The Trail of the White Mule

ok back and see Casey Ryan swallowing dust. I've heard of some that's tried. But I reckon," he added pensively, while he rubbed the damp edge

' whenever yuh meet up with him. Yuh might mebby see me next, hazin' a burro over a ridge. Or yuh might see me with ten pounds uh flour, a quart uh beans an' a sour-dough

ed, anyway." He bent to the crank, gave a heave and climbed in, with Casey behind the

er hubs in the Atlantic Ocean before I quit. And then, mebby I'll ba

e's no stops when you get the wheel cuddled up to your chest. No quittin' an' no passin' yuh by w

his gratification. "You sound good, just to listen to, but you ain't altogether believable. There's men in

p all traffic for five minutes. A show benefit was sprung on Lund once, to help Casey Ryan that was supposed to be crippled. An' I had to give a good Ford-a DARN' go

his new friend how a Ford could travel when Casey Ryan juggled the wheel. The full moon was pushing up into a cl

ly. He completed that S turn and beat the train to the next crossing half a mile farther on; where he "spiked 'er tail", as he called it, stopping dead still and waiting jee

s I can see," Casey observed carel

at you'd need to worry none about any of them saps that makes it their business to interfere with travelin'. I'm glad that moon's quit the job. Gives the headlights a show. Hit 'er up now,

he slowed, thinking they would need to fill the radiator before attempting to climb the steep grade to the summit. But the

miration for this particular Ford. The car was heavily loaded-he could gauge the weight by the "feel" of the car as he drove yet it made the

and you know there ain't another human in a day's drive. I've been going it alone. Nine-tenths of these birds that are eager to throw in with yuh thinks that fifty-fifty means you do the work and

r yet. But I ain't no wild colt no more, runnin' loose an' never a halter mark on me. I'm bein' broke to harness, and it's stable an' corral from now on, an' no more open range fer Casey. The missus

ng some easy money to your bank rol

, er ten!-Casey Ryan woulda tore that L. A. jail down rock by rock an' give the roof t' the kids to make a playhouse. Them L. A. cops never woulda hauled me t' jail in no wagon. I mighta loaded 'em in behind, and dropped 'em off at the firs

s or so in my inside pocket, just to count over now an' then to convince myself I needn't worry about a grubstake. I've got to soak it into my bones gradual that I can afford to settle down and live tame, like the missus wants. Stand-up collars every day,

ly an' it landed on a lady; an' the missus went an' bought her a new hat an took my plug away from me. I had to keep my chewin' tobacco in th

ough I pack stands right on its hind legs an' says I got no excuse. I've got enough to keep me in

know, a clown that thinks it's time he took it easy is gummin' 'is grub, and shiverin' when yuh op

d viciously. "Well, now, any time yuh see CASEY RY

ughed rather irritatingly. "Say, when I tell it to Bill Masters that Casey Ryan has plumb played out his s

insult. He jerked it back into the road

e CASEY RYAN settin' with a

now-I'd rather bank on a pardner like you'd be than some young clown that ain't had the experience. From the yarns I've heard about yuh, yuh don't back down from n

gain his tone had changed to me

ake on some more gas and oil. I've been stuck on the desert a few times with an empty ta

e over at Patmos once, an' the boobs I seen creepin' in on their last spoonful uh gas-walkin' sometimes fo

bitten deep into Casey Ryan's self-esteem. They stung and rankled there. He had squirmed at the picture his new friend had so ruthle

y, had never needed protection from anybody. He had managed for a good many years to get along on his own hook. The Little Woma

p a couple of burros and go prospecting in the hills. Where sagebrush could grow to their very door if it wanted to, and

to send him up to San Francisco to be close-herded there. Casey had promised to go, but now the prospect jarred. He wasn't feeble-minded, that he knew of; it seemed natural to want to do his own deciding now and then.

garage office paying for the gas. "Jack an' the Little Woman's all right, but they can't drive Casey Ryan in no town herd. Cops is

ousers pocket. He glanced up and down the narrow, little

bserved cheerfu

a roar out of the little engine and whipped around the corner and across the track into the fai

ath a pleasant little melody of which he was probably wholly unaware. Perhaps he felt that he had said enough to

The young fellow beside him seemed to return Casey's impulsive friendship. Casey thought pleasureably of the possibility of their driving over the desert together, sharing alike the fortunes of the game and the adventures of

r half an hour they had not seen any evidence that other human beings were alive in the world. But when they went rattling across

of the Ford gouged unavailingly at the sides of the ruts. Casey honked the horn warningly and stopped full, swearing a good, Caseyish oa

and stopped whistling. He leaned out of the car and star

gths and make the turn-out

urnin' out. I was watchin'. Any time I can't lick a road hawg, he's got a license to lick me. Make yourself comf'table, young feller-w

er large in the shadows; but Casey Ryan, blinking at him through the windshield, was still ready and willing to fight if necessary. Or

d as he lifted a foot to the running board. He leane

enner," he drawled. "How much

rd, glimpsed the barrel of a bi

young man parried glumly. "Yo

otch, it's because one of the boys met up with yuh

breath and climbed out, turning toward t

ut a roll of bedding wedged in tightly. "But, for cripes sak

ciful as, it can afford to be, and I've go

's the Gawd's truth. Have a heart

red, anyway. How m

s proceeding stoically with the unloading. Casey, his mouth clamped ti

. You can keep the kegs." The big man's eyes shifted to Ca

at Black Butte bunch of moonshiners and got off on account of a nice wife and an L. A. al

nner, having deposited his camp outfit in a heap on the ground, began lifting out tall, round bo

watched the unloading and at the same time kept an eye on Casey. It was perfectly evident

ng Kenner unemotionally began to reload the camp outfit. The big man's a

Butte bunch, instead of being in cahoots. That alibi of yours was a bird. Does Kenner, here, know you hit the hootch pretty

to buy gas and grub?" Young Kenner asked sullenly,

thing of half your load. I'd ought to trundle yuh back to San Berdoo; you both know

eaves me six bits," he growled, as the big man dropped someth

leaks out. Just back up, till you can get around my car. Turn to the left

he had been commanded to do, and drove around the other car. It was bitter work for Casey; but even he recognized the fact that the "settin'" was not good that evening. Back in

head here. That'll bring yuh out at Dagget and you'll miss Barstow altogether. I just came from there; there's

l staring straight before him. T

a mean boy to monkey with. Talk about