All This War-talk About Injuns
: The Heritage Of The SiouxOver his second cup of coffee the pale eyes of Big Medicine goggled
thoughtfully at the forbidding wall of lava rock that stretched before
them as far as he could see to left or right. There were places here and
there where he believed that a man could climb to the top with the aid
of his hands as well as his feet, but for the horses he was extremely
skeptical; and as for a certain big red automobile.... His eyes swung
Luck, who was just then reaching forward to spear another slice of bacon
from the frying pan.
"Kinda looks to me, by cripes, as if we'd come to the end uh the trail,"
he observed in his usual full-lunged bellow, as though he had all his
life been accustomed to pitching his voice above some unending clamor.
"Yuh got any idee of how an autyMObile clumb that there rim-rock?"
Old Applehead, squatting on his heels across the little camp-fire,
leaned and picked a coal out of the ashes for his pipe and afterwards
cocked his eyes toward Big Medicine.
"What yuh calc'late yuh tryin' to do?" he inquired pettishly. "Start
up an argyment uh some kind? Cause if ye air, lemme tell yuh I got the
yer-ache from listenin' to you las' night."
Big Medicine looked at him as though he was going to spring upon him in
deadly combat--but that was only a peculiar facial trick of his. What
he did do was to pour that last swallow of hot, black coffee down his
throat and then laugh his big haw-haw-haw that could be heard half a
mile off.
"Y' oughta kep Applehead to home with the wimmin folks, Luck," he bawled
unabashed. "Night air's bad fer 'im, and the trail ain't goin' to be
smooth goin',--not if we gotta ride our hawses straight up, by cripes!"
"We haven't got to." Luck balanced his slice of bacon upon the
unscorched side of a bannock and glanced indifferently at the rim of
rock that was worrying the other. "I swung down here to make camp off
the trail But it's only a half mile or so over this rise that looks
level to you, to where the lava ledge peters out so we can ride over it
easier than we rode up off the river-flat in that loose sand. That ease
your mind any?"
"Helps some," Big Medicine admitted, his eyes going speculatively to the
rise that looked perfectly level. "I'm willin' to take your word fer
it, boss. But what's gittin' to worry me, by cripes, is all this here
war-talk about Injuns. Honest to grandma, I feel like as if I'd been
readin'--"
"Aw, it's jest a josh, Bud!" Happy Jack asserted boredly. "I betche
there ain't been a Injun on the fight here sence hell was a tradin'
post!"
"You think there hasn't?" Luck looked up quickly to ask. But old
Applehead rose up and shook an indignant finger at Happy Jack.
"There ain't, hey? Well, I calc'late that fer a josh, them thar Navvies
has got a right keen sense uh humor, and I've knowed men to laff
theirselves to death on their danged resavation--now I'm tellin' yuh I
It was all a josh mebby, when they riz up a year or two back 'cause one
uh their tribe was goin' t' be arrested er some darn thing! Ole General
Scott, he didn't call it no joke when he, went in thar to settle 'em
down, did he? I calc'late, mebby it was jest fer a josh them troops
waited on the aidge, ready to go in if he didn't git back a certain
time! 'N' that wasn't so fur back, shorely,--only two years. Why dang
your fool heart, I've laid out there in them hills myself and fit
off the Navvies--'n' I didn't see nothin' much to laugh at, now I'm
tellin' yuh! Time I went there after Jose Martinez--"
"Better get under way, boys," Luck interrupted, having heard many times
the details of that fight and capture. "We'll throw out a circle and
pick up the trail of that machine, or whatever they made their getaway
in. My idea is that they must have stached some horses out here
somewhere. I don't believe they'd take the risk of trying to get away
in a machine; that would hold them to the main trails, mostly. I know it
wouldn't be my way of getting outa reach. I'd want horses so I could get
into rough country, and I've doped it out that Ramon is too trail-wise
to bank very high on an automobile once he got out away from town.
Applehead, you and Lite and Pink and Weary form one party if it comes
to where we want to divide forces. Pack a complete camp outfit on the
sorrel and the black--you notice that's the way I had 'em packed first.
Keep their packs just as we started out, then you'll be ready to strike
out by yourselves whenever it seems best. Get me?"
"We get you, boss," Weary sang out cheerfully, and went to work
gathering up the breakfast things and putting them into two little piles
for the packs. Pink led up the black and the sorrel, and helped to pack
them with bedding and supplies for four, as Luck had ordered, while Lite
and Applehead saddled their horses and then came up to help throw the
diamond hitches on the packs.
