r of Cottonwoods. The sheriff of Badger and I cut him down, and because the time was summer and the flies were bad, we buried him with a

, "but it's Tom Rooker. You remember ol' Ro

ly-deep in the current and eating of watercress. Some birds cheeped in a leafy thicket beside the trail. The Willows was a paradise. Then a black shadow flitted in front, as we emerged into a gla

d: "I shouldn't have left town

had t

if I'd been home. Poor ol' Tom-he was

As we went, the sheriff talked of the hanging. He spoke in a hushed tone, as though th

f Bud Walton's

Walton could have shot Tom with mu

is thigh in passionate determination. "I tell you, Dan, I'm a-going to put a stop to this trouble. Fellers lik

t's what they

rything in six months. I've got to move according to law, being

t in a dejected chop-trot. It was almost noon, and the heat waves were lifting from the groun

from there six years back," he

it being the custom to inter clo

that rise. But you get your eye on that tree. Not

. "You don't believe that

he said patiently,

stition, but the sheriff had not

ent on, "and I've seen eight trees that looked as if the devil had smas

ere must have been a beautiful fight before the Walton faction secured Rooker, he dismissed that possibility with an impatient snort. It was like that Jeff Thomas had been away, he sai

ight? Say, Dan, if you take my advice, you'll hit th

ein; it might have been an impressionistic painting of a Dutch canal. A mile from the first house, the sheriff pulled up and bade me remain where I was, whilst he entered Badger. His ins

into your hide. It's like some fool will start something

reparations for his by looking carefully to his six-shooter. Then he nodde

hes all the heat of the ages and sends it sizzling over Badger. There are a general store and a butcher shop; two Eating Houses, one at the Fashion, the other conducted by a Chinaman; and a broken line of one-story, two-roomed dwellings of rough boards. Beyond that again, a few adobe huts straggle for a full half-mile. They are the

kened office, and bestowed a sardonic grin. Then he made a fanciful gesture, as of drawing a loop around his neck. Next, he was fighting violently for breath, and he was still engaged in this a

-poppin'," said Tim

no fracas promises. He told me all about it now, with a most unholy glee, alt

away in the mountains when his enemy made the round of his usual haunts, and Jeff's slowly enunciated insults to Bud's adherents had not been taken up. So, fearing an outbreak that would stain Badger's fair name, the express agent and the general-store man, the butcher, and five other reputable citizens had proposed a compromise, in order t

, Dan, I'd say Bud has got it on Thomas in some ways. Yes, sir;

es for temporary peace, but has a decided tendency to be irksome to citizens who would be nonpartisan, and it usually ends by a casual trespass, or one of intent, pr

r his gun to the bartender of the first place of call. This signifies that his designs are peaceful, and perhaps honest, and it also keeps him out of a heap of mischief. Besides, if

n a corner by himself, practicing sleight-of-hand with a pack of cards, faro being his profession.

The Fashion being on his domain, this occasioned no surprise

ton's been making threats

ly. "Seems to me, Jeff, him and you

fellers he'd get me ins

tter keep out of h

reats, I tell you. I done got a permit from the justice of the pe

el

do about it? That's what I want to

died the nails of his fingers with elaborate interest. A protracted pause

-talking to you. What're

ply in his chair. He clipped his

two yellow pups start something

or a sheltering nook. Only the shiny top of the bartender's bald head was now visibl

's different again, ain't it? There's no use getting al

humor, and removed his hat. Shortly Daniel Boone returned, padding in like a wary cat, and resumed his interrupte

ashion. Jeff occupied the table nearest the bar, sitting sideways to it so as to face the entrance. Back of him was a doorless exit, which gave on to a dark passage. Thi

he placidly dealt cards to an imaginary player. The sheriff and I were in the left foreground, close enough

ghing, being forceful as a clout on the head; which may have been why she was sought after by sundry residents of those parts for wife. Whence she came or why, nobody knew. Badger held her for an honest girl, in spite of what Tilly's unchampioned contact with the world had don

g to exchange a last cheerful sally with her friend of the bottles-the sheriff said: "Dan, there

abou

er talk every day. If Tilly don't hitch up soon-why,

on't you fret. That girl's the gamest girl I ever saw, Lafe. She can tak

"Did I ever tell you how Bud Walton run it over that big Slim Terr

did Ti

hen Bud told her. Then she swore most dreadful. She

nd peered all about. It was Turner's youn

u over to the express office right away. He

Drag it, now." The head withdrew. "This ain't no place for a boy to be rou

himself, with a yawn. Then he w

bartender read a much-thumbed letter, and I builded a fort of my pile of dominoes.

id. "Now, I