The Law of a Fast Gun Read Online Free PDF

watch the herd. So if five of you want to volunteer, do it now.”
    Only three volunteered.
    “We’re goin’ to have to choose two more to stay behind,” Deekus said.
    “Here’s how we will do it,” Jessup said. “You men form a long line. Poke, you stand out in front with your back to us. I’m going to start walking down the line. When you say stop, whoever I’m in front of will stay behind.”
    The men formed the line, and Poke stood out in front with his back to them.
    “All right, I’m going to start walking now,” Jessup said.
    Poke waited a second or two, then said, “Stop.”
    The cowboy selected stepped out of the line and Jessup started walking again.
    “Stop.”
    “Damn!” Carter said as he stepped out of line. “Of all the luck.”
    “Don’t worry,” Shorty said. “I’ll drink enough whiskey for the two of us, and I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”
    “Hah,” Carter said. “Like as not you’ll get so drunk you won’t even remember it. Tex, you and Brandt will have to tell me what happened.”
    “What makes you think we’ll be sober enough to remember?” Tex asked.
    The others laughed.
    Everyone went to the remuda to saddle their horses, those who would be taking the first batch of cows as well as those who would be staying back with the rest of the herd.
    “Yeeee ha!” Tex shouted. “Boys, we’re goin’ to have us a good time tonight!”
    Tex’s shout, reminiscent of the Rebel yell, gave Jessup a sense of déjà vu. For a moment these weren’t cowboys getting ready to take a herd into town…these were soldiers, preparing for a raid.
    “Men!” Jessup called in his most commanding voice. He saw all his men looking at him, and for a moment he was at a loss for something to say. It wasn’t the ranch owner who had shouted, it was the military commander he’d once been, and he surprised himself with the outburst.
    There was a long moment of silence.
    “Major, you want to say something?” Tex asked.
    “Uh, yeah,” Jessup replied. “Let’s don’t be in such a hurry to get to town that we forget why we’re going.” He pointed to the herd. “Go cut three hundred head out.”
     
    The question as to whether the Bar-J had arrived was answered when the first three hundred cows were brought into town and driven down to the railroad. The cowboys whistled and shouted at the cows, often darting quickly up or down the street to keep the cows in line. Dogs ran alongside the cattle, barking at cows and riders alike. Children followed, excitedly, down the street.
    As the cowboys passed Pearlie’s, the girls who worked for her came out onto the balcony, all heavily made up, with breasts that spilled over the tops of the low-cut dresses they were wearing. Although the two saloons—the Hog Lot and Foley’s—employed girls, Pearlie’s was the only out and out whorehouse. Her girls were older and somewhat less attractive, and it was the place where the girls wound up after they left the two saloons.
    Pearlie’s girls leaned over the balcony and waved at the cowboys, some being so brazen as to lift their skirts.
    “Hey, all you cowboys!” one of the girls shouted. “Come see us when you can! We’ll be waiting for you!”
    “Darlin’, we been on the trail for a long time,” one of the cowboys called back. “You sure you can handle one of us?”
    “One of you? Honey, I can handle all of you,” one of the girls called back, and while the girls and cowboys laughed, a few who were within earshot of the ribald conversation turned away from the distasteful language.
    As the cattle were being driven through town, all other traffic was stopped and wagons and buckboards were forced to the side of the street or into one of the side streets until the cattle passed. That was not unusual. It happened every year as the cows were brought down to the railhead.
    A special train, consisting of an engine and ten cattle cars, waited on a side track at the depot. The engineer stood