A couple of rods nearer the rock wall Happy Jack was grumbling, across
the canvas pack of a little bay, at Big Medicine, who was warning
him against leaving his hair so long as a direct temptation to
scalp-lifting. Luck bad already mounted and ridden out a little way,
where he could view the country behind them with his field glasses,
to make sure that in the darkness they had not passed by anything that
deserved a closer inspection. He came back at a lope and motioned to
Andy and the Native Son.
"That red automobile is standing back about half a mile," he announced
hurriedly. "Empty and deserted, looks like. We'll go back and take a
look at it. The rest of you can finish packing and wait here till we
come back. No use making extra travel for your horses. They'll get all
they need, the chances are."
The red automobile was empty of everything but the upholstering and a
jack in the toolbox. The state license number was gone, and the serial
number on the engine had been hammered into illegibility. What tracks
there were had been blown nearly full of the white sand of that
particular locality There was nothing to be learned there, except the
very patent fact that the machine bad been abandoned for some reason.
Luck took a look at the engine and saw nothing wrong with it. There was
oil and there was "gas"--a whole tank full. Andy and Miguel, riding
an ever-widening circle around the machine while Luck was looking for
evidence of a breakdown, ran across a lot of hoofprints that seemed to
head straight away past the rim-rock and on to the hills.
They picked up the trail of the hoofprints and followed it. When they
returned to the others they found the boys all mounted and waiting
impatiently like hounds on the leash eager to get away on the chase. Six
horses there were, and even old Applehead, who was in a bad humor that
morning and seemed to hate agreeing with anyone, admitted that probably
the four who had committed the robbery and left town in the machine had
been met out here by a man who brought horses for them and one extra
pack horse. This explained the number in the most plausible manner, and
satisfied everyone that they were on the right trail.
Riding together--since they were on a plain trail and there was nothing
to be gained by separating--they climbed to the higher mesa, crossed the
ridge of the three barren hills that none of them but Applehead had ever
passed, and went on and on and on as the hoofprints led them, straight
toward the reservation.
They discussed the robbery from every angle--they could think of, and
once or twice someone hazarded a guess at Annie-Many-Ponies' reason
for leaving and her probable destination. They wondered how old Dave
Wiswell, the dried little cattleman of The Phantom Herd, was making out
in Denver, where he had gone to consult a specialist about some kidney
trouble that had interfered with his riding all spring. Weary suggested
that maybe Annie-Many-Ponies had taken a notion to go and visit old
Dave, since the two were old friends.
It was here that Applehead unwittingly put into words the vague
suspicion which Luck had been trying to stifle and had not yet faced as
a definite idea.
"I calc'late we'll likely find that thar squaw putty tol'ble close to
whar we find Bill Holmes," Applehead remarked sourly. "Her goin'
off same, day they stuck up that bank don't look to me like no
happenstance--now I'm tellin' yuh! 'N' if I was shurf, and was ast to
locate that squaw, I'd keep right on the trail uh Bill Holmes, jest as
we're doin' now."
"That isn't like Annie," Luck said sharply to, still the conviction in
his own mind. "Whatever faults she may have, she's been loyal to me, and
honest. Look how she stuck last winter, when she didn't have anything at
stake, wasn't getting any salary, and yet worked like a dog to help
make the picture a success. Look how she got up in the night when the
blizzard struck, and fed our horses and cooked breakfast of her own
accord, just so I could get out early and get my scenes. I've known
her since she was a dirty-faced papoose, and I never knew her to lie
or steal. She wasn't in on that robbery--I'll bank on that, and she
wouldn't go off with a thief. It isn't like Annie."
"Well," said Big Medicine, thinking of his own past, "the best uh women
goes wrong when some knot-headed man gits to lovemakin'. They'll do
things fer the wrong kinda man, by cripes, that they wouldn't do fer no
other human on earth. I've knowed a good woman to lie and steal--fer
a man that wasn't fit, by cripes, to tip his hat to 'er in the street!
Women," he added pessimistically, "is something yuh can't bank on, as
safe as yuh can on a locoed horse!" He kicked his mount unnecessarily
by way of easing the resentment which one woman had managed to instil
against the sex in general.
"That's where you're darned right, Bud," Pink attested with a sudden
bitterness which memory brought. "I wouldn't trust the best woman that
ever lived outa my sight, when you come right down to cases."
