“What orders, Captain?” Martha demanded. “Isit something to do with Larry and Stretch?”
“I’m afraid so,” sighed Kerwin. For him,this was a most embarrassing moment. “Despite the army’s greatobligation to those Texans, the colonel insists they be placedunder military arrest. He—uh—refuses to overlook the fact thatStretch Emerson stole an item of army equipment. To be precise,Sergeant Boyle’s britches. It’s ridiculous, and petty, but...”
“You expect me to tell you where to findthem?” she frowned.
“I must insist,” said the captain. “It’scommon knowledge you’re a friend of theirs.”
“And proud of it,” she warmly declared. “Andonly too happy to tell you where to find them.”
“Believe me,” said Kerwin, “I deeplyregret …”
“You’ll find them anywhere,” she smiled.“Anywhere,” grinned Joey, “except in Bosworth County. They rode outthis mornin’, Cap’n. By now, you can bet they’re a long ways fromthe county line.”
“And that’s the truth,” said Martha.
“Excellent!” smiled Kerwin. “By leaving thecounty, they have placed themselves beyond the colonel’sjurisdiction.”
“Well,” shrugged Martha, “I’m glad you’reglad. It was a bright day for Joey and me when we met Larry andStretch. We’re grateful to them—but we have to be grateful to thearmy as well.”
“To the army?” he prodded.
“For all that compensation money,” saidMartha. “Didn’t you know about it? Larry and Stretch gave us thethousand dollars put up by the army. Compensation, they called it.They said as how the army was obligated to pay damages to thefamilies of civilians that are killed while working for thegovernment. That’s what Pa and Uncle Mace were doing. Hauling armyfreight, when those hijackers ambushed them. Captain—will you thankColonel Stone on our behalf, and tell him Larry and Stretchdelivered the money, just like he ordered?”
It happened that Captain Kerwin was a fairpoker player. He hid his reaction to this good news behind a blandsmile and a gentle nod. Compensation for the Lowell and Taftfamilies? Sure. But not authorized by the army. This had beennaught but a ruse devised by the Texans. They wanted to help theseyoung people, but not at the expense of their pride. Rather thanhave Martha feel obligated to them, they had cooked up a convincinglie. The one thousand dollars, more than enough to settle thefreight outfit’s debts, had come from their own pockets.
In Fort Gale, two days later, the Texansheld a brief reunion with a fervently grateful Colonel Lansing. Forthe benefit of Army Intelligence’s Records Department, theysubmitted a terse but thorough report of their investigation andits violent aftermath. They then took their horses to a liverystable and toted their pack rolls to the Beaumont RegalHotel.
Shocked to the core and sick withapprehension, John Wyvern and Will Sneddon watched thebattle-scarred hellions trudging into the richly-appointedlobby.
“Howdy.” Larry greeted them with a cheerfulwave. “We’re checkin’ in again.”
“No!” gasped the clerk.
“We’ll take that same suite we hadbefore,” announced Larry. “Figure to throw us another party. Youcan start sendin’ the liquor up rightaway. We’ll need a couple kegsof beer iced—a case of whisky—better make it bourbon—and…”
“Mr. Wyvern,” said the clerk, “I wish totender my resignation—effective as of right now.”
“Tell it to the owners of this doomedestablishment!” retorted Wyvern. “I’m resigning too!”
About the Author
Leonard FrankMeares (February 13, 1921 - February 4, 1993)
Sydney born Len Meares aka MarshallGrover, published around 750 novels,mostly westerns. His best-known works feature Texastrouble-shooters Larry and Stretch. Before starting to write,Meares served in the Royal Australian Air Force, worked in theDepartment of Immigration and sold shoes. In the mid-1950s hebought a typewriter to write radio and film scripts. Inspired bythe success of local paperback westerns, he wrote Trouble Town,which was published by the Cleveland Publishing Company in1955.
His tenth yarn, Drift!(1956), introduced Larry Valentine and StretchEmerson. In 1960, he created a brief but memorable series ofwesterns set in and around the town of Bleak Creek. Four yearslater came The Night McLennanDied, the first of more than 70 westerns(sometimes called oaters) to feature cavalryman-turned-manhunterBig Jim Rand.
More on Marshall Grover
The Larry andStretch Series by Marshall Grover
Drift!
ArizonaWild-Cat
Ride Wild toGlory
Nomads fromTexas
Ride OutShooting
Texans WalkProud
Never Prod aTexan
The Fast RightHand
Close In ForShowdown
Texas GunGhost
Lone StarValiant
ColoradoPursuit
Follow theTexans
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