Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine, Vol. 107 No. 3 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

362 raw, low, common tricks of the ordinary out- law, even to biting at his rider’s legs. That ungentlemanly behavior was costly, as he quickly learned, at the expense of a badly cut,mouth. He never had met a rider be- fore who had energy to spare from his efforts to stick in the saddle to slam him a big kick in the mouth when he doubled himself to make that vicious snap. The sound of that kick carried to the corral. ‘“* Tl fix you for that!” Jim swore. He was breathing as hard as his horse, sweat of anxiety running down his face. The duke was bringing the horse back, his Spirit pretty well broken, it appeared. ‘‘ What do you care what he does to him? It ain’t your horse no more.”’ It was Taterleg who said that, standing near Jim, a little way behind him, as gor- geous as a bridegroom in the bright sun. “You fellers can’t ring me in on no game like that and beat me out of my horse!” said Jim, redder than ever in his passion. ‘What do you mean, rung you in, you little, flannel-faced fist (fice—dog)?” Si- wash demanded, whirling round on him with blood in his eye. Jim was standing with his legs apart, bent a little at the knees, as if he intended to make a Jump. His right hand was near the butt of his gun, his fingers were clasp- ing and unclasping, as if he limbered them for action. Taterleg slipped up behind him on his toes, and jerked the gun from Jim’s scabbard with quick and sure hand. He backed away with it, presenting it with determined mien as Jim tuned on him and cursed him by all his lurid gods. “Tf you fight anybody in this camp to- day, Jim, you'll fight like a man,” said Taterleg, “or you'll hobble out of it on three legs, like a wolf.” The duke was riding old Whetstone like a feather, letting him have his spurts of kick- ing and stiff-legged bouncing without any effort to restrain him at all. There wasn’t much steam in the outlaw’s antics now; any common man could have ridden him without losing his hat. Jim had drawn apart from the others, resentful of the distrust that Taterleg had shown, but more than half of his courage and bluster taken away from him with his ARGOSY AND RAILROAD MAN’S MAGAZINE. gun. He was swearing more volubly than ever to cover his other deficiencies; but he was a man to be feared only when he had his weapon under his hand. The duke had brought the horse almost back to camp when the animal was taken with an extraordinarily vicious spasm of pitching, broken by sudden efforts to fling himself down and roll over on his persistent rider. all but the rolling, for a while; then he ap- peared to lose patience with the stubborn beast. He headed him into the open, Jaid the quirt to him, and galloped toward the hills. ‘“ That’s the move—run the devil out of him,” said one. The duke kept him going, and going for all there was in him. Horse and rider were dim in the dust of the heated race against the evil passion, the untamed demon, in the Savage creature’s heart. It began to look as if Lambert never intended to come back. Jim saw it that way. He came over to Taterleg as hot as a hornet. - . “Give me that gun—Im goin’ after him!” “ You'll have to go without it, Jim.” Jim blasted him to perdition, split him with forked lightning from his blasphemous tongue. D “ He’ll come back; he’s just runnin’ the vinegar out of him,” said one. “Come back—hell!” said Jim. | “If he don’t come back, that’s his busi- ness. A man can go wherever he wants to go on his own horse, I guess.” That was the observation of Siwash, standing there rather glum and out of tune over Jim’s charge that they had rung the duke in on him to beat him out of his animal. ~ “It was a put-up job! feller like a hog!” Jim left them with that declaration of his benevolent intention, hurrying to the corral where his horse was, his saddle on the ground by the gate. They watched him saddle, and saw him mount and ride after the duke, with no comment on his actions at all. The duke was out of sight in the scrub timber at the foot of the hills, but his dust Il! split that The duke let him have it his way, _ COMICEDOO S (C(O) inn