"Aw, here!" Andy Green, thinking loyally of his Rosemary, swung his
horse indignantly toward the two. "Cut that out, both of you! Just
because you two got stung, is no reason why you've got to run down all
the rest of the women. I happen to know one--"
"Aw, nobody was talking about Rosemary," Big Medicine apologized
gruffly. "She's different; any fool knows that."
"Well, I've got a six-gun here that'll talk for another one," silent
Lite Avery spoke up suddenly. "One that would tip the scales on the
woman's side for goodness if the rest of the whole sex was bad."
"Oh, thunder!" Pink cried, somewhat redder than the climbing sun alone
would warrant. "I'll take it back. I didn't mean THEM--you know darned
well I didn't mean them--nor lots of other women I know. What I meant
was--"
"What you meant was Annie," Luck broke in uncompromisingly. "And I'm not
condemning her just because things look black. You don't know Indians
the way I know them. There's some things an Indian will do, and then
again there's some things they won't do. You boys don't know it--but
yesterday morning when we left the ranch, Annie-Many-Ponies made me the
peace-sign. And after that she went into her tent and began to sing the
Omaha. It didn't mean anything to you--Old Dave is the only one that
would have sabed, and he wasn't there. But it meant enough to me that
I came pretty near riding back to have a pow-wow with Annie, even if we
were late. I wish I had. I'd have less on my conscience right now."
"Fur's I kin see," Applehead dissented impatiently, "you ain't got
no call to have nothin' on your conscience where that thar squaw is
concerned. You treated her a hull lot whiter'n what she deserved--now
I'm tellin' ye! 'N' her traipsin' around at nights 'n'--"
"I tell you, you don't know Indians!" Luck swung round in the saddle
so that he could face Applehead. "You don't know the Sioux, anyway. She
wouldn't have made me that peace-sign if she'd been double-crossing me,
I tell you. And she wouldn't have sung the Omaha if she was going to
throw in with a thief that was trying to lay me wide open to suspicion.
I've been studying things over in my mind, and there's something in this
affair I can't sabe. And until you've got some proof, the less you say
about Annie-Many-Ponies the better I'll be pleased."
That, coming from Luck in just that tone and with just that look in his
eyes, was tantamount to an ultimatum, and it was received as one. Old
Applehead grunted and chewed upon a wisp of his sunburned mustache that
looked like dried cornsilk after a frost. The Happy Family exchanged
careful glances and rode meekly along in silence. There was not a man
of them but believed that Applehead was nearer right than Luck, but they
were not so foolish as to express that belief.
After a while Big Medicine began bellowing tunelessly that old ditty,
once popular but now half forgotten:
"Nava, Nava, My Navaho-o
I have a love for you that will grow-ow!"
Which stirred old Applehead to an irritated monologue upon the theme of
certain persons whose ignorance is not blissful, but trouble-inviting.
Applehead, it would seem from his speech upon the subject, would be a
much surprised ex-sheriff--now a deputy--if they were not all captured
and scalped, if not worse, the minute their feet touched the forbidden
soil of these demons in human form, the Navajo Indians.
"If they were not too busy weaving blankets for Fred Harvey," Luck
qualified with his soft Texan drawl and the smile that went with it.
"You talk as if these boys were tourists."
"Yes," added Andy Green maliciously, "here comes a war-party now, boys.
Duck behind a rock, Applehead, they're liable to charge yuh fer them
blankets!"
The Happy Family laughed uproariously, to the evident bewilderment of
the two Indians who, swathed in blankets and with their hair knotted and
tied with a green ribbon and a yellow, drove leisurely toward the group
in an old wagon that had a bright new seat and was drawn by a weazened
span of mangy-looking bay ponies. In the back of the wagon sat a young
squaw and two papooses, and beside them were stacked three or four
of the gay, handwoven rugs for which the white people will pay many
dollars.
"Buenas dias," said the driver of the wagon, who was an oldish Indian
with a true picture-postal face. And: "Hello," said the other, who was
young and wore a bright blue coat, such as young Mexicans affect.
"Hello, folks," cried the Happy Family genially, and lifted their
hats to the good-looking young squaw in the wagon-bed, who tittered in
bashful appreciation of the attention.
"Mama! They sure are wild and warlike," Weary commented drily as he
turned to stare after the wagon.
"Us little deputies had better run home," Pink added with mock alarm.
