Marshals -- West (U.S.) -- Fiction; Western stories
Streak heard a voice saying huskily, “I came to get you, Brant. You
killed her, so I’ll kill you.”
A six-shooter flamed so close to a man that the sparks splattered off
like water from a hose. A moment later a man was flung almost into them.
It was Joe East, but they didn’t know it. A horse snorted and they heard
Zero Brant’s voice:
“Whoa, you devil!”
The fence suddenly splintered, and a horse lunged almost into Streak and
Shell. It was Ghost, with Zero Brant on his back. The big gambler had
neglected to untie the rope, and the big outlaw was dragging nearly a
panel of the fence with him as they went out through the alley. Streak
and Mack Shell ran in behind them, and saw Ghost whirl in the middle of
the street, that section of fence acting like a scythe.
A crowd of men were coming up the street, yelling, swearing.
“The dynamiters, Streak!” said Mack Shell.
They were almost to the spot, where Ghost had plunged with his swaying
rider. With a scream of rage the big gray horse bucked straight into
that crowd, the roped fence cutting a swath. They broke for cover and
the big gray broke loose from the fence, going into a real bucking
frenzy. They saw Zero Brant crash into the street, and the gray
whirled, looking for more worlds to conquer.
Streak and Mack Shell were the first to reach Zero Brant. The crowd had
been scattered, but they began coming back. The men had the dynamite and
right now they didn’t seem to remember just what they had intended doing
with it. Streak told them, “The man you wanted is dead--here. Pick him
up and carry him to the Silver Dollar.”
One huge man said stubbornly, “I no carry him--he kill my brother.”
“He killed mine, too,” said Streak, and without any further word,
several of them picked up Brant.
They trooped up to the Silver Dollar. Jim Flack was there, and so was
Joe East. Jim Flack looked like he had been sent through a threshing
machine, and Joe East looked worse, but Joe didn’t mind. He had his
arms around Mazie, and Mazie was smiling.
Jim Flack said, “The kid thought Mazie was dead--in the fire--but I
threw her through a window. I guess she must have struck on her head,
because she’s been wandering around in the dark. She’s all right now.”
Clare Ames had followed the crowd over there, and she went to Mazie.
Streak looked around and saw Jim Buskirk. The merchant was carrying
a buffalo gun, and he looked as though he had been burrowing in a
coal-pile.
“I think this town will be all right now,” Buskirk said. “Zero Brant
can’t run it any longer. I guess the rest of his gang got away, but
that’s all right. I believe we’ll agree that Jim Flack is entitled to
the Silver Dollar--since Brant was to blame for wiping out the Eureka.
Is that all right with you, Malone?”
“I’m satisfied,” replied Streak wearily. “Buskirk, can you and yore wife
take in Miss Ames and Mazie for a day or two?”
“You bet we can! I’ll take ’em right down there.”
“You walk ahead and blaze the trail. I’ll take her myself.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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