Show lucky 1 1 TH i punch by WR ORMER ELOISE STONE 1 6 L he stage lor for bensons gulch w was dl to leave m tucson n gilbert B brad garried up P the dusty street and jabed aboard just as the driver P awed the horses and the coach the ched d forward lee ilce settled comfortably in his he ie casually took inventory of lillow hollow passengers besides him the a coach contained two people girl and a man rie be girls giris eyes reflected the color which trimmed her violets chica the be met her dress was of gray lin benceth the brim ot of the bont several everal curls of auburn hair aped to flutter in the draft fro from I 1 partly open window be first thing gil noticed about man was his agate hard yellow i they were set close together le r thick black eyebrows aws the in was heavily built with huge millers and hands he wore twin a belts crossed at his waist and black handles bandies of his six guns intruded from open holsters since were an all going to bensons cei wed just as well make our rits ve acquainted he said flick Us big yellow eyes over ever gil and a resting them on the girl im rt it cass mayor of be bensons sons ich aa he girl girls 8 pale face turned even ter iter her lips quivered ever so fitly as she looked with loathing ight into the yellow eyes im virginia holmes my broth wrote me about you shortly ore oe he died te ie two had forgotten gils pres ea e I 1 was mighty sorry maam en eg your brother met his untimely i i s said caid cass sorry the girl flashed wila was fighting you and your cort friends with his newspaper he t e than hinted that if an accident ill ell him you would be behind it vent ent the slightest doubt that you cd d my brother tie yellow eyes narrowed grimly me of those words are mighty A ih maam I 1 shall print some just as 23 harsh i virginia ivirginia you see you p Us big paper I 1 am going to ben gulch to publish it irginia holmes settled back into seat eat turning her body to face window abert bradly had been about to aduce himself but he saw that her of his companions was inter sa a gil would have been the first admit that he an figure he was slight barely ind and a half feet tall his gray s were mild and his clothes aked him as a newcomer to the ert country le trio rode in silence to ben s gulch orival of the stage was evidently event in the town the group men gathered tor for the occasion reminded gil of a similar band which assembled each evening to watch vatch v the train go through the ohio village where he had spent his bis youth A nearby cats cafe beckoned and gil went in to have a cup ot of coffee before going to a hotel the waiter had barely slid his brimming cup down the counter when one of 0 the onlookers from the stage depot took the next stool ile he too ordered coffee and took a deep drink before turning to gil I 1 seen you some place before he asked you look real familiar to me 1 I dont recall meeting you answered gil im new to this section of the country its a good country but I 1 cant say too much for this town dont discourage me like that when ive only been in town ten minutes smiled gil gd wrong with the town the other grunted youve met our mayor if 11 you dont already know soon find out by the time gil had been in town two weeks he had made friends with virginia holmes and incurred the enmity pt mort cass for that reason cass had learned that gil was in arizona because of his health and he never tailed failed to make a remark about Il langers lun gers when he was certain to be overheard by the smaller man gil found that not many of the townspeople liked cass but one and all they feared and obeyed him it was common gossip in bens bensons ons gulch that cass had either fired the shot that killed william holmes or ordered it fired the body of the young editor had been fol found nd in his shop one morning A group of wild cowboys from a cass controlled ranch had been drinking the night before and done a lot of wild shooting in the towns main street one of the bullets had broken the glass window of the newspaper office and lodged in the owner the coroner had given a verdict of accad accidental death As cass was all powerful in bensons gulch no one openly questioned the verdict cass was proud ot of his record as a gunman and a fighter he often boasted that whoever could lick him either on the draw or with fists could be the next mayor mort cass stay in a town where he had bad been whipped two men he had bested at gunplay were asleep on boot hill at the edge ot of town the only man who had ever fought him barehanded might as well have joined them his broken bones had not mended properly after the beating he had received and his six foot body was shrunken and misshapen virginia and gil were making their way across the street one day to dine at the western hotel cass swaggered out and moved toward them well if it aint the pretty schoolmarm turned editor and her pasty faced don john anger seethed through gil but he quite help being amused at the flagrant mispronunciation he sorry the girl hashed flashed william was fighting you and your corrupt friends with his newspaper could smell liquor on cass breath the man had been drinking heavily but was far from drunk he pushed between gil and virginia run along tenderfoot he said ill take virginia to dinner and see if 11 I 1 cant cat change her opinion ol of me a bit he started to take the girls arm she drew back and slapped him full across the face he started menacingly toward her ill learn you to slap mort cass he said gil tapped him on the ri right 9 lit shoulder As cass turned gil drove a hard left into his face the crowd which was beginning to gather gave a startled gasp cass charged at gil and for a moment it looked as if he would pummel him into the ground gils rapid foot work saved him his weaving body made a poor target tor for the larger mans bear like blows cass soon realized that this fight was not going to result in the easy victory he had expected he stepped back and warily eyed his adversary then again he be charged at gil who eluded him wild cheers rang from the crowd later when gil stood with widespread legs over the sprawled figure of mort cass oh what a lucky punch someone roared as bystanders rushed to congratulate gil lucky punch nothing cried a deep voice gil turned to face the man who had drunk coffee with him soon af after t his arrival in bensons gulch 1 I remember you now he said taking gils hand in a firm grasp 1 I saw you fight once in chicago recall the night you knocked out in the third round youre bradly once holder of the worlds world lightweight boxing crown |