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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8458896 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67306 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67306) diff --git a/old/67306-0.txt b/old/67306-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2492c3a..0000000 --- a/old/67306-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1111 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Laughter of Slim Malone, by Max -Brand - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Laughter of Slim Malone - -Author: Max Brand - -Release Date: February 2, 2022 [eBook #67306] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Roger Frank and Sue Clark - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAUGHTER OF SLIM MALONE *** - - - The Laughter of Slim Malone - - By Max Brand - - -[Illustration] - -Time has little to do with reputation in the far West, and accordingly -the name of Slim Malone grew old in the region of Appleton, and yet -the owner of the name was still young. - -Appleton was somewhat of a misnomer, for the region had never known -anything save imported apples or any other sort of fruit since the -time of its birth into the history of whisky and revolvers. But a -misguided pioneer in the old days had raised a few scrubby trees and -had named the town forever. The dreams of the early agriculturalists -had died long ago, but the name remained to pique the curiosity of -travelers and furnish jokes for inhabitants. - -The town lay at the conjunction of three gorges in the heart of the -Rockies, and the little plain where it nestled was crowded with -orchards which bore everything but apples. The six original trees -which had given the town its name now stood in the back yard of Sandy -Orton’s saloon—old trees with knotted and mossy limbs which suggested -a venerable age due to the hard climate rather than to the passage of -years. They were pointed out to casual travelers with great pride, and -they were the established toast of Sandy’s place. But Sandy’s was -frequented by a loud-voiced and spendthrift crowd not usual to -agricultural towns. - -In the old days, when Appleton was a name rather than a fact, the -hilarity had been as absent as the men; but after gold was discovered -in the three gorges which led from the settlement into the heart of -the mountains, the little town became a rendezvous of a thousand -adventurers. The stages to and from the railroad thirty miles away, -were crowded with men eager to face the hardships of the climate and -the great adventure of the gold-fields. - -It was then that Slim Malone appeared. It was said that he had first -come upon the scene as the owner of the Red River strike, which was -finally owned by Sandy Gleason. It was further rumored that Sandy had -beaten Slim Malone out of the claim by a very shady deal at cards; but -Sandy refused to discuss the matter, and Slim Malone was rarely within -vocal range, so the matter had never been sifted. Sandy was rarely -more vocal than a grunt, and when Slim Malone appeared, people had -generally other things to think about than questions concerning his -past. - -A certain percentage of lawlessness is taken for granted in a mining -town. People are too busy with their own concerns to pay attention to -their neighbors, but when three stages in succession, passing from -Appleton to Concord, the nearest railroad station, were robbed by a -rider on a white horse, the community awoke and waxed wrath. The loss -was too much in common to be passed over. - -The first effort was an impromptu organization of half a dozen angered -miners who rode into the Weston Hills. They found fresh hoof-prints -after an hour of riding, and went on greatly encouraged, with the -pistols loosened in their holsters. After some hours of hard travel -they came upon a white horse in the midst of a hollow, and then spread -into a circle and approached cautiously. But not cautiously enough. -While they were still far from the white horse the bandit opened fire -upon them from the shelter of a circle of rocks. They rode into town -the next day with three of their number badly hurt and the other three -marked for life. That started the war. - -As the months passed posse after posse left Appleton and started to -scour the Weston Hills for the marauder. The luckiest of the -expeditions came back telling tales of a sudden fusillade from an -unexpected covert, and then a swift white horse scouring into the -distance. The majority came back with no tales at all save of silent -mountains and the grim cactus of the desert. - -In the mean time the stages from Appleton to Concord were held up with -a monotonous regularity by a rider of a fleet white horse, and the -mining town grew more and more irate. Men cursed the name of Slim -Malone. An adventurous singer in one of Appleton’s dance halls -invented a song featuring the marauder, and it was taken up by the -matrons of the town as a sort of scare-crow