Hopalong Cassidy's Rustler Round-Up; Or, Bar-20Mulford, Clarence Edward
General
Hopalong Cassidy's Rustler Round-Up; Or, Bar-20
Mulford, Clarence Edward
Cassidy, Hopalong (Fictitious character) -- Fiction; Western stories
“That's my cayuse, all right, an' he wasn't up no cactus nor roostin' on
th' roof, neither. He's th' most affectionate beast I ever saw. It took
me nigh onto six months afore I could ride him without fighting him to a
standstill,” said Mr. Cassidy to his guest. Then he turned to the horse
and looked it over. “Come here! What d'yu mean, acting thataway? Yu
ragged end of nothin' wobbling in space! Yu wall-eyed, ornery, locoed
guide to Hades! Yu won't be so frisky when yu've made them seventy hot
miles between here an' Alkaline in five hours,” he promised, as he made
his way toward the animal.
Mr. Travennes walked over to the opposite wall and took down a pouch
of tobacco which hung from a peg. He did this in a manner suggesting
ownership, and after he had deftly rolled a cigarette with one hand he
put the pouch in his pocket and, lighting up, inhaled deeply and with
much satisfaction. Mr. Cassidy turned around and glanced the group over,
wondering if the tobacco had been left in the hut on a former call.
“Did yu find yore makings?” He asked, with a note of congratulations in
his voice.
“Yep. Want one?” Asked Mr. Travennes.
Mr. Cassidy ignored the offer and turned to the guard whom he had found
asleep.
“Is that his tobacco?” He asked, and the guard, anxious to make
everything run smoothly, told the truth and answered:
“Shore. He left it here last night,” whereupon Mr. Travennes swore and
Mr. Cassidy smiled grimly.
“Then yu knows how yore cayuse got in an' how mine got out,” said the
latter. “I wish yu would explain,” he added, fondling his Colts.
Mr. Travennes frowned and remained silent.
“I can tell yu, anyhow,” continued Mr. Cassidy, still smiling, but his
eyes and jaw belied the smile. “Yu took them cayuses out because yu
wanted yourn to be found in their places. Yu remembered Santa Fe an'
it rankled in yu. Not being man enough to notify me that yu'd shoot on
sight an' being afraid my friends would get yu if yu plugged me on th'
sly, yu tried to make out that me an' Red rustled yore cayuses. That
meant a lynching with me an' Red in th' places of honor. Yu never saw
Red afore, but yu didn't care if he went with me. Yu don't deserve fair
play, but I'm going to give it to yu because I don't want anybody to say
that any of th' Bar-20 ever murdered a man, not even a skunk like yu.
My friends have treated me too square for that. Yu can take this gun an
yu can do one of three things with it, which are: walk out in th' open
a hundred paces an' then turn an walk toward me--after you face me yu can
set it a-going whenever yu want to; the second is, put it under yore hat
an' I'll put mine an' th' others back by the cayuses. Then we'll toss
up an' th' lucky man gets it to use as he wants. Th' third is, shoot
yourself.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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