? ”
about
“ I will—an ’ plain. But don’t W'orry ’bout
me. It was my fault for bein’ a tenderfoot.
I never played this game before, an’ don’t
know th’ cards. Good-bye.”
Pie rode away slowly, and made the
rounds, and by the time he reached Lacey's
he was so unsteady that he was refused a
drink and told to go home. But he headed
for the Palace instead, and when he stepped
high over the doorsill Nolan was seated in
a chair tipped back against onr of the side
walls, and behind the bar on other side
of the room Jed Terry drummed on the
counter and expressed his views on local
matters. The sheriff was listening in a
bored way until he saw Johnny enter and
head his w’ay, feet high and chest out; and
at that moment Nolan’s interest in local
affairs flashed up brightly.
Johnny lost no time: “Nolan,” he said,
rocking on his heels, “tell Greener I’ll kill
liim if he marries that girl. He killed his
first wife by abuse an’ he don’t kill no more.
Savvy?”
The sheriff warily arose? for here was the
opportunity he had sought. The threat to
kill had a witness.
“An’ if you open yore toad’s mouth about
her, like you did to-night. I’ll kill you, too.”
The tones were dispassionate, the W'ords de
liberate.
“ Hear that, Jed? ” cried Nolan. “Nelson,
yo’re under ar ” ,
“Shut up!” snapped Johnny loudly, this
time with feeling. “It ain’t healthy to
slander women in this country. You lied
to me to-night; don’t lie again.”
“I didn’t! I said she was a flirt, an’
she—-—”
The sheriff prided him^lf upon his quick
ness, but his gun was kicked from his hand
before he knew what was coming; a chair
glanced off Jed’s face and wrapped the front
window about itself in its passing, leaving
the bar-tender in the throbbing darkness of
inter-planetary space; and as the sheriff
opened his eyes and'recovered from the
hard swings his face had received, a
galloping horse drummed southward to
wards the Bar-20; and the silence of the
night was shattered by lusty war-whoops
and a spurting . 45.
Ill
nothing on them if they look back,” he
muttered, fingering his rifle lovingly. At
nightfall he watched them depart and
grinned at the chase he would lead them
when they returned.
Four weeks passed, w^eeks of hunger and
nervous strain, and he was getting desperate.
He had learned that Greener and his fiancee
were going down to Linnville soon, since
Perry’s bend had no parson; and his cup of
bitterness, overflowing, drove him to risk an
attempt to leave that part of the country.
He had seen none of Pete’s “cordon” al
though he had looked for them, and he be
lieved he could get away. So he rode
cautiously down Apache Pass one noon,
planning his route. The sand, washed
down from the rock walls by the last rain,
deadened all sounds of his progress, and as
he turned a sharp bend he ran into Greener
and Norah Joyce, not fifty feet away. They
were laughing at how they had eluded and
escaped the crowd of friends eager to accom
pany them—but the laughter froze when
Johnny’s gun .swung up.
“’Nds up, Gr^enei"!” he snapped, vi
ciously, remembering his promise to Nolan.
“Miss Joyce, if you make trouble it’ll cost
him his life. ”
“Turned highwayman, eh?” sneered
Greener, keenly alert for the necessary
fraction of a second’s carelessness on the
part of the other.
“Mis^ Joyce, you will please ride along;
I want to talk to him alone,” Johnny re
quested.
“Yes, dear, that’s best. I’ll join you
soon,” urged Greener, flashing her a look
she understood instinctively.
But Jdinny was too wise to fall into the
trap: “Don’t get out of my sight, an’ don’t
make no noise or signs; if you do he’ll have
to pay for it.”
“ You coward! ” she cried angrily. “ Cow
ard!” and delivered an impromptu
lecture that sent the blood surging into the
fugitive’s wan cheeks. But she obeyed,
slowly, and when she was out of hearing
Johnny spoke.
“Greener, yo’re not going to marry her.
You know what you are, you know how
yore first wife died—^an’ I don’t intend that
Norah shall be abused as the other was.
I’m a fugitive, hard pressed; I’m weak from
want of food, and from hardships; all I
have left is a slim chance of gettin’ away.
I’ve reached the point where I can’t harm'
myself by shooting you, an’ I’m goin’ to do
it rather than let any trouble come to her.
But you’ll get an even break, because I ain’t
you
come
back some of these days and kill you shore.
Nolan got his because he talked ill of her;
an’ you’ll get yours if I die the next minute,
if you ain’t square with her. ”
“1 don’t need no instructions on how to
treat my wife,” retorted the other. “An’
I’m beginnin’ to see th’ cause of yore in
sanity, and it pardons you as nothing else
will. Put up yore gun an’ get back to th’
ranch, where you belong—an’ keep away
from nte. Sav\y?”
“Not much danger of me gettin’ in yore
way,” growled Johnny, “when I’m hunted
like a dog for doing what any man would a’
done. When th’ sherifl' gets well, if he ever
does, mebby I’ll come back an’ take my
medicine. How was he, anyhow, when you
left?”
“Dead tired, an’ some under th’ in
fluence of liquor, ” replied Greener, a smile
breaking over his frown. He knew the
w’hole story well, as did the whole range, and
he had laughed over it with the Bar-20 out
fit.
“What’s that? Ain’t he near dead?’*
crie4 Johnny, amazed.
“Well, purty nigh dead of fatigue dancin’
at our weddin’ last night; but I reckon he’ll
be driftin’ home purty .coon, all recovered.”
Greener suddenly gave way and roared
with laughter. There was a large amount
of humor in his makeup and it took j)osses-
sion of him, shaking him from head to foot.
He had always liked Johnny, not because he
ever wanted to, but because no one could
know the Bar-20 protege and keep from it.
This climax was too much for him, and hi.s
wife, gradually recovering herself, caught
the infection and joined in.
Johnny’s eyes w’ere staring and his mouth
wide open^ but Greener’s next words closed
the eyes to a squint and snapped shut the
open mouth. .
“That there paralysis of th’ cure-a-friend
nerve didn’t last; an’ when I heard why you
licked him I said a few words that made him
a wnser man. He didn’t hunt you after th’
fijst day. Now you go up an’ s^ake han’s
with him. He knows he got what was com
ing to him and so does everybody else know
it. Go home an’ quit playin’ th’ fool for th’
whole range to laugh at. ”
Johnny stirred and came back to the
scene before him. His face was livid with
rage and he could not speak at first. Finally,
however, he mastered himself and looked
up: “I’m cured, all right, but they ain’t!
Wait till my turn comes! What a fool I
was to believe ’em; but they usually tell th’
truth. ‘Cure-a-frend nerve’! They’ll pay
me dollar for cent before I’m finished! ” He
caught the sparkle of his diamond pin, the
pin he had won, when drunk, at El Paso,
and a sickly grin flickered over the black
frown. “I’m a little late, I reckon; but I’d
like to give th’ bride a preswit to show there
ain’t no hard feelin’s on my part, an’ to
bring her luck. This here pin ain’t no fit
ornament for a fool like me, so if it’s all
right, I’ll be plumb tickled to see her have
it. How ’bout it. Greener? ”
The happy pair exchanged glances and
Mrs. Greener, hesitating and blushing,
accepted the gift: “You can bend it into a
ring easy,” Johnny hastily remarked, to
cut off her thanks.
Gfeener extended his hand: “I reckon we
can be friends, at that, Nelson. You
squared up with me when you licked Nolan.
Come up an’ see us when you can. ’*