THE MAN-KILLERS BY DANE COOLIDGE AUTHOR OF "THE FIGHTING FOOL," "WUNPOST," ETC. NEW YORK E.P. DUTTON & COMPANY 681 FIFTH AVENUE COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY E.P. DUTTON & COMPANY _All Rights Reserved_ _First printing_ _March, 1921_ _Second_ " _April, 1921_ Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I The Trap 1 II Meshackatee 9 III The Neutrals 19 IV Maverick Basin 30 V The Casuist 40 VI The Ultimate Cause 47 VII A Showdown 57 VIII The Good Old Simple Plan 65 IX Ambush 74 X The Sheep-War 81 XI Allifair 88 XII The Man-Killing Bassetts 96 XIII Back from the Dead 104 XIV A McIvor 112 XV The Castle in the Air 122 XVI There's Always a Way 130 XVII Indian Tactics 141 XVIII I Claim Red 151 XIX Apaches 160 XX Up Horse-Thief Canyon 167 XXI The Randolphs 175 XXII The Flight 183 XXIII The Eagles' Nest 193 XXIV No Trail 201 XXV Live Bait 208 XXVI The Man-Trap 218 XXVII Winchester Takes the Long Chance 226 XXVIII The Honor of the McIvors 232 THE MAN-KILLERS CHAPTER I THE TRAP There was a hush, a boding silence, in Deadman Canyon, and skirling hawks, flying high against the cliffs, settled down and watched expectantly. A man was riding warily up the Maverick Basin trail, and ahead, like hunting animals, two men were skulking forth to cut him off at the creek. Above them, stuck tight as mud-wasp's nests to the shelves of sun-blackened crags, the white houses of cliff-dwellers, now desolate and tenantless, gazed down upon the age-old tragedy; but the man rode on, his rifle beneath his knee, and at the stalking place of the Scarboroughs he stopped. A stream of cold water, gushing out of a deep side chasm, formed a swirl in the tepid waters of the creek; and close to its edge a flat stone had been laid, where a man could kneel and drink. He knelt, and when he rose up he was looking down a gun. "Put 'em up!" commanded a voice, and he started back defiantly, at which a second voice came from the side. "Right quick!" it added, and as the stranger obeyed Isham Scarborough stepped out from behind his rock.