ballad to hush their -children. - -Then the new mayor came to Appleton. He owned three claims on -Askwarthy Gulch, and he ran on the double platform of no-license for -the Appleton saloons and the end of Slim Malone. The women used their -influence because of the first clause in his platform, and the men -voted for him because of the second. His name was Orval Kendricks, but -that didn’t count. What mattered was his red hair and the statements -of his platform. Slim Malone celebrated the new reign of holding up -two stages within the first five days. - -But the new mayor lived up to the color of his hair, and proved worthy -of his platform. He held a meeting of every able-bodied citizen in -town three days after his inauguration, and in his speech the men -noted with relief that he forgot to mention the saloons, and that he -concentrated his attention on Slim Malone. He stated that the good -name and the prosperity of Appleton depended upon the capture of this -marauder at once. Divorced from the mayor’s rather sounding rhetoric, -the populace of Appleton realized the truth of his remarks and -applauded him to the echo. His silences were as much appreciated as -his words. - -After a carefully prepared peroration he built up to his climax by the -proposal that the community import “Lefty” Cornwall, at a salary of -five hundred dollars a month and five thousand bonus, to act as deputy -sheriff until the apprehension of Slim Malone. Then the crowd -applauded to the echo. In their midst were men who had lost more than -five thousand at a blow owing to the strenuous activity of this Slim -Malone. They were equal to any measures for his suppression even if it -meant the importation of Lefty Cornwall. - -The fame of Lefty had begun in Texas when he mortally wounded one -greaser and crippled two others in a saloon fight. Since then it had -increased and spread until he was a household word even farther north -than Appleton. He came from that sun-burned southland where a man’s -prowess was gaged by his speed and dexterity with his “irons,” and -even on that northern plateau of Appleton men knew that to cross Lefty -Cornwall was death or murderous mutilation. - -At first there were some dissenters. Men stated freely that Lefty -would never dream of coming as far north as Appleton for a paltry five -thousand dollars. There were even a few dissenters who claimed that -even should he come he would never be able to cope with Slim Malone, -but these were laughed and hooted down by a radical minority who came -from the southland and knew the fame of Lefty Cornwall in detail. The -sheriff accounted for the others by stating that he had already -communicated with Lefty, and had received his assent by letter. This -announcement dissolved the meeting in cheers. - -Appleton decreed the day of the arrival of the new sheriff a festival -occasion. The farmers from the adjoining table-land drove into town, -the miners from the three valleys rode down. And when the stage -arrived from Concord the incipient sheriff dismounted in the midst of -a huge crowd, and cheers which shook the sign-board of Sandy Orton’s -saloon. - -Now the mayor of Appleton had declared deathless war against the -saloons in his platform, but since his election he had been strangely -silent upon the liquor question. He was as canny as his red hair -suggested, and he had a truly Scotch insight into the crucial moments -of life. He perceived the arrival of Lefty Cornwall to be such a -moment, and he perceived at the same moment the correct way of meeting -that crisis. - -It was with surprise no less than pleasure that the throng heard the -lusty voice of their chief official inviting them to Sandy Orton’s -saloon, and where they were in doubt, his beckoning arm put them -right. They filled the saloon from bar to door, and those who could -not enter thronged at the entrances with gaping mouths. - -The sheriff was equal to the occasion. He mounted the bar much as a -plainsman mounts a horse, and standing in full view of his fellow -citizens, he invited Lefty Cornwall to join him in his prominent -position. Nowise loath, Lefty swung onto the bar in the most approved -fashion, and stood, locked arm in arm with the dignified official of -Appleton. In the mean time the bartenders, thrilled equally with -surprise and pleasure, passed out the drinks to the crowded room. It -was apparently a moment big in portent to Appleton, and not a heart -there but pulsed big with pride in their mayor. - -“Fellow citizens,” began the mayor, raising a large freckled hand for -silence. - -A hush fell upon the assemblage. - -“Boys,” continued the mayor, after a proper silence reigned, “I -haven’t got much to say.” - -“Here’s to you!” yelled a voice. “I hate a guy that’s noisy.” - -The mayor frowned and waved a commanding hand for silence. - -“I spotted you, Pete Bartlett,” he called. “If you don’t like silence -you must hate yourself.” - -The crowd roared with approving laughter. - -“Boys,” began Orval Kendricks