"By cripes, I know now what went with Applehead's hair!" bawled Big
Medicine. "Chances is, it's weaved into that red blanket the old buck is
wearin'--Haw-haw-haw!"
"Laff, dang ye, laff!" Applehead cried furiously. "But do your laffing
where I can't hear ye, fer I'm tellin' ye right now I've had enough of
yore dang foolishness. And the next feller that makes a crack is goin'
to wisht he hadn't now I'm tellin' ye!"
This was not so much an ultimatum as a declaration of war--and the Happy
Family suddenly found themselves all out of the notion of laughing at
anything at all.
More
-
A Stable On The Flat
When the first landmark, the lone clump of cottonwoods, came at length in sight, dark and blurred in the gentle rain, standing out perhaps a mile beyond the distant buildings, my whole weary body hailed the approach of repose. Saving the noon hour... A Stop By Wire
Three days later the infantry guard of the garrison were in sole charge. Wren and Sanders, with nearly fifty troopers apiece, had taken the field in compliance with telegraphic orders from Prescott. The general had established field headquarters t... A Story Is Begun
"It's fonny t'ing how two brown eye Was changin' everything-- De cloud she's no more on de sky, An' winter's jus' lak' spring Dey mak' my pack so very light, De trail, she's not so long-- I'd walk it forty... A Strange Coming
With one orderly and a pair of Apache Yuma scouts, Neil Blakely had set forth in hopes of making his way to Snow Lake, far up in the range to the east. The orderly was all very well,--like most of his fellows, game, true, and tried,--but few were ... A Stranger Going
At the first faint flush of dawn the little train of pack mules, with the rations for the beleaguered command at Sunset Pass, was started on its stony path. Once out of the valley of the Beaver it must clamber over range after range and stumble th... A Stricken Sentry
Sentry duty at Camp Sandy along in '75 had not been allowed to bear too heavily on its little garrison. There was nothing worth stealing about the place, said Plume, and no pawn-shop handy. Of course there were government horses and mules, food an... A Tangled Skein
When Burrell entered he wasted no time in greetings. "I know why you sent for me, Poleon. I've heard the news, and I would have been up anyhow to congratulate her very soon. I call it pretty fine." "Yes, dere's been beeg strike all right, an'... A Telegram And A Girl
Banker Braman went to bed on the cot in the back room shortly after Corrigan departed from Manti. He stretched himself out with a sigh, oppressed with the conviction that he had done a bad day's work in antagonizing Trevison. The Diamond K owner w... A Thankless Task
Modoc waited, as if for an answer, and when it did not come, his face took on an expression of anger, in which cunning seemed to be mingled. "What's yore message?" he rasped. It took Kid Wolf several seconds to recover his composure. Was the w... A Tilt With Sir Redmond
Beatrice, standing on the top of a steep, grassy slope, was engaged in the conventional pastime of enjoying the view. It was a fine view, but it was not half as good to look upon as was Beatrice herself, in her fresh white waist and brown skirt, w... A Touch Of The Third Degree
Cullison was not the man to acknowledge himself beaten so long as there was a stone unturned. In the matter of the Del Oro homestead claim he moved at once. All of the county commissioners were personal friends of his, and he went to them with a p... A Trap For Job Haskers
"What do you think of it, Dave?" "I think Job Haskers is up to some game, Roger." "Selling worthless stocks?" "Yes, or else stocks that are next door to worthless." "I wonder who the old gentleman can be? He looks as if he might have mon... A Treasure Of The Galleon
Her father's house was nearly a mile from the sea, but the breath of it was always strong at the windows and doors in the early morning, and when there were heavy "southwesters" blowing in the winter, the wind brought the sharp sting of sand to he... A Trip To Bald Eagle Rock
Molly gave one glance and screamed. Then flung herself to her knees and buried her face in Helena's lap, who pityingly drew her light skirt over the child's head. Nobody else moved nor spoke. All felt their last hour had come. "An Indian raid!"... A Vanished Heroine
