like.”
Doc and Rusty grinned delightedly at each other. They had come to Quiet Town ahead of the rest of the Wedge crew and were not expecting their friends for a week or so.
Already they were getting bored with inactivity and this dangerous task they were being offered looked like shaping up to be good fun. They wanted to see what the other members of the Wedge said when they arrived and found them wearing law badges.
“You just hired two men,” Doc said delightedly.
Dusty turned and his friends followed him back across the room to halt at the table. “All right, gents, we’re on.”
“There’s one thing, Captain,” Soehen spoke up. “The miners, especially the little men, have been having some trouble. A gang’s been hitting at the gold shipments. We’ve tried to get a line on them but we can’t. Thought it might have been some of the old Henry Plummer bunch at first. Then that it was one of the Missouri gangs. Then we heard it was Bronco Calhoun. But it can’t be. The gang’s got both northern and southern men in it.”
“Unless it’s two separate gangs,” McTavish put in.
“No, it’s a mixed gang, has been when they’ve hit.”
“Should say that’d be more for the county sheriff to handle,” Dusty remarked.
“Would be if you could tell us what county you’re in. The country’s never been surveyed properly,” Gillem explained. “Neither county wants to take on a town like this even if it would boost their taxes.”
“All right, I’ll handle it if I can,” Dusty promised. “How do you move your gold out of the hills?”
“Wagons, there used to be four or five companies, operating hereabouts. Now there ain’t but the one. Ole Joe Delue and his daughter Roxie. The others gave up after they had started to lose teams and men. Old Joe don’t neither scare nor give up that easy.”
“Where at’s the jail?” Dusty inquired as Gillem stopped speaking.
“Out of here and along Lee Street. You’ll find the badges for your deputies in the same, it don’t lock none. Civic pound’s at the back, or you can take your hosses to the livery barn. Town pays for food, their’n and your’n. Town pays for all the powder and shot you use while you work for us too.”
“One thing,” McTavish spoke up. “Powder and lead comes awful expensive, so buffalo ‘em with your gun barrels if you can.”
“I’ll trade my old Dragoon gun in for club was you to ask me nice,” the Kid remarked.
“With a Dragoon why bother to waste good money on buying a club, laddie?” McTavish replied. “All you sassenachs are the same, no idea of the value of money.”
oooOooo
1. Told in THE YSABEL KID
2. How the Kid delivered it is told In TRAIL BOSS
CHAPTER THREE
Trouble At Bearcat Annie’s
Dusty led his friends out of Irish Pat’s Whisky Parlour, across the square and by the front of Bearcat Annie’s large saloon. This was a large establishment, two stories high and with a veranda running all the way round it. At the downstairs windows were several people watching the young Texans with interest. Clint Fang was one of the watchers, his employer standing by his side as he pointed out the reason, or tried to, why he had not taken the small Texan on.
“Mark, you and Rusty go along and bring the hosses from the livery barn,” Dusty ordered. “Then I’ll read you the scriptures and swear you in.”
The two parties went their separate ways. Dusty looked at the town jail and Marshal’s office with satisfaction. It was a single storey stone building and looked strong enough. The front of the building was given over to the office and had a double door which opened on to the street. There were two large, barred windows to let light into the office. The office itself was sparsely furnished, a desk in the centre, a table against one wall, a safe with the door open in a corner, a stove at the other side and a few chairs. Fastened to the rear wall, near the door which led into the cells at the rear was
Doc and Rusty grinned delightedly at each other. They had come to Quiet Town ahead of the rest of the Wedge crew and were not expecting their friends for a week or so.
Already they were getting bored with inactivity and this dangerous task they were being offered looked like shaping up to be good fun. They wanted to see what the other members of the Wedge said when they arrived and found them wearing law badges.
“You just hired two men,” Doc said delightedly.
Dusty turned and his friends followed him back across the room to halt at the table. “All right, gents, we’re on.”
“There’s one thing, Captain,” Soehen spoke up. “The miners, especially the little men, have been having some trouble. A gang’s been hitting at the gold shipments. We’ve tried to get a line on them but we can’t. Thought it might have been some of the old Henry Plummer bunch at first. Then that it was one of the Missouri gangs. Then we heard it was Bronco Calhoun. But it can’t be. The gang’s got both northern and southern men in it.”
“Unless it’s two separate gangs,” McTavish put in.
“No, it’s a mixed gang, has been when they’ve hit.”
“Should say that’d be more for the county sheriff to handle,” Dusty remarked.
“Would be if you could tell us what county you’re in. The country’s never been surveyed properly,” Gillem explained. “Neither county wants to take on a town like this even if it would boost their taxes.”
“All right, I’ll handle it if I can,” Dusty promised. “How do you move your gold out of the hills?”
“Wagons, there used to be four or five companies, operating hereabouts. Now there ain’t but the one. Ole Joe Delue and his daughter Roxie. The others gave up after they had started to lose teams and men. Old Joe don’t neither scare nor give up that easy.”
“Where at’s the jail?” Dusty inquired as Gillem stopped speaking.
“Out of here and along Lee Street. You’ll find the badges for your deputies in the same, it don’t lock none. Civic pound’s at the back, or you can take your hosses to the livery barn. Town pays for food, their’n and your’n. Town pays for all the powder and shot you use while you work for us too.”
“One thing,” McTavish spoke up. “Powder and lead comes awful expensive, so buffalo ‘em with your gun barrels if you can.”
“I’ll trade my old Dragoon gun in for club was you to ask me nice,” the Kid remarked.
“With a Dragoon why bother to waste good money on buying a club, laddie?” McTavish replied. “All you sassenachs are the same, no idea of the value of money.”
oooOooo
1. Told in THE YSABEL KID
2. How the Kid delivered it is told In TRAIL BOSS
CHAPTER THREE
Trouble At Bearcat Annie’s
Dusty led his friends out of Irish Pat’s Whisky Parlour, across the square and by the front of Bearcat Annie’s large saloon. This was a large establishment, two stories high and with a veranda running all the way round it. At the downstairs windows were several people watching the young Texans with interest. Clint Fang was one of the watchers, his employer standing by his side as he pointed out the reason, or tried to, why he had not taken the small Texan on.
“Mark, you and Rusty go along and bring the hosses from the livery barn,” Dusty ordered. “Then I’ll read you the scriptures and swear you in.”
The two parties went their separate ways. Dusty looked at the town jail and Marshal’s office with satisfaction. It was a single storey stone building and looked strong enough. The front of the building was given over to the office and had a double door which opened on to the street. There were two large, barred windows to let light into the office. The office itself was sparsely furnished, a desk in the centre, a table against one wall, a safe with the door open in a corner, a stove at the other side and a few chairs. Fastened to the rear wall, near the door which led into the cells at the rear was
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