Longarm shook his head slowly. He said, “Mr. Hawkins, we just don’t have that many troops of calvary that we can bring in every time there’s a dispute over government land. If we did, we’d have to draft every man, woman, and child in the United States and put them in a blue uniform and put them on permanent duty down here in the Southwest. This damned stuff is so common, it makes the wax run out of your ears. No sir. They gave me this job to do and as much as I dislike it, and as dull a job as it is, I am going to get it done. I am sorry to hear about Mr. Thompson. That’s sad when a man is trying to help his neighbors and that’s the kind of end he gets. And it’s sad the fact of the business about his wife. She seems like a wonderful woman. It’s a damned shame that she has to lose what she had in such a hard fashion.”
Hawkins gave Longarm a bemused look. The lank man said, “She’s a handsome woman, Mrs. Thompson is. I don’t think she needs to be a widow long. Do you, Marshal?”
Longarm frowned. He said, “I’m not studying on affairs that don’t concern me right now, Mr. Hawkins. What we’ve got to do is get our minds set for tomorrow. What you’ve got to do is start believing that you’ve got the president of Mexico’s saddle here, and that you’re going to give Mr. Archie Barrett a chance to buy it for four thousand dollars.”
George Hawkins smiled sardonically. He said, “Yeah, I never thought I’d see the day that I would have such a prize to sell. I’m amazed at my luck, myself. I can’t tell you, Marshal, how anxious I am to hightail it out there right in the middle of that beehive and tell Archie Barrett such a lie. You know, of course, I’m not going to be able to ever come back to this part of the country again.”
“I’ve been waiting for you to bring that up,” Longarm said. “You don’t have to worry about that, Mr. Hawkins. The way I’m going to handle this affair, Barrett will never know that you ever had anything to do with it. You don’t have to worry. You might hear a bullet sing over your head, but other than that, you just do what you get told to do when you get told to do it, and you won’t have to worry.”
Hawkins shook his head slowly from side to side. He said, “Well, Marshal. I don’t know why, but for some reason, I trust you. Of course, as it works out, I ain’t got no choice. If I don’t do what you tell me, you’ll put me in prison. That’s about the size of it, isn’t it?”
Longarm stood up and picked up his whiskey and his glass. He said, “Yeah, and we’d better get to bed. I want to get started on this little project pretty early, so I reckon I’ll see you at breakfast.”
Hawkins stood up, too. He said, “I doubt I’ll be able to swallow a mouthful of food, I’m that nervous.”
Longarm looked at him and laughed. He said, “Mr. Hawkins, you’re a liar. You’re not a damned bit nervous. In fact, I’ve got the sneaking suspicion that you’re enjoying this.”
Hawkins tried to look shocked, but he didn’t quite bring it off. He said, “Why, the very idea, Marshal! This is not my kind of work. This is dangerous. As far as I know, the only dangerous thing I ever did was sell a man a pair of boots that were a half size too small.”
Longarm laughed and let himself out of the room. He walked back down to his own and commenced getting ready for bed.
They were on their way by a little after eight o’clock. George Hawkins was riding his mare, and Longarm was atop his roan gelding. Very few people were on the streets to see them as they departed. As they crossed the prairie at a slow lope, Hawkins said, “I hope you understand, Marshal, that you’re dealing with a man that ain’t used to gunfire and weapons and those sort of things.”
Longarm turned slightly in his saddle to give Hawkins a look. He said, “Mr. Hawkins, you might think you can conceal it from everybody else, but you don’t conceal it from me. You wear that frock coat because inside it, you carry a long-barrel, .38 caliber, six-shot revolver. Now, anybody that caries a long-barrel—and it appeared to be about a nine-inch barrel—is planning on making some long-distance revolver shots. That means he knows what he’s doing. He’s not planning on getting up next to somebody and shooting them in the belly. So, I wish you wouldn’t start the morning off by lying to me. You have no idea what that does to my confidence in you.”
Hawkins chuckled slightly. He said, “Why, Marshal, I never thought you’d take notice of such a thing. I’ve got a clever little pocket built into my coat where that nice little gun just fits. You ain’t supposed to see that.”
“Yeah, I’m supposed to see it, Mr. Hawkins. The reason I’m supposed to see it is why I’m still alive today. What I don’t know, is why you carry it.”
Hawkins said, “Well, from time to time, I do a little cash business, and I have discovered that there are people in this world who will try to take advantage of you. Even to the point of attempting to relieve you of your cash. Now, my company takes a dim view of that, and so do I.”
Longarm said, “I can understand that. Just don’t tell me anymore that you’re not a man used to weapons and guns and other such frightening instruments.”
The morning was cool, and they rode toward the southwest. Longarm was looking for a specific situation. He wanted a place of ambush. He wanted a place to hide himself and his horse where he could still have a clear view of any party that would be oncoming, headed toward town. According to Hawkins, it was about six miles to the Barretts’ place, perhaps less. Longarm would have liked to take them no more than two or three miles from town. The closer they got to the ranch, the less he was going to like it. They had been riding for maybe twenty-five minutes when he spied a grove of cottonwood trees just ahead. Cottonwood trees generally grew near water, so there was a good chance that a stream or a gully that collected water was nearby. Within five minutes, they had come up to the little clump of trees. The cottonwoods were of good size, being at least two feet in diameter, and there were about ten or twelve of them. A little dry bed lay to the south of the trees that probably filled up in flood times and in times of heavy rains.
Longarm brought them to a stop. He said, “I believe this may just do it, Mr. Hawkins. How far would you say we are from the Barretts’ headquarters?”
Hawkins turned in his saddle, looked back, and then looked forward. He said, “I’d reckon that we’re close to halfway. It’s about three miles back to town, maybe not quite that.” He pulled his watch out of his pocket and consulted the time. “We’ve been gone close to thirty minutes. Yeah, it’s about three miles back. We’re near enough to the midway point that I wouldn’t argue the difference with you.”
Longarm dismounted and dropped the reins of his horse to the ground. He said, “All right, Mr. Hawkins. Now it’s up to you. You’ve got to go in there and sell that man on the idea of a saddle. You’ve got to bring him back by these trees. This is where I’m going to be.”
A flicker of doubt crossed the skinny man’s face. “I hope you understand, Marshal, that he ain’t going to be alone. He’ll have four or five riders with him, at least.”
Longarm said, “I’m prepared for that. Just keep your head down. You ain’t going to get shot unless you shoot