again, when the laughter had subsided, -“this here is a solemn occasion. I feel called upon to summon the -manhood of this here town to listen to my words, and I reckon that -most of the manhood of the town is within hearin’.” - -A chorus of assent followed. - -“I don’t need any Daniel Webster to tell you men that this here town -is hard hit,” continued Mayor Kendricks. “It don’t need no Henry Clay -to tell you that these diggin’s are about to bust up unless we have -the right sort of a strong arm man in town. We’ve been sufferin’ -patiently from the aggressions of a red-handed desperado who I don’t -need to mention, because his name just naturally burns my tongue.” - -“Slim Malone!” cried a dozen voices. “We’re followin’ you, chief!” - -The mayor thrust his hand into his breast and extended the other arm -in imitation of a popular wood-cut of Patrick Henry. The crowd -acknowledged the eloquence of the attitude with a common gaping. - -“There may be some of you guys,” cried the mayor, rising to the -emotion of the moment, “there may be some of you guys who don’t know -the man I mean, but I reckon that a tolerable pile of Appleton’s best -citizens spend a large part of their time cursing Slim Malone.” - -“We ain’t through damning him yet,” yelled a voice, and the crowd -voiced their assent, half in growls and half in laughter. - -“He has tricked our posse as an honest man would be ashamed to do,” -went on the mayor, warming to his oration; “he has shot our citizens, -and he has swiped our gold! I’m askin’ you as man to man, can a -self-respectin’ community stand for this? It can’t. What’s the answer -that Appleton makes to this desperado?” - -He paused and frowned the audience into a state of suspense. - -“There is only one answer to this gun-fighter, and that answer stands -at my right hand,” bellowed the mayor, when he judged that the silence -had sunk into his hearers sufficiently. “The name of the answer is -Lefty Cornwall!” - -The following burst of applause brought a momentary blush into even -Lefty’s cheek. At the reiterated demands for a speech he hitched at -his revolver in its skeleton holster, removed his sombrero, and mopped -his forehead with a ponderous hand. When it became evident that the -hero was about to break into utterance the crowd became silent. - -“Fellows,” began the gun-fighter, “makin’ speeches ain’t much in my -line.” - -“Makin’ dead men is more your game,” broke in the wit of the -assemblage. - -A universal hiss attested that the crowd was anxious to hear the Texan -gun-man out. - -“But if you are goin’ to do me the honor of makin’ me sheriff of this -here county and this here city of Appleton,” he continued, letting his -eye rove down Appleton’s one street, “I’m here to state that law and -order is goin’ to be maintained here at all costs. Right here I got to -state that the only costs I’m referrin’ to is the price of the powder -and lead for this here cannon of mine.” - -The crowd broke in upon the speech with noisy appreciation, and many -cries of “That’s the stuff, old boy!” - -“I been hearin’ a tolerable pile about one Slim Malone,” went on the -new sheriff. - -“So have we,” broke in the irrepressible wit of the assemblage, only -to be choked into silence by more serious-minded neighbors. - -“Sure,” agreed the sheriff. “I reckon you’ve heard a lot too much -about him. But I’m here to state that all this talk about Slim Malone -has got to stop, and has got to stop sudden. I’m here to stop it.” - -He hitched his holster a little forward again as he spoke and a deep -silence fell upon the crowd. - -“Fellow citizens,” he continued, spitting liberally over the side of -the bar, “whatever gun-play is carried on around here in the future is -to be done strictly by me, and all you men can consider yourselves -under warning to leave your shootin’-irons at home, unless you want to -use them to dig premature graves.” - -This advice was received with an ironical chuckle of appreciation from -the crowd. - -“As for Slim Malone,” he went on, “I’m goin’ out into the Weston Hills -to get him single handed. I don’t want no posse. I’ll get him single -handed or bust, you can lay to that; and if I come back to this town -without Slim Malone, alive or dead, you can say that Malone has the -Indian sign on me.” - -Having finished all that he had to say, Lefty felt about in his mind -to find a graceful manner of closing his exordium, when the mayor came -to his assistance. He recognized that nervous clearing of the throat -and wandering of the eyes out of his own first political experiences. -Now he raised his glass of colored alcohol and water, which in -Appleton rejoiced in the name of Bourbon. - -“Boys,” he shouted, “there ain’t no better way of showin’ our -appreciation of our new sheriff than by turnin’ bottoms up. Let’s go!” - -Every hand in the barroom flashed into the air, and after a loud whoop -there was a brief gurgling sound which warmed the heart of Sandy -Orton. - -It should have been the signal for a