Stepping forward Dusty kicked the Merwin to one side and bent over Rangoon. The man looked up at him, pain and something else dimming his eyes. Rangoon laid a hand on his chest, looked dully at the blood, then gasped: “Captain Fog. You’ve captured some of my troop?” Dusty could guess what was happening. Rangoon’s mind was going; he thought he was still in the Army, fighting against the Confederates. “I have, Major,” he agreed.
“They acted under my orders, Captain. Under my orders—understand that—I gave—the orders—They merely followed—remember that—remem—!”
Rangoon’s head fell back, blood gushed from his mouth, his small, fat frame jerked once, then went still. Dusty straightened up, there was nothing more he could do.
Slowly Dusty lifted his hand in a silent salute. “I’ll remember, Major.”
Wes Hardin and Mahon were the only men awake when Dusty returned to the farm. They came out to greet him; a few of the sleepers around the place stirred and rose. The cowhands and nesters were all staying at the Mahon place to help clean it up the following morning.
“We’ve got all Rangoon’s men hawg-tied behind the house, Dusty,” Hardin said, looking at his cousin. “Haven’t said much to them, but the last of the bunch who cut the Kid down are here. Want to see them?”
“Not until I’ve talked to Mark and Lon.”
“See Rangoon?” asked Hardin as Dusty crossed to the house.
Dusty did not reply, but went inside and closed the door. Half an hour went by and Dusty came out with Mark behind him. A fire was going now and in the light of it Dusty looked at the men of Gunn River County. They were all present the leading citizens; Hollister, the ranchers, the nesters. Hardin watched his cousin’s face and said:
“You want the Flying Fish men here, Dusty?”
“Nope, turned loose.”
Hardin was a poker player who usually won more than he lost, but for once he lost his poker face. The surprise he showed was mirrored by every other man around the fire.
“Turned loose?” asked Hardin, it was all he could think to say.
“That’s what I said. We got six of the eight who matched with the Kid. It’s a fair swap for one wound. We got the man who shot Mr. Simmonds. The Apaches killed the man who brought them the rifles. There’s been killing enough.”
“What about Rangoon?” Blayne inquired.
“He’s at the Flying Fish. I killed him. He gave me Mary Simmonds’ money, the rest is in a safe at the bank,” answered Dusty, then his eyes went to each face in turn. “He’ll need burying. I want him burying in town, with a decent headstone.”
“Like hell!” Hollister snapped. “Why should we?”
“Because Lon, Mark and I are all asking you. If you allow you owe us anything at all you’ll do it—And when you put up the headstone don’t put Rangoon. Put Major Grice Baldwin, Junior, U.S. Army. Retired.”
About the Author
J. T. Edson was a former British Army dog-handler who wrote more than 130 Western novels, accounting for some 27 million sales in paperback. Edson’s works - produced on a word processor in an Edwardian semi at Melton Mowbray - contain clear, crisp action in the traditions of B-movies and Western television series. What they lack in psychological depth is made up for by at least twelve good fights per volume. Each portrays a vivid, idealized “West That Never Was”, at a pace that rarely slackens.
More on J. T. EDSON
The Floating Outfit Series by J. T. Edson
.44 Caliber Man
A Horse Called Mogollon
Goodnight’s Dream
From Hide and Horn
Set Texas Back on Her Feet
The Hide and Tallow Men
The Hooded Riders
Quiet Town
Trail Boss
Wagons to Backsight
Troubled Range
Sidewinder
Rangeland Hercules
McGraw’s Inheritance
The Half-Breed
White Indians
Texas Kidnappers
The Wildcats
The Bad Bunch
The Fast Gun
Cuchilo
Trigger Fast
The Trouble Busters
The Making of a Lawman
Decision for Dusty Fog
Cards and Colts
The Code of Dusty Fog
The Gentle Giant
Set-A-Foot
The Making of a Lawman
The Peacemakers
To Arms! To Arms! In Dixie!
Hell in the Palo Duro
Go Back to Hell
The South Will Rise Again
The Quest for Bowie’s Blade
Beguinage
Beguinage Is Dead
The Rushers
Buffalo Are Coming!
The Fortune Hunters
Rio Guns
The Texas
Mark Counter’s Kin
Old Moccasins on the Trail
The Rio Hondo Kid
... And more to come every month!
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The Adventures continue…
Issuing new and classic fiction from Yesterday and Today!
i Told in QUIET TOWN, THE TROUBLE-BUSTERS, THE MAKING OF A LA WMAN
ii Told in FROM HIDE AND HORN
iii Told in THE HOODED RIDERS
iv Waco's story is told in the author’s floating outfit books
v Old timers’ hobby of discussing the hard winters they had seen
vi The answer is given in TRAIL BOSS