The Ely miner., 1943-03-25

now, Lord! I can't stand it much
longer"
$50 you're still here, Cody, are
your" he said curtly. "You know,
you're a fool, Cody, for sticking
around in any hope of catching any
few drops that might spill out over
the top of the bucket. Because, if
you listen to me, there won't be
any drops spilled over. It might be
a good time if you tucked your tail
between your legs and got out of
here. You haven't any claim here.
It's common knowledge, told in ev-
cry saloon, that you had some sort
of trumped up will a faxed
thing-and that you haven't even got
that now. So you can get out in a
hurry, Mr.. Cody. Am I right?"
Cody swallowed. He answered
very quietly, very slowly.
"Waldron, if I'm taking big dose
of you now, you'll know why later
on. Suppose until time comes
that you keep your mouth shut? I'm
not asking a lot; the breath of the
thoughts you think-stinks! Shut
up!"
Waldron chose to laugh, and nev-
er was there man who could put a
nastier sneer into laughter which
should be a pleasant thing and which
can be detestable beyond most
sounds.
''It's hard to swallow, huh, Cody?"
he jeered. Thought you had an
edge on the situation, didn't you?
Thought I'd take it the way you
dished it out! Thought that if you
couldn't take it any other way" he
said, and jeered, you'd gobble it
along with that nifty piece of girl
meat, that little cuddly, pink-and-
white female thing Ann Lee, that
a man can buy a dozen of in town
for"
Cody struck the way lightning
strikes. Leaping yards across the
floor, Bill Cole Cody swung with his
left hand and struck a blow for
any hard-striking man to be proud
of. Only-Rance Waldron wasn't
there, wasn't at the end of that per-
feet short arc. He was three or
four quick leaps behind it, jerking
out his guns. And he was in high
heaven, with full provocation to burn
his man down. Attacked without
warning, he had every right to go for
his guns, to kill his man. And it
would be so easy! If there were only
a witness to his predicament, that
of man defending himself against
a murderous attack.
That witness he had, but he knew
that only later. It was Ann Lee who
had stolen a-tip-toe from the room
in which Doc Joe and Aunt Jenifer,
two sentimental old fools, were ex-
planning and talking two-at-a-time,
and blinking against fat tear drops;
a tremulous Ann Lee who was
wondering where certain William
Cole Cody-"William," she thought;
''that must be his real name; the
name his mama and papa gave him"
had betaken himself. She heard
and she saw, and she nearly dropped
dead, hearing and seeing.
Now as Bill Cole Cody had leaped
forward and the watchful Rance
Waldron had leaped back to be out
of his reach, Waldron fired and
Cody struck again-and little Ann
tried to scream and tried to shut
her eyes, and could do neither. In
a sort of trance she saw how it
was that Bill Cody struck: Not with
his fist this time, since that would
have been too late; but as bullet
clipped through loose fold of his
sleeve, he struck with his whole
body, launching himself like a long
lean catapult with bullets ripping
the air where he had been a split
second before. And as his feet left
the floor and he became a sort of
giants arrow in horizontal flight,
and his head struck Rance Waldron
in the middle, his long arms with
those tremendously gripping hands
of his grappled with the man he
sent topping and crashing to the
floor
Now, Bill Cole Cody didn't miss
all the bullets which swarmed about
him like angry bees. Two of them
scraped him, barely laid the skin
back, and their effect was to cause
him to lose all temper which he
hadn't had time to lose already.
There was a scratch along the top
of his head, and blood ran down
into his left eye; there was a twin
scratch six or eight inches long
down the back of his left shoulder.
Ann Lee saw the blood and thought
he was surely dead, and came run
ming; she'd grab Rance Waldron's
guns and shoot him all to pieces!
But no intercession was needed.
As Waldron spilled back on the floor
one of his guns flew out of his hands:
Bill Cody, though with one eye
dimmed, could see that. The other
gun swung in its brief arc to blow
his brains out, but Cody's hand
swung quicker. He caught Waldron's
wrist; he all but broke it in the DOW
er of his grip; slowly he twisted it so
that the muzzle of WaIdron's gun
was against Waldron's temple. And
then Bill Cody spoke his little
speech:
Pull the trigger now, Waldron, If
you like. Or drop the gun-and
drop it quickl"
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