Happy Hawkins

ER

Monody's mount a look-over. The old bald-face was whipc

t the deuce did you hammer this old

y pony,"

ce w

ht him, that'

id you

s when I bought him. I bought

you pay

that ol' cayuse all night?" h

t about him," sez I, "an' you might as well

ou. Jim, he owed me some money on my wages so I just took the p

did he owe

much he owed me, an' I don't care. I reckon he owed me more'n the pony's

im raise your wages a

onsent. He had the pot o' coffee just ready to set on the rock where we was goin' to eat, an' all of a sudden he straightened up an' shot a scowl into me. "Look here, Happy." sez he, "I don't care a sky blue flap doodle for the whole Jim Ji

in' with laughter-he had a funny way o' laughin'-an' then we sat on the stone an'-well,

, after I 'd satisfied myself tha

r the Diamond Dot,

range," sez I, lollin' back an' puf

s at the mouth of a li

," s

house is to th

," s

house is kind o

nterruptin', "this ain't no n

ds there, ain'

on taggin' along after me, you'll see the place an' you'll see my

end a lady?"

-year-old heifer. I wouldn't think o' goi

s she?" as

th me about the bald-faced roan, why cut it; but if you've got anything to tell

for a moment. "A lady!" sez he. Then h

en I sez, "You wicked of beast you, do I look

't got no age o' their own, but just age up accordin' to what's goin' on,"-an'

re you gettin

goin' to be raided

my feet. "Wh

ore man-hide-I-I used to know Bill down in the Territory, an' Bill he thought I was still on the grab. He put me on. I'm supposed to be at the pony corral at midnight to turn the po

'at leads to the pony corral from here," sez I. "It's a good average four hours' ride.

ou'd better lay low unless I whistle the Lion Head signal. If I get time to break you gentle to the home gang, it'll

an' settled into a swing. Big an' heavy as ol' Monody was, he was a light rider, an' the bald-face hung at my cinch for the best part of an hou

Brophy's gang to take a pot shot at me. All of a sudden something moved on a little grassy shelf on the side of the cliff. Starlight shied off to the left an' my gun flew up over my head, ready to drop on whatever it

n earth you doin' out here this t

feet swingin' over; "I got to wonderin' how it would feel just when the birthday was a-comin' on; so I sneaked o

n' of you every minute. But come, jump down behind me an' we'll hurry on. I want you to go in an' wake Daddy up

n-they nearly always do the days I turn Mr. H. Hawkins with them,-that's w

on. Now you get down here an' sneak into the house while I stake ou

into the house. Old Cast Steel was standin' in the dining room in his stockin'-feet with a gun i

Brophy gan

midnight, Jabez," sez I. "I don't know why; but I think we'

ws with it. I strung him up an' he said 'at Bill Brophy'd get even with me for it. That was two month

eyes on. He's a giant, nearly black, an' the ugliest critter you ever set eyes on;

oot any help this

t satisfied to have it out with Bill; but I hate to t

lar," sez I, for I'd be

"but I'd rather they destroyed the whole blame outf

e left," sez Jabez; an' I had

we hadn't left the shadow of the house before a rifle sings out followed by two revolver shots. The' was a big pile o' winter

rom behind the cook house. "They'll fire the house purty soon," mutters Jabez, after we'

Barbie was safe an' we'd show'em a merry time of it." I answered the call an' the' was silence for a long t

e'll charge out after 'em an' try for th

but Monody heard 'em, an' as soon as the window shutter flew back he emptied his gun inside. At the same time the remainin' six charged in a body, an' for the next few minute

a step from the dug-out an' we rushed in, slammed the door, dropped in the bar, an' turned to face a man with two guns on us. Monody dropped on him, an' I was about to shoot from the hip when of Jabez sez, "By Georg

ouse; the stove was on the other side. We made little Barbie sit in the corner behind the stove. Jabez took the window facin' the house, me the one facin' the dug-out, an' the sub-cook facin' the corral. I could shoot clean

e shot into an' under the wagon; but it still backed up. The' was a little grade down to the cook shack, an' after they got it started the' wasn't much to do but guide. T

y holdin' the sub-cook's right wrist with his left hand an' grippin' at his throat with his right. The' was a horrid look on the sub-cook's face, an' just as I turned to interfere, Monody gave a wrench which tore out t

ridges holdin'

y left," s

d myself," sez Ja

ough," sez I, an' we proceed

ed up the hill. They had put their ropes on the tongue an' were dr

reply to it, which was most uncommon lucky for us; 'cause first thing we knew, they came rompin' around each corner an' poured in on top of us. They was used to fightin' against odds, an' it irrita

gun," sez Monody, cheerfully,

that?" s

out o' fuel,

th in the darkness. "Whe

t her, Jabez-no matter what happens, an' the' 's a good fight in us yet. Ol' Monody here don't b

then we emptied out. They cussed an' groaned consid'able; but they surged on into the cabin, just the same. The smoke was like a cloud ins

. In about a minute a light ripped its way into darkness an' I never saw a worse sight. Jabez was lyin' face down with a hairy viper on top of him face up. The feller'd been pinked in the bridge o' the nose an' it was most horrid ghastly. Two oth

even grazed. He looked around cool but quick, an' just about took it all in, in the snap of a finger. Then he loaded both his guns before us an' made the feller with the lantern do the same. After which he looked into Mo

e boys mistook him in

in't no white man would be beast enough

s talkin' low an' level like, as if he was conversin' about the weather; but when I looked into Monody's fac

', an' three guns dropped on me. "Don't try noth

im shudder as he looked at the torn throat. "My God!" he muttered, an' then he started to git up, his voi

lear from the ground, an' rolled him over, a crumpled an' broken thing, on top o' the sub-cook The man with the lantern began to fan-shoot

e the last man on earth. Then I thought of the girl. I waited a moment to quiet my voice, an' then

get out. Are you all right?" Her voice w

ird, I'm all

ddy all right

onable tickled to think 'at she had asked about me first. "Your Daddy ain't here just now, Ba

in the same muffled voice;

I couldn't find one, an' what I wanted just

orral, an' next minute I heard George Hendricks give the yell he allus give when a job was d