day’s carousal, and the good -citizens of Appleton were no wise averse. They desired to hear the -voice of their new sheriff in friendly converse. They desired to see -him in that most amiable of all poses, his foot on the rail and his -hand on the bar. They wanted to look him over and size him up just as -a boy wishes to fondle his first gun. But the sheriff objected. He was -sorry to spoil the fun. He said that they could go ahead and have -their little time, but that they must leave him out. He had business -to perform that didn’t admit of drinking. - -There might have been adverse criticism of this Spartan strenuousness, -but at this point a diversion occurred in the shape of four wild -riders who broke into Appleton and brought the word that Slim Malone -had been out again. This time he had held up a mule train on its way -to carry provisions up Bender Cañon to Earl Parrish’s claim. With his -usual fine restraint Slim had taken no lives, but he had winged two of -the drivers badly and had helped himself from the provisions without -unnecessary waste. He had even lingered to give first aid to the two -drivers whose courage had overcome their sense of proportion. - -If anything had been needed to spur on the new official of Appleton it -came in the form of the message which Slim Malone had left with the -wounded man before he rode away. - -“Tell the new sheriff,” he called, as he sat easily in the saddle, -“that I’ve heard of him, and that I’ll organize a little party for him -as soon as possible so that we can get better acquainted. Tell him -that the one thing he lacks to make him a good fighting man is a sense -of humor.” - -Lefty Cornwall heard this message in silence the while he spat with -vicious precision into a distant spittoon. Afterward, and still in -silence, he retired and worked for an hour cleaning his already -shining revolver and patting and oiling the holster. He performed -these grave functions in the house of the mayor, and that dignitary -announced later that he had wound up by practising the draw and point, -walking and sitting down, and at every angle. The mayor was impressed -past speech. - -When Lefty issued at last he found a score of hard riders standing by -their horses in the street. - -“An’ what might all this here gang be for?” inquired Lefty mildly. - -“We’re the posse, waitin’ to be sworn in,” announced one of the men. - -“Swearin’ in takes a terrible lot of time,” said Lefty, “an’ besides, -I don’t know how it’s done. I don’t want no posse, as I said before. I -wouldn’t know how to handle it. Anyway, twenty men on horseback make -enough noise to scare away a whole gang of bandits. You might as well -start lookin’ for trouble with a brass band, because you’d sure find -the trouble.” - -He hitched at his belt in his customary manner when at a loss for -words, and his right hand dropped gracefully upon the handle of his -gun and drooped thereon somewhat sinisterly. - -“This here Malone,” went on the sheriff, “may be a tolerable bad man -in his way, but I ain’t no shorn lamb myself. I’m goin’ out to get -him, an’ I’m goin’ to get him by myself. I reckon that’s final.” - -They accepted his announcement with cheers, and set about offering all -the information in their power. It was generally believed that the -bandit lived somewhere at the far end of Eagle Head Cañon, about -fifteen miles from the town. His dwelling had never been spotted, but -he was most frequently seen riding to and from this place. Thrice -posses had raked the cañon as with a fine-toothed comb, but they had -never come upon a trace of his habitation; but the cañon was thick -with caves, and heaped with giant boulders which offered innumerable -places of concealment, and the legend was strong that Slim Malone -lived in that place. - -The next thing was to find a proper mount. This proved a more -difficult task. The sheriff knew horses from nose to hoof, and he was -hard to please. At last he selected a tall roan with a wicked eye and -flat shoulders which promised speed. These preparations made, he swung -to the saddle, waved his hand to the crowd, and galloped out of town. - -There was not much bluff about Lefty Cornwall, as the curious-minded -had frequently discovered in the past, but as he swung into the narrow -throat of Eagle Head Cañon, he began to realize that he might have -gone too far. While he was in the town it had been easy enough to make -ringing speeches. Now that the evening began to come down by lazy, -cool degrees a certain diffidence grew in him. - -He had fought many men during his brief life, but he had never come -across a reputation as strange or as fascinating as this of Slim -Malone. If the challenge which the bandit had sent him was irritating, -it also roused in his mind a certain degree of respect, and as he rode -up the cañon, winding slowly among the boulders, a hundred doubts -infested his mind. - -If he had been back upon the level reaches of the Texan desert, which -he knew, these uncertainties would