JIM WARING OF SONORA-TOWN OR, TANG OF LIFE BY HENRY HERBERT KNIBBS AUTHOR OF OVERLAND RED, ETC. ILLUSTRATIONS BY E. BOYD SMITH August 1918 To Robert Frothingham [Illustration: Waring of Sonora-Town] Waring of Sonora-Town _The heat acrost the desert was a-swimmin' in the sun, When Waring of Sonora-Town, Jim Waring of Sonora-Town, From Salvador come ridin' down, a-rollin' of his gun. He was singin' low and easy to his pony's steady feet, But his eye was live and driftin' Round the scenery and siftin' All the crawlin' shadows shiftin' in the tremblin' gray mesquite. Eyes was watchin' from a hollow where a outlaw Chola lay; Two black, snaky eyes a-yearnin' For Jim's hoss to make the turnin', Then to send a bullet burnin' through his back--the Chola way. And Jim Waring's gaze, a-rovin' round the desert as he rode, Settled quick--without him seemin' To get wise and quit his dreamin'-- On a shiny ring a-gleamin' where no ring had ever growed. The lightnin' don't give warnin'; just a lick and she is through; Waring set his gun to smokin' Playful like, like he was jokin', And--a Chola lay a-chokin' ... and a buzzard cut the blue._ Contents I. The Cañon II. José Vaca III. Donovan's Hand IV. The Silver Crucifix V. The Tang of Life VI. Arizona VII. The Return of Waring VIII. Lorry IX. High-Chin Bob X. East and West XI. Spring Lamb XII. Bud Shoop and Bondsman XIII. The Horse Trade XIV. Bondsman's Decision XV. John and Demijohn XVI. Play XVII. Down the Wind XVIII. A Piece of Paper XIX. The Fight in the Open XX. City Folks XXI. A Slim Whip of a Girl XXII. A Tune for Uncle Bud XXIII. Like One Who Sleeps XXIV. The Genial Bud XXV. The Little Fires XXVI. Idle Noon XXVII. Waco XXVIII. A Squared Account XXIX. Bud's Conscience XXX. In the Hills XXXI. In the Pines XXXII. Politics XXXIII. The Fires of Home XXXIV. Young Life XXXV. The High Trail Illustrations Waring of Sonora-Town A huddled shape near a boulder "I came over--to tell you--that it was Pat's gun" They made coffee and ate the sandwiches she had prepared _From drawings by E. Boyd Smith_ TANG OF LIFE Chapter I _The Cañon_ Waring picketed his horse in a dim angle of the Agua Fria Cañon, spread his saddle-blanket to dry in the afternoon sun, and, climbing to a narrow ledge, surveyed the cañon from end to end with a pair of high-power glasses. He knew the men he sought would ride south. He was reasonably certain that they would not ride through the cañon in daylight. The natural trail through the Agua Fria was along the western wall; a trail that he had avoided, working his toilsome way down the eastern side through a labyrinth of brush and rock that had concealed him from view. A few hundred yards below his hasty camp a sandy arroyo crossed the cañon's mouth.