My Foot's in the Stirrup . . . My Pony Won't Stand (Code of the West) Read Online Free PDF Page A

rattlesnake.”
    “Maybe he ain’t that good anymore,” Texas Jay cha llenged.
    “You ain’t goin’ to find out today. We got work lined up, and I promised Banner two men.”
    Texas Jay stalked over to the fire. “You ain’t workin’ for Colton Banner, are ya?”
    Tap squatted down on his haunches and kept both men in view. “Afraid not. In fact, I don’t even know anyone named Colton Ba nner. Is he runnin’ cattle up this way?”
    “Somewhere north of here. He’s got a corral up by a place called Lone Tree Creek.”
    “Lone Tree must be a hundred miles north,” Tap advised.
    “You don’t say. I was hopin’ it was a little closer. You might as well spend the nooner with us. We can talk about old Ar izony.”
    “Thanks for the invite, Snake, but I haven’t been on the trail more than an hour and a half. I better ride on.”
    Tap returned to Roundhouse and retrieved his almost full canteen, topping it off at the springs. Snake Dutton busied himself cooking over the fire, but Texas Jay never took his eyes off Tap.
    Tap walked his gray horse over by the fire. “I hope you boys find this Bonner.”
    “Banner. Say,” Dutton shoved back his high-crowned, narrow-brimmed black hat. “You ain’t lookin’ for work, are ya? I heard Banner lost three men just yesterday, so I’m sure he needs more.”
    “Lost them? You mean his crew’s quittin’?”
    “Quittin’ nothin’,” Texas Jay exclaimed. “They got bushwhacked.”
    “Oh?”
    “Yep . . . a dozen or so of those Cheyenne City bummers rode into camp and leaded ’em all down.”
    “I heard tell they was shot right in the forehead, all three of ’em.”
    “Where did you hear this?” Tap asked. “I didn’t hear anything about an ambush.”
    “Some old boy who woke up broke back in Pine Bluffs came ri ding our way this mornin’ and told us that a posse rode out yesterday afternoon after a hide wagon brought in the bodies. And I thought Arizony was rough.”
    “Are you sure those three worked for your friend Banner?”
    “I ain’t certain, but I heard that one of them was Dirty Al Bowlin who came up in the spring to work for Banner. So unless he decided to have a go on his own, he must have still been workin’ for him.”
    “Dirty Al couldn’t count his chips by himself,” Texas Jay added.
    “No, sir, but he surely could make that old Big Fifty sing from half a mile away.”
    “So Dirty Al shot a Sharps .50-70?”
    “Yep. I wonder what happened to that rifle? Them bushwhackers took it, no doubt.”
    “Where did you say Banner’s headquarters is?” Tap asked. “If I get to needin’ a job, I just might come up that way.”
    “I didn’t say where his headquarters is, but we’re supposed to meet his crew at the corrals at Lone Tree Crick.”
    “Maybe I’ll look you up.”
    “And maybe we’ll be waitin’ for ya,” Texas Jay responded.
    “Don’t mind him. He’s been cantankerous ever since he got kicked out of the Pearly Gates dance hall in Denver. You workin’ around here?”
    “I manage to keep busy.”
    “What kind of work you doin’?”
    “Oh, you know, the same old thing.”
    “Hirin’ out your gun and chasin’ them purdy ladies, are ya? That warden’s wife surely was sweet on ya.”
    “Those days are over, Dutton. I’m a married man now.” Tap tried to brush some of the trail dust off his chaps.
    Rather than spit, Snake leaned his head and let the t obacco drool from the corner of his mouth. “No foolin’? I’d never take you for the settlin’-down type.”
    “It fits me fine. Now if you boys will saunter back a tad, this big gray won’t stand when I mount up.”
    They moved to the fire, and Tap swung up into the left stirrup. Long before he was able to pull his right leg over the cantle, Roundhouse bolted away from the springs and bucked his way out into the prairie. Two hundred yards later the big gray settled into a steady lope.
    The afternoon turned out to be hotter, drier, and dustier than the