months--he's killed two men an' crippled four-five others. Oh, he can use his guns pretty nifty, but he'd have to start the day afore to beat yu.' One of the men had picked up the battered dollar and was examining it. The landlord called to him: 'Pass that over, Timms.' He turned to the owner of the coin. 'This buys drinks for the crowd if yo're willin', friend,' he said.
'Set 'em up,' the puncher smiled.
The saloon-keeper sent bottles and glasses spinning along the bar in front of the lined-up customers, and then drove a nail through the defaced coin, fastening it to the edge of a shelf.
'I guess I'll git some questions 'bout that,' he remarked. 'Folk'll think it's bad money, but it ain't--it's good money, the best I ever see. What's more, I want yu gents to remember that this yer saloon has got a new name-- she's `The Shot Dollar' from now on, an' yu'll drink with me on that.'
A chorus of acclamation greeted his proposal, and the landlord received many compliments on his business acumen. In the midst of the celebration he drew the puncher aside.
'Stranger,' he said. 'yu've done me one hell of a good turn. Is there any way I can square the 'count?'
'Yu don't owe me nothin',' was the reply. 'That jasper was after my hair. Reminds me, I got a li'l business to attend to. See yu later--mebbe.'
'If yo're goin' to look for Pug, yo're wastin' time,' the other told him. 'yu busted that fella wide open, an' his bronc'll be throwin' gravel plenty industrious just now.'
'I gotta show myself,' the puncher replied.
He stepped swiftly through the swing-doors, his gaze darting right and left, for, despite the landlord's confidence, there was always the chance that the beaten man might make a desperate attempt to avenge himself and regain his lost reputation. But there was no sign, and after waiting a moment, the puncher stepped along the street. Then he became aware that someone had followed him out of the saloon.
'Young man, I would like a word with you.'
The puncher paused instantly, his manner alert. But there was nothing formidable in the speaker's appearance : a short, bulky man of around forty-five, dressed in black 'store' clothes, with a white collar and neatly-tied cravat. He had, the cowboy now remembered, been sitting alone at a table in one corner of the Palace.
'I've some whisky and cigars at the hotel I'd like your opinion of--I think they are better than our friend back there provides,' the little man went on.
'You see'--a twinkle sprang into his grey eyes--'I don't have to buy mirrors.'
The cowboy liked that twinkle, but he did not reply at once. As he had already proved, he could, on occasion, decide and act with amazing speed, but save under the spur of necessity, he was a deliberate animal. He was wondering what this man was. His educated speech, and his attire, with an indefinite air of authority, suggested a lawyer, schoolmaster, or parson; he wore no weapons in sight, but that meant little--card-sharps and crooks frequently posed as inoffensive citizens. The liquor he was invited to sample might be hocussed. He suddenly decided that he was able to take care of himself and his 'roll.'
'I don't seem to have no other engagement, seh,' he drawled.
'Good,' was the reply.
Heads turned curiously as they passed along the street, for the story of the fracas at the Palace had soon spread and the puncher was already famous. Men smiled as they saw the stout little stranger almost trotting to keep up with the long, easy stride of the tall cowboy.
'If he's aimin' to lift that fella's wad he deserves to git it for his pluck,' remarked one. 'Me, I'd sooner wrastle a wild cat.'
At the hotel the little man led the way to a private parlour, reached a bottle of whisky and a box of cigars from a cupboard, and invited his guest to sit down and help himself. His next remark was a curious one.
'You don't seem to care for dancing,' he said, and the twinkle was again evident.
The guest grinned broadly. 'Shore do, but I'm a mite fussy 'bout the music,' he replied.
A short silence ensued; the puncher was waiting for the next move. The liquor and the smoke were both of good quality--he had expected they would be--but that only made him more suspicious. His host evidently divined his attitude.
'Time we got acquainted,' he said. 'My name is Bleke, and I hail from Tucson; you may have heard of me.'
Though the cowboy's lounging form remained motionless, his narrowed eyes widened. It was difficult to believe that this harmless-appearing little man could be Governor Bleke of Arizona, whose reputation for cold courage and implacability of purpose as a ruler extended far beyond his own turbulent territory, but--and he afterwards wondered why--it never occurred to him to doubt the statement. Custom required that he should now declare his own name, but he hesitated. His host smiled shrewdly.
'You are James Green of Texas, and sometimes men call you `Sudden,' ' he said easily. 'I came here to find you.'
The puncher stiffened, his cigar clamped between his lips, leaving both hands free; his eyes were frosty. The man from Tucson held up a hand, palm outwards, the Indian sign of peace.
'You're forgetting that this salubrious settlement of Juniper is in New Mexico,' he pointed out. 'If I ordered the sheriff to arrest you he'd tell me where I could go.' The cow-puncher looked a shade abashed, and Bleke went on, 'You're drifting, young fellow, and drifting the wrong way. Already you are named as an outlaw, and two sheriffs are searching for you.'
'An' they want me for crimes I never committed,'Sudden said bitterly. 'Things done when I was scores o' miles away. I never stole a dollar in my life, an' yet I'm hunted like I was a mad dawg.'
'All that I know,' replied the elder man. 'If you are quick with a gun it's easy to get a bad reputation in the West; you get trouble forced on you, as it was back there in the saloon; the way you handled that skunk told me a lot--you had every right to kill him. But where's it going to end, Green? Sooner or later you'll be caught and punished for something you didn't do, and then--you'll run wild. As it is, you've got to keep moving.'
'There's another reason for that,' the puncher said darkly.
'Well, that's as maybe; I'm not asking,' Bleke replied. 'I want a man who can use his weapons'
'I'm no hired killer,' the other harshly interrupted.
'If you were I wouldn't be talking to you,' was the sharp retort. 'Listen to me; there are plague spots in Arizona that I want cleared up, and the man who does that must be able to protect himself. As a deputy-sheriff he will have the authority of the law behind him, but that won't mean anything unless he can back it up with a gun, and it's more than likely to tell against him should it become known; he'll have to use his own judgment, and that's why I'm looking for a man with a head as well as hands. This country is young, and the law isn't very well regarded, but the time is coming when it will be, and this is a chance for you to get in on the right side.'
The cowboy did not reply at once; his keen gaze rested speculatively on the maker of this curious proposition. He was beginning to realize the quiet, forceful personality of this apparently insignificant little man. Bleke too was silent, waiting, and then the twinkle crept into his eyes again.
'Of course, it's a risky job I'm offering,' he said. 'You'll have to depend on yourself too--I won't be able to help you. If you lose out . . .'
'I'll go yu, seh,' the puncher said instantly.
The elder man smiled and nodded. 'I'm right glad,' he said, his heart warming to the young fellow who had risen so promptly to his mild bait.
'Anyone dependent on you?'
The visitor shook his head. 'I'm shore a lone wolf,' he said.
'Good--from my point of view, that is,' the Governor commented. 'Now for details.'
When, half an hour later, the newly-appointed deputy-sheriff departed, Bleke lighted another cigar and smiled his satisfaction.
'I reckon I've found my man and done the State a service at the same time,' he sololoquized. 'One more turn of the screw and there would have been another good citizen gone wrong and merry hell to pay. That boy is of the outlaw breed, sure enough, and worth saving. Well, if he's looking for action, he's liable to get it where I've sent him.'