probably have never entered his -head, but here every half mile of his journey was passed under the eye -of a thousand coverts from which a man could have picked him off with -the safety of a hunter firing from a blind at partridges. Moreover a -curious loneliness akin to homesickness came in him, located, as far -as he could discover, chiefly in the pit of the stomach. - -The mountains were blue now, and purple along their upper reaches, and -as the sun left off the moon took up her reign over the chill blue -spaces. It was very solemn, almost funereal to the thought of Lefty -Cornwall. And the silence was punctuated with the melancholy howling -of a far-off coyote. - -It was complete night before he reached the upper end of Eagle Head -Cañon, and he was weary from the stumbling gait of his horse over the -rocks. Moreover, the mountain night air was cold—very cold to Lefty. -He wanted desperately to turn back, but he had not the heart to face -the inquiries which would meet him at the town, and the covert smiles -which would welcome the hero returning empty handed, the man who -needed no posse. - -Lefty was a very brave man, but like almost all of the physically -courageous, he dreaded derision more than actual pain. Yet, in spite -of this he finally decided that it was better to go back to the town -and face the smiles than to remain through the cold night in these -dread silences. He wished heartily that he had taken one other man -with him if it were only for the companionship. As it was he felt that -it was no use to hunt further, and he started back down the cañon. He -had not gone far when his horse stumbled and commenced to limp. - -Lefty got off with a curse and felt of the fore hoofs. The difficulty -proved to be a sharp, three-cornered rock which had been picked up -under the shoe of the left fore foot. He was bending over to pry this -loose between his fingers when he caught the glint of a light. - -In his excitement he sprang upright and stared. At once the light -disappeared. Lefty began to feel ghostly. His senses had never played -him such tricks before. - -He leaned over and commenced work on the stone again, but as he did so -his eye caught the same glint of light. There was no possible mistake -about it this time. He remained bent over and stared at it until he -was certain that he saw a yellow spot of light, a long, thin ray which -pointed out to him like a finger through the shadows. - -This time he took the bearings of the light carefully, and when he -stood up he was able to locate it again. Lefty’s heart beat high. - -He threw the reins over his horse’s head and commenced to stalk the -light carefully. Sometimes as he slipped and stumbled over the rocks -he lost sight of it altogether, only to have it reappear when he had -almost given up hopes of finding it again. And so he came upon the -cave. - -The light shone through a little chink between two tall boulders, and -as Lefty pressed his eye to the aperture, holding his breath as he did -so, he saw a long dugout, perhaps a dozen paces from end to end, and -some five paces wide. Behind a partition at one end he heard the -stamping of a horse, and as Lefty gazed, a magnificent white head rose -behind the partition and looked fairly at him. His heart stopped as -that great-eyed gaze turned on him, the ears pricking and the wisp of -hay motionless in the mouth. But after a moment the horse dropped his -head again and went on crunching his fodder, stamping now and then and -snorting as he ate. - -At first he saw no other occupant of the place, but by moving his eye -to one side of the aperture he managed to get a glimpse of the bandit -himself. There was no question about his identity. From the -descriptions which he had heard while in Appleton he knew him at once, -the expressionless gray eyes, and the thin, refined face with an -almost Greek modeling about its lower part. - -He sat tilted back in a heavy chair smoking a pipe and reading, and -Lefty saw that he sat facing a blanket at the far end of the room. -Evidently this was the entrance. So far as Lefty could see the bandit -was unarmed, his two long guns lying on the table half a dozen paces -away. - -Very softly he crept along the side of the boulder, and finally came -to an aperture, as he had expected. It was just wide enough for a man -to press through, and from the chisel marks at his sides it had -evidently been artificially widened from time to time. At the end of -the narrow passage hung the blanket. - -If Lefty had proceeded cautiously up to this point, his caution now -became almost animal-like. Behind that blanket he had no idea what was -happening. Perhaps the bandit had heard a noise long before, and was -now crouched against the wall in another part of the place, ready to -open fire at the first stir of the blanket. Perhaps he had stolen out -of the cave by another entrance and was now hunting the hunter. The -thought sent a chill down Lefty’s back and he turned his head quickly. -Then he resