Evening star., 1930-06-15
G6 W T?"

~ 1t wouldn't surprise me none,'
said old Creaky Magruder with
that air of open amiability with
which he had never deceived any one yet, "if
Kerrigan wouldn't appreciate the loan of a
gun
The eyes of the two men by the fire flick
cred upward to Kerrigans face, found he was
not looking at them and fastened there. 1t
was a good poker face for a youngster of 20,
lean and smooth, with nothing readable in it,
except a pronounced obstinacy about the
mouth. Kerrigan was gazing into the dis
tances of the plain, where the shadow of the
ranges had turned the Quivering heat-bla2e to
q misty welter of purples and mauve grays
Only the fiat table tops Of far tall mesa
caught the last Of the sunlight in a crowning
stripe of gold.
Black dots out there at the foot of the
mesa were cattle, but Kerrigan did not appear
to be looking at these. For all those two men
could tell, he thinking about the far
adobe walls of Santa Fe, and the laughter of
dark-eyed girls behind latticed windows.
Amt you wearn' gun?" said Lutte Gill
more. His voice affected innocence but poorly
for he was with thick face and
thick head
Am sttin' on a horse?" asked Kerrigan
He plucked blade of grass and chewed it
meditatively.
Looks like you'd be actin sheriff, now that
Pop waterman's dead" Magruder suggested
cautiously
Looks like it," Kerrigan agreed
Ills eyes GuIueO IIOI I1e distance 10 Cle Two
men by the fire, and casually, as if by coinci-
dence, first the eyes of Creaky Magruder and
then those of Lutte Gilmore dropped to the
orange Goals. With neither liking nor dislike
Kerrigan studied the greasy clothes and thin
beard of Magruder. That sly, preSuming ami
ability almost made Kerrigan sorry for the old
ruff1an. AS for Lutte Gilmore he had q strong
back. So did horses
HIS eyes returned to the dimming reaches Of
the plain, but he was not thinking about
girls Santa Fe. Before him the slopes fell
away through pinon pine and scrub juniper to
the New Mexican fats but behind him the
steep-shouldering Cimarron Range piled sky
ward, black with pine and spruce, gray-green
with aspen. Kerrigan was seeking man whom
he believed to be hidden somewhere in the raw
rugged gashes of those slopes.
Have they caught joey GravesP" Magruder
asked
Not that know Of"
'Le' see-last Monday was itP-he shot Pop
Waterman in the back. Monday? The Satur-
day before it was!"
If Kerrigan understood Magruder's implied
criticism of the dead sheriff's deputies, he took
no offense Seems long time" he agreed;
five days"
Yes. reckon said Magruder Lutte Gil
more said nothing. He hardly ever did
Il kind o. thought" Magruder went on
you'd go south with one o. them posses that
Mexico, all right. But kind O. thought you'd
o. gone"
did youP" said Kerrigan
~"Uh-huh." Magruder lit pipe and sucked
away, slowly and noisily But then" he sug-
gested, maybe you didn't think Greaves went
south"
Maybe I didn't" Kerrigan agreed
Maybe" said Magruder, thin incredibly i'm
pudent slyness creeping into his voice. you
come lookin' for him over here"
Maybe" said Kerrigan again
Old Creaky shot him a glance 'Pity YOU
don't find him." he commented "I suppose
you'll be headin' back Wolf Springs way now?"
Kerrigan said nothing. and Magruder went on:
you're about the first feller ever seen sher-
INN without gun, Kerry. 4. :. . Mo- seen
one other once Big Bob Macpherson Whop-
per. Bald head with dent in it. Feller put
the dent in with hatiron from behind while
Bob was playin' poker Bob up and hit him
with chair 1t along with him sheriff
quite piece. But finally some feller shot
him"
Kerigan was familiar with that yarn; in
those days every one in that country had heard
no gun.
Magruder waited for Kerrigan to say some
thing, but disappointed.
Il suppose, though" he said ct last you
anyways got a gun in your saddle-bag"
NO" said Kerrigan. Worries you doesn't
1t? Well, my horse stumbled crossing a white
water crick, and lost It," The truth only
the truth; the last thing Magruder would ex-
pect. Now you know. Feel better?"
Didn't mean to seem pryin', Kerry"
mo. 1 suppose not. STILL glad to know,
Never said you would, Kerry" the old repro
bate blared heartily