Show CATTLE A T P L t wm KINGDOM r I 1 N 0 V w U M by ALAN LE MAY 0 alan service le may CHAPTER XIV continued 18 1 oh horse horse horae marian said how gild did it ever happen the shootout shoot out with flagg you mean lie ho told them now step by step the story atory of anold an old gunfighter gun fighter and old ideals of justice and right it carne came out haltingly as horse dunn paced but even told slowly and with an effort grea greater ter than they could ever know that story wits was brief until he met bob flagg on the red sleep trail dunn had had no advance word of hla his partners arrival at that time he ha had already been waiting for flaggs arrival for weeks the very existence of the 84 94 depended upon him and dunn was shocked and astonished to meet a frayed out cut man on a worthless horse and a saddle borrowed from a rus aler ti erand and recognize this man as his arizona partner and then riding toward the 94 with flagg dunn had learned the tha truth there had been no sale of the tha flagg dunn ranch and there were no proceeds there had been no such ranch for more than two dob bob flagg had neither been completely crooked nor completely foolish but a combination of some folly end and some crookedness had been more than enough to break the ahe brand when the beef market failed to dunn inthe moment of dincov must have seemed that marians property for the arizona ranc ranch h was to have saved marlana 04 had been gambled away by hla his cheating partner there was only one thing to do horse dunn said now with an odd simplicity bob flagg knew it as well as me you have to say this tor for him highe he put olt off facing the music for two years but in the end he came came and faced it like a man I 1 said to him bob I 1 cant let this pass ile he said 11 1 I know it horse I 1 said bob I 1 aim to turn my back fire your first shot into the air when I 1 hear your sun gun ill turn and draw ills his second shot sung over me tor for I 1 11 had to stoop to go gun was waa an old derringer in my boot and in tho the next second I 1 let drive and he ha was through slowly then old horse dunn tried to fex explain plain to them how it was he had burled buried bob flagg in the red bed sleep it had seemed the most natural thing in the world that he should make a suf suitable table burial of his partner in some far open place ile ho felt no sense of remorse ho had simply set out to lay away his partner no less hla his partner because they had split at tho the end of the trail and then the thought of seeing horror in the eyes of his niece who would not understand it suddenly had seemed more than he could face never before in all his long career had bad horse dunn concealed from the word anything that he ha had done even this time his worship of this girl prompted him only to a single trick the trick that had fooled old man coffee in the short creek trailing he was riding a horse from which the shoes had just been pulled so that it had deep lonk long hoofs with nail splits to ie simply rode the tha horse into the dier dismounted and trimmed the loots goofs flat to tho the sole with his knife 1 t had fooled coffee it had not no i oiled old rock nor had it fooled cayuse caye tano iano but horse rested no great weight in the killing at ace springs cayuse had been a worthless character horse already owed h him lm a heavy debt in missing calves for cayetano had hadt been a cow thief in his own right horse looked at this shootout shoot out as a an execution long overdue yet hero here as before he had given his adversary a better than even break As Whee wheeler lerand and coffee had suspected lon magoon had been a distant witness magoon was another whose punishment tor for petty rustling dunn had considered too long delayed ile he too had had best break but before the great old fighter lesser men seemed to go to pieces losing their fighting mettle so go that there could bo be only one end to TO overtake I 1 magoon horse florae dunn ahad muffled the hoots hoofs of his pony with pads cut from a harness colilar and thus had advanced in si at alence over na naked kedrock rock it was only incidental that the trail of the muffled hoofs had been too obscure for billy wheeler to see that was all the story one thing only one had warped that whole brief history into something mysterious and strange distorting it to dunns own bewilderment past nil all recognition that was the old fighters abject humility hla his pathetic unreasoning panic before the dis approval of marla marian n his niece without that that first simple shootout shoot out would have ended where it had occurred without any hue or try cry or storming up dt af a range it had been that one effacing of ct the trail and thereafter the silence of horse dunn that had changed it all horse said billy wheeler weve got a goodcase good ccase yetla well tight fight this to the tha last ditch until sick of fighting never prove therell be no fight on that horse dunn said all my life ive faced things out behind this girl there aint ever again going to be a shadow of any dark thing hid marian said Horse florse Horse at the sound of her voice the old man seemed to crumple and break ile he sat down on the bare steel cot within his cell bent his head and slowly ran his big hands through his hair the tears were r running down marians cheeks but sud suddenly deny her head went up what he says hell do hell do no one understands hat better then 1 I but theres one other way there are still cattle and open country and you mean tho Argen tinel if hes spoken of it once he hes a spoken of it a dozen times if he wont keep quiet and 0 lie ile never liked that weapon let us fight this thing here at least becan we can split this place wide open and start almon him on his wayll horse dunai stood up slowly like a man rising to the light s why marlan marian why marlan marian P well take you out of herel weve still got good men and horses and guns coffee knows the old lost trails that none of these others know hold yourself ready tonight this very nighal were too much for or them yet you hear well come into this town tush I 1 dont care cara what comes out but of this noi now I 1 lot let you get into stuff like that for or met mel this tor for you she told him tills this is tor for me you heart well the door flared dared open and shut again as old man coffee slid in the sheriffs started up the hill what more you want to say say tonight marlon marion said now you cant argue any more she pulled down his head and kissed him as walt amos hauled open the door looking back once more billy wheeler saw that there were tears in the old mans eyes yet bethe he thought ho he had never seen the face of any man so happy so serene so secure in what was ahead for a moment though billy was troubled As the door closed between them wheeler thought that dunns duant eyes were looking at the girl like tho the eyes of a man seeing her tor for the last time CI CHAPTER TArTER XV horse dunn waited until he was certain that it was dark before he began to count tho the time from within the concrete walls he could see no part of the sky and it was hard to judge the time when you could not see even a single star it was his intention to wali wait three hours more ile he sap supposed posed that his people would choose to strike between mid not take any risk their first reconnaissance nals sance into the town must find him long agn on his way whatever way that was to be just as there must no longer be any dark conceal ments in the background ot of marians life so etwas it was also impossible that he allow her the memory of her fathers brother as a convicted murderer even before the steel door had closed shutting away his last sight ot of the girl tor for whom he had labored so long and faithfully he had made up his mind what he must do with war and violence so close ahead he knew that he fie should have been hearing the indian medicine drums in his blood like on an old war pony smelling battler battle but somewhere along the trail all that seemed to have gone out of him lie he felt no suspense ills his only concern was that he should not fall fail in his judgment of his time lime once as he waited a car came roaring into in and the sound bound of its exhaust coming to him muffled where he be lay in the dark on his bis bare steel cot was indistinguishable from the voice of billy wheelers roadster he started darted up tearful fearful that he had miscalculated and delayed too long but nothing happened and presently he settled back again when he be judged that most of his bis allotted time was gone he sat up on the edge of the cot and drew the ancient derringer out of his right boot his hands automatically tested its well oiled action raising and lowering the hammer without percussion against the shell he had never liked that weapon but he had carried it because it was snub nosed and lightly built and fitted in his boot where anyone could see that no gun could go he pulled oft off his left boot laid bild close around his ankle and secured there with it a wrap of silk handkerchief he was wan carrying tour four buckshot loaded shells fired from the snub nosed derringer the shot had poor penetration as old man coffee had observed but at short range the shells delivered a sufficiently savage blast as they had well proved ile he now took them into Int ohis I 1 his hand and when he had pulled his boot on again he sat eat weighing them thoughtfully in his great aist fist and thinking of things deep in the past presently horse dunn grinned to himself and stood up and one by one he tossed the shells through the iron bars into the dark ho he heard them fall and lose themselves in the black alley around his barred cell after all he had never expected to see the argentine the fourth shell he held a moment or two wondering if it ought not to be his own it if a man came to the lost last pinch and saw for certain what was ahead it was a pity to leave it to the coyotes to finish him up but in the end he laughed easy and in different and tossed the fourth shell after the others into the dark the one remaining shell was in the I 1 gun he stretched lazily yawned dawned deeply to the bottom of his great lungs and fired his last shell against the iron door up the hill from the sherlf sheriffs rs house came the sound of running feet the sound stopped outside and the tha big key keys to the steel door booi clattered at their locks this was followed by a brief pause and a low voiced conference dunn recognized link benders voice and a spa spasm of regret shook him for or the lost shells shell horse dunn stood up tip thrusting the hand which held the derringer into the front of his shirt with his free hand he gripped a bar of his bis cell high up andied his knees sag bag down and his head fall on his chest agthe as the door booi swung wide walt amos came into the open door gun in one hand lantern in the other dunn made his voice strangle in his throat as he gasped amos in gods name P the young sheriff sprang forward holstering bolstering his weapon how in all hell P he tumbled fumbled for a key from his belt chattered icat it at the door of the inner cell who got you man can you speak amos set the lantern down swung the inner door and the snub nosed derringer that could cut men in two was in his stomach and dunns great fist wai was clamped on the gun butt tor for which amos snatched reach dunn said and the sheriffs hands went up horse jerked the sheriffs sherlf ls gun and a n d tossed it clattering clitte ring into the shadows he turned the sheriff gripped him by the back of the belt and nosed tho the empty derringer into hla his back he kicked i the lantern light into A a black shat shatter terp and his voice turned savage as he shoved the sheriff ahead of him into the door open ing now you out there how about letting drive at this door before I 1 wake you up with a shot or two under hla his aral walt amos sung out in a ghastly voice for gods sake take care hes got me colda outside three figures moved abruptly in the clear light of the risen moon dunn saw and knew halliday Halll day and caldwell but had not time to recognize the third who raced to take cover around the cor ner of the lall jall He supposed this was link bender he heard halll halli day swear and sam caldwell called out a sharp order to the third man halliday Halll day shouted walt grapple and Cal caldwelle dwells thick sardonic voice said Baid shadows into which he had disappeared grapple him yourself you horse dunn sidled dialed along the wall of the jail weaving the sheriffs lurching and stumbling figure between himself and the general location of sam caldwell walt amos called out link look hes c coming 0 ming round the baill you got guts kid horse dunn said he got around the jail backed over the crest of the hill he wished that he knew where link bender had gone of them all link bender was the fox just over the crest was the long adobe wall of a storehouse long since ruined he got his bif back against the remains of this wu and here rested tor for he had been almost carrying the sheriff with one hand for a moment or two then the night was very still his eyes were searching shadows trying to I 1 spot pot his enemies but what came to his mind then was that the breeze from the desert was fresh and sweet and very very precious in his lungs lung s and the moonlight that betrayed him was very lovely and he sav saw again the light of just such a blue silver moon as this that had once played curious tricks as it wavered in the pale hair of the woman who had become marians mother suddenly walt amos twisted like a mountain lamountain lion and his back was a trong strong as the back of a young horse horse smashed out overhand with the gun butt in his fist and amos went down as it if felled by the blow of a silvertip and lay quiet dunn halt half turned and from the end of the adobe wall flame spurt ed cd to the roar of a forty five horse dunn flattened hi himself against the adobe and his knees bent the tha old derringer almost slipped from his fingers but he caught it and held it tight slowly he slid down until he was crouched upon one knee he was waiting gathering SU all his strength he knew then that it 4 some freak of luck gave him one more chance at his enemies he would not be able to carry car ry through the promise he had made himself in marian Marlan e name ame A figure fig ure moved along the shadow of the adobe coming closer cautiously tiou sly that would belink be link bender the old tighter fighter could no longer judge distances very well ile he waited as long as he dared in his ebbing strength suddenly horse dunn rose straight upward on his heels hurled the empty derringer in benders face and lunged forward his big hands groped in thickening darkness for his gun arm A gun was talking and a second gun and a third filling the night with battle uproar clorse dunn stood straight up staggered backward two steps found the support of the adobe wall then folded at the knees and went down slowly his fingers gripping at the adobe bricks tho the sand weathered touring car stood lightless in a clump of creosote bush a hundred paces oil oh the inspiration road val douglas and steve hurley were draped in the front froni seat their legs hanging over the doors billy wheeler lay full length on a running board trying to doze and though marian was supposed to be asleep in the back seat he knew that she was as broad awake as he TO BE CONTINUED |