The Long Dim TrailHooker, Forrestine C. (Forrestine Cooper)
General
The Long Dim Trail
Hooker, Forrestine C. (Forrestine Cooper)
Arizona -- Fiction; Cowboys -- Fiction; Ranch life -- Fiction; Western stories
There was a laugh, and in less time than it takes to relate, Glendon was
as helpless as Jack. The sight of them lying side by side was too much
for the gravity of the crowd, and laughter was unrestrained. Powell
looked down at Glendon, but there was no triumph in his heart. A woman's
pleading face rose between him and the man at his feet who was voicing
his vile thoughts and threats. Three-fingered Jack turned his head
slightly and there was a twitch of the "gun" man's mouth, but he made no
remark.
The driver of the one and only town truck was standing on the seat of
his wagon surveying the captured men. Powell called to him, "How much
will you charge to haul this load to the calaboose?"
"Do it for nothing," replied the driver promptly.
So he and Powell, assisted by many volunteers, lifted the mummy-like
forms into the wagon, then the entire assemblage followed behind the
vehicle as it moved slowly down the street.
"Gee!" laughed Holy, "That was the funniest sight I ever seed in my
life."
"Looks like the funeral of a real, respectable citizen," squeaked
Roarer.
"Well, it's Jack's funeral, sure enough," answered Limber. "He's a dead
'bad man' from now on, but the doctor has won his spurs, you bet!"
The wagon stopped in front of the little adobe building which was used
as the town jail, and Powell assisted the driver to lift the prisoners
bodily into the room which took the place of a cell. The ropes were
removed. Jack and Glendon stood free in front of their captor. He eyed
them in silence a few seconds, then said, "I want you both to understand
that I had no personal feeling in anything I did. Law is law, whether in
Arizona or any other place. Gun-play is for bullies, not men."
Neither replied. Powell picked up the two ropes and left the place.
Outside he found Limber waiting, but there was no reference to what had
just taken place. Powell handed the ropes to Limber and asked him to
locate the owners, then the doctor continued down the street to the
office of the Justice of Peace, who smiled at him cordially.
"It was just a simple trick of jiu-jitsu," explained Powell. "But now I
want to know how much the fine will be for Jack and Glendon?"
"Thirty dollars, or thirty days in the Tombstone jail," answered the
Justice.
Powell reached across the desk and appropriated a pen which he dipped
into the ink-well. He drew out his check-book, saying, "I suppose this
is permissable?" The Judge nodded.
"It may be a little hard on them to pay the fine," Powell spoke as he
wrote. "I don't want them to know who did it. Keep the matter between
ourselves. They have had a lesson, I think."
"The best in the world," responded the Judge, smiling at his
recollection of the two trussed figures in the wagon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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