Fifteen Western Tales, March 1954 — page 21: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

DEATH IS MY BROTHER you were dead. Maybe you are dead .. .” His words hissed and revealed Ram for the true snake that he had always been. Panting, Thacher put the gun back to holster. “Draw, Ram.’ He’d meant to shoot him down, but found, even now, he couldn't. “You killed Struthers, Ram. You, not me.” “You're crazy!” “No—you did.” And they weren’t brothers anymore. Ramsey’s face tightened and the eyes went cold. “All right, Thach,. what if I did! Don’t call me, boy. I'll kill you. £08 can't out- draw me and you know it.’ “Draw, Ram.”’ “Listen, I'll give you one chance. In the saddlebag—go look. Money, Thach, a couple of thousand. We can split it and go on to California.” “Where did it come from, Ram?” Thacher whispered, knowing the answer only too well. ‘“T took it from the table, you damned fool! I was set to blow town any way. The shootin’ made it necessary and the money made it easy.”’ “Ram—I think you killed Struthers just for the money. It was the other way around. The money made it necessary and the shootin’ made it easy. Especially with me thinkin’ I did it.” | In the long silence that followed, Thacher thought he was going to pass out. The sound of the water at his feet was almost too much to bear. “Draw, Ramsey,” he screamed, his throat tearing. “I'll kill you any way.” He meant business. “You fool; Ramsey said contemptuous- ly. “You think you scare me? Why didn’t you die out there? You think I'd let you live so you could shoot off that honest . mouth of yours, now that you know?” His eyes blazed. Thacher watched his brother’s eyes arid saw the decision. Both men went for their - guns at the same instant. Both were crazed - with violent emotion. ; Ram was faster, much faster. He’d known guns all his life and there were few men that could outdraw him. His brother. was not one of them. But the enemy, the sun, saved Thacher. . He saw Ramsey’s face twist with pain and shock as the fiery-hot butt came in con-_, tact with hands, It didn’t prevent him from drawing, but it slowed him. The long, scorching day and its sun had made the gun-metal almost unbearable to the touch of the finger. “Thacher felt nothing except the hate. He. emptied the gun and kept pulling the trig- ger long after the last bullet had slammed. into Ram’s body. | Ramsey was on his back, his legs on the. | bank of the stream, his chest and head bob- bing gently under the surface. The water turned orange, then crimson. The face, under water, watched Thacher in amazed and frozen shock. ? After a while, Thacher moved slowly | up stream and drank. He drank for a long time and then he rolled into the water and drank more. He couldn’t hold it, but he. drank anyway until it stayed down. He didn’t look at Ramsey once. He was a man now and on his own. Deep down, there: would be a-scar but it would go away. Ram- . sey had never existed—not the Ramsey © that he thought had been his brother, his one-time friend. He was a man now and there was Mary. He was thinking of Mary when he heard the hoofbeats from beyond the hill. He re- turned. to reality. He sat up in the stream and waited for the posse to appear. When he saw the sher- iff in the lead top the rise and pull his horse to a stop, he waved. The sheriff looked down for a long min- ute. He saw the -body in the water, the color of the water near it. Then he looked at Thacher’s face. He waved back and started down the glope. 0090 7 eGComilcbooksicor