the Bounty Hunters (1953) Read Online Free PDF

day a Major Deneen suddenly appeared at Fort Thomas as Post Commandant.
    He said nothing to Deneen about that night at Chancellorsville; and was shocked when one day he heard Deneen refer to his wound quite proudly. Others were present, but Deneen had looked directly at Flynn as he described it, the shelling, and the damn odd place to be caught by shrapnel. Flynn was certain, then, that Deneen had been in a state of shock and was not even slightly aware of what had happened that night.
    Then, suddenly, Flynn found himself with unreasonable hastily planned assignments. He had had them before all patrols were not routine but now they began in earnest. Bold orders that were cavalry, but not the way to fight Apaches. Following sign blindly because Deneen insisted on speed. Wandering, ill-provisioned decoy patrols that whittled down his men. In seven months he had lost more men than any officer at Fort Thomas.
    The end came during the Tonto campaign, almost a full year to the day since Deneen had arrived as post commander. They had chased Primero and his Tonto Apaches for five weeks and toward the end, when they knew they had the war chief and his small band, Deneen took the field. He arrived in the evening as three companies were closing in on Bosque Canyon in the Mogollon country. Primero was inside, somewhere among the shadowy rock formations.
    And Deneen ordered Flynn to take half of B and gallop through the narrow passage in order to draw fire. That would tell them where the damn hostiles were!
    I suggest scouting first, sir.
    You suggest nothing.
    Madora's Coyotero scouts could belly in after dark and tell us exactly where they are.
    Are you refusing an order?
    He went in at dawn with fourteen men. Yes, they drew fire' and it was almost noon before they were pulled out. Six of them, Flynn with an arrow wound in his thigh.
    Deneen was in the tent they had rigged for him. He was not present as they brought in what was left of B, and Flynn found him there alone.
    You're killing good men to get me.
    Deneen said nothing.
    You knew what you were doing at Chancellorsville. I should have realized it before this. You're afraid of me because of what I know. You're afraid I'll tell others what a yellow son of a bitch of an excuse for a man you are!
    Calmly, quietly, When we return to Thomas, Mr. Flynn, you will be confined to your quarters. At the moment, you are in need of the surgeon's attention.
    He resigned shortly after that and never again referred to Chancellorsville in Deneen's or anyone else's presence. It would do little good to tell others. Some would believe him, most would not, and either way it would accomplish nothing. He resigned hastily; too hastily perhaps, and regretted it almost immediately.
    He did the next best thing in many respects, the better thing, as he came to know his job more thoroughly he signed up as a contract guide. He could make his own calculations and patrol officers respected his opinion. He had learned from Joe Madora and that was good enough for most. Many of these officers were new to him, for he made sure he was not assigned to Fort Thomas. But after Deneen was appointed Department Adjutant, he did work out of Thomas for almost a year seeing Deneen occasionally, seldom speaking to him until he was assigned to the territorial prison at Yuma. Madora fought it because it was a sheer waste of Flynn's capabilities, but he could do nothing. The order had come from the office of the Department Adjutant.
    He resigned again, this time breaking all ties, and went gold prospecting down into the Sierra Madre.
    Now you're back, he thought, still watching the sky. Because this is what you like to do and you hoped Deneen might have forgotten. But nothing has changed. Deneen is still Deneen. It's something in his mind. You are the only living man who saw what happened that night at Chancellorsville, which seems so long ago; something he's trying to convince himself did not happen. As if by getting you out of