Within forty-eight hours of the coming of Trooper Kennedy with his "rush" despatches to Fort Frayne, the actors in our little drama had become widely separated. Webb and his sturdy squadron, including Ray and such of his troop as still had mounts ... A Villon Of The Desert
When Alice Mackenzie looked back in after years upon the incidents connected with that ride to the Rocking Chair, it was always with a kind of glorified pride in her villain-hero. He had his moments, had this twentieth-century Villon, when he repres... A Walk In The Park
June was the first to speak. "So you're here. You didn't get away." "I'm here," Houck growled. "No chance for a getaway. I ran out the back door of the bank an' ducked into the hotel. This was the first door I come to, an' I headed in." She w... A War Of Wits
"Kidnaped? Gordon Wade?" At Dorothy's announcement, Mrs. Purnell sank, with a gasp, into her rocking-chair, astonished beyond expression. She listened, with anxiety scarce less than her daughter's, to the girl's account of the event as she had ... A Warning
Joyce, a lover of luxury, usually had a roll and coffee in bed as a substitute for breakfast. Sometimes she varied this by appearing late at the table and putting the attendants to unnecessary trouble. This she always paid for with murmurs of apol... A Warning And A Surprise
Dave Law slept for twenty hours, and even when he awoke it was not to a clear appreciation of his surroundings. At first he was relieved to find that the splitting pain in his head was gone, but imagined himself to be still in the maddening local ... A Wild Cat
The Lazy-Y ranch-house, a one-storied building of logs, was built about three sides of a paved court. In the middle of this court stood a well with a high rustic top, and about this well on a certain brilliant July night, a tall man was strolling ... A Woman Rides In Vain
Out of Rosalind Benham's resentment against Trevison for the Hester Harvey incident grew a sudden dull apathy--which presently threatened to become an aversion--for the West. Its crudeness, the uncouthness of its people; the emptiness, the monoton... A Woman's Plot
Woman's intuition often far outstrips the slower mental process of the other sex. The mother who has to see a beloved daughter's silent suffering, well knowing another girl to be, however indirectly, the cause of it, sees all manner of other iniqu... A Yellow Dog
I never knew why in the Western States of America a yellow dog should be proverbially considered the acme of canine degradation and incompetency, nor why the possession of one should seriously affect the social standing of its possessor. But the f... Absent From Duty
For a moment the major stood in silence; then, briefly saying, "Call Captain Ray," turned again to the dimly lighted hallway of his commodious quarters, (the women thought it such a shame there should be no "lady of the house" for the largest and ... Adore Has Only One D
After all, adventures are to the adventurous. In this prosaic twentieth century the Land of Romance still beckons to eager eyes and gallant hearts. The rutted money-grabber may deny till he is a nerve-racked counting-machine, but youth, even to the ... Adventure Comes Smiling
Luck, in the course of his enthusiastic picture making, reached the point where he must find a bank that was willing to be robbed--in broad daylight and for screen purposes only. If you know anything at all about our financial storehouses, you know ... Aftermath
Joan waited for Prosper on the appointed afternoon. There was a fire on her hearth and a March snow-squall tapped against the window panes. The crackle of the logs inside and that eerie, light sound outside were so associated with Prosper that, ev... Again A Hidden Enemy
The boys were early astir the following morning. As soon as they were up Capt. Pipe's wife placed a dish of boiled corn, like hominy, before them, and this was their breakfast. A little later, telling Capt. Pipe of the great amount of work they ha... Against The Bars
Jasper Morena had stood for an hour in a drafty passage of that dirty labyrinth known vaguely to the public as "behind the scenes," listening to the wearisome complaints of a long-nosed young actor. It was the sixth of such conversations that he h... Agood Fellow's Wife
I LIFE in the small towns of the older West moves slowly-almost as slowly as in the seaport villages or little towns of the East. Towns like Tyre and Bluff Siding have grown during the last twenty years, but very slowly, by almost imperceptible d... Ain't She The Gamest Little Thoroughbred?
Kate galloped into the ranch plaza around which the buildings were set, slipped from her pony, and ran at once to the telephone. Bob was on a side porch mending a bridle. "Have you heard anything from dad?" she cried through the open door. "N... Aline Makes A Discovery
Aline pulled her horse to a walk. "You know Mr. Ridgway pretty well, don't you?" Miss Balfour gently flicked her divided skirt with a riding-whip, considering whether she might be said to know him well. "Yes, I think I do," she ventured. "Mrs.... Aline Turns A Corner
Aline might have been completely prostrated by the news of her husband's sudden end, coming as it did as the culmination of a week of strain and horror. That she did not succumb was due, perhaps, to Ridgway's care for her. When Harley's massive gray... All Heroes But One
As we rode up the slope of Buckskin, the sunrise glinted red-gold through the aisles of frosted pines, giving us a hunter's glad greeting. With all due respect to, and appreciation of, the breaks of the Siwash, we unanimously decided that if couga... All In The Day's Work
The next morning the herds moved out like brigades of an army on dress-parade. Our front covered some six or seven miles, the Buford cattle in the lead, while those intended for Indian delivery naturally fell into position on flank and rear. My beev... All This War-talk About Injuns
Over his second cup of coffee the pale eyes of Big Medicine goggled thoughtfully at the forbidding wall of lava rock that stretched before them as far as he could see to left or right. There were places here and there where he believed that a man co... Along The Mountain Trail
The boys had expected some such answer as this, so they were not greatly surprised. They were introduced to the storekeeper by Tom Dillon, who then asked if Abe Blower had been alone. "No, he had two others with him--strangers to me," answered D... Amber Spring
No unusual circumstances was it for Oldring and some of his men to visit Cottonwoods in the broad light of day, but for him to prowl about in the dark with the hoofs of his horses muffled meant that mischief was brewing. Moreover, to Vente... Ambushed
Red Linton had ridden eastward to examine the grass of the range in that direction, for it had been some days since he had sent Stroud to the southern range, and since the cattle had been there for some time before that Linton felt they should be ... Among The Corn Rows
I "But the road sometimes passes a rich meadow, where the songs o/ larks and bobolinks and blackbirds are tangled." ROB held up his hands, from which the dough depended in ragged strings. "Biscuits," he said with an elaborate working of his ... An Accusation
The rescued man ate, drank, and from sheer fatigue fell asleep within five minutes of the time he was shown his bedroom. Since he was not of the easily discouraged kind, the deputy stayed to supper on invitation of Lee. He sat opposite the daugh... An Alternative Proposed And Declined
The prediction made by Blister Haines that some overbearing puncher would bully Bob because of his reputation as safe game did not long wait fulfillment. A new rider joined the Slash Lazy D outfit. He had been working for the K Bar T for a couple ... An Ambitious Man-child Was Buddy
In hot mid afternoon when the acrid, gray dust cloud kicked up by the listless plodding of eight thousand cloven hoofs formed the only blot on the hard blue above the Staked Plains, an ox stumbled and fell awkwardly under his yoke, and refused to sc... An Apache Queen
In the slant of the evening sunshine a young girl, an Indian, was crouching among the bare rocks at the edge of a steep and rugged descent. One tawny little hand, shapely in spite of scratches, was uplifted to her brows, shading her keen and restl... An Arrest
After half a week in the saddle Lieutenant Bucky O'Connor of the Arizona Rangers and Curly Flandrau reached Saguache tired and travel-stained. They had combed the Rincons without having met hide or hair of the men they wanted. Early next morning t... An Assisted Providence
IT was the Christmas turkeys that should be held responsible. Every year the Lossings give each head of a family in their employ, and each lad helping to support his mother, a turkey at Christmastide. As the business has grown, so has the number of ... An Awakening
Time was when Phil Strange boasted that he and his wife had played every fair-ground and seaside amusement-park from Coney Island to Galveston. In his battered wardrobe-trunks were parts of old costumes, scrapbooks of clippings, and a goodly colle... An Elopement
Bob Dillon was peeling potatoes outside the chuck tent when he heard a whistle he recognized instantly. It was a very good imitation of a meadow-lark's joyous lilt. He answered it, put down the pan and knife, and rose. "Where you going?" demand... An Episode Of Fiddletown
In 1858 Fiddletown considered her a very pretty woman. She had a quantity of light chestnut hair, a good figure, a dazzling complexion, and a certain languid grace which passed easily for gentle-womanliness. She always dressed becomingly, and in w... An Escape And A Capture
Far up in the mountains, in that section where head the Roaring Fork, One Horse Creek, and the Del Oro, is a vast tract of wild, untraveled country known vaguely as the Bad Lands. Somewhere among the thousand and one canyons which cleft the huddle... An Evening At Las Palmas
Although the lower counties of southwest Texas are flat and badly watered, they possess a rich soil. They are favored, too, by a kindly climate, subtropic in its mildness. The days are long and bright and breezy, while night brings a drenching dew... An Evening Call
"Says you're to come right up, Mr. Ridgway," the bell-hop reported, and after he had pocketed his tip, went sliding off across the polished floor to answer another call. The president of the Mesa Ore-producing Company turned with a good-humored s... An Explosion In The Taurus
The change of the relationship between Ridgway and his betrothed, brought about by the advent of a third person into his life, showed itself in the manner of their greeting. She had always been chary of lovers' demonstrations, but until his return f... An Hour Too Late
"I had an idea that's who it was when you described him," said Sheriff Hardenberg, to whom Stratton returned at once with the news. "There's only one 'Paul' around here who fits the bill, and he sure does to perfection." "Who is he?" asked Buck... An Initialed Hat
Mackenzie was reading the Sentinel while he ate a late breakfast. He had it propped against the water bottle, so that it need not interfere with the transportation of sausages, fried potatoes, hot cakes, and coffee to their common destination. ... An Invitation Given And Accepted
And already she had met him. Not only met him, but saved him from the just vengeance about to fall upon him. She had not yet seen her own ranch, had not spoken to a single one of her employees, for it had been a part of her plan to drop in unexpecte... An Obstinate Man Stands Pat
A moment of blank silence fell on the little group crouched among the boulders. Bob's statement that he had to go back through the fire zone--to Houck--had fallen among them like a mental bombshell. Blister was the first to find his voice. "You ... An Open-air Prison
An hour after mass Father Esteban had quietly installed Hurlstone in a small cell-like apartment off the refectory. The household of the priest consisted of an old Indian woman of fabulous age and miraculous propriety, two Indian boys who served a... An Out And Out Rotter
Jack strode through the young alders to his horse, swung to the saddle without touching the stirrups, and was off instantly at a canter. He rode fast, evidently with a direct driving purpose to reach a particular destination. The trail was a rough... An Unexpected Departure
Dorothy looked after the fleeing little figure as it disappeared behind a clump of shrubbery in the direction of the laundry. "A child of one of the workmen, I suppose, but such an odd, quaint looking child," she thought, and rejoined her mates.... An Unwelcome Guest
It was late afternoon when Barbara and Harlan--the girl still riding a little in advance of the man--rode their horses out of a stretch of broken country featured by low, barren hills and ragged draws, and came to the edge of a vast level of sage ... And A Knot Tightened
A day of shattered hopes is a desolate thing, but the night of such a day is desolate indeed. In all his life Poleon Doret had never sunk to such depths of despondency, for his optimistic philosophy and his buoyant faith in the goodness of life fo... And Bud Never Guessed
That night, when he had been given a bath in the little zinc tub they used for washing clothes, and had been carefully buttoned inside a clean undershirt of Bud's, for want of better raiment, Lovin Child missed something out of his sleepytime cudding. ... And Rides Again In Vain
Rosalind's reflections as she rode toward the Bar B convinced her that there had been much truth in Corrigan's arraignment of Trevison. Out of her own knowledge of him, and from his own admission to her on the day they had ridden to Blakeley's the... And The Villain Pursued Her
The young man called Gil,--to avoid wasting time in saying Gilbert James Huntley,--mounted in haste and rode warily up the coulee some distance behind Jean. At that time and in that locality he was quite anxious that she should not discover him. G... Andy Green's New Acquaintance
Andy Green, chief prevaricator of the Happy Family of the Flying U--and not ashamed of either title or connection--pushed his new Stetson back off his untanned forehead, attempted to negotiate the narrow passage into a Pullman sleeper with his suitc... Andy Takes A Hand In The Game
Andy Green was a day late in arriving at the Flying U. First he lost time by leaving the train thirty miles short of the destination marked on his ticket, and when he did resume his journey on the next train, he traveled eighty-four miles beyond Dry... Annie's Boy
When Bruce was left alone in the gloomy canyon, where the winter sun at its best did not shine more than three hours in the twenty-four, he had wondered whether the days or nights would be the hardest to endure. It was now well into December, and ... Annie-many-ponies Waits
In the magic light of many unnamable soft shades which the sun leaves in New Mexico as a love token for his dark mistress night, Annie-Many-Ponies sat with her back against a high, flat rock at the place where Ramon had said she must wait for him, a... Anonymous Letters
Sheriff Bolt, though a politician, was an honest man. It troubled him that Cullison's friends believed him to be a partisan in a matter of this sort. For which reason he met more than half way Curly's overtures. Young Flandrau was in the office of... Another Landslide
It was another landslide, crashing and roaring down the side of the mountain, carrying rocks, dirt, and brushwood before it. The earth roared and shook, and it was said afterwards that the slide could be heard many miles away. Down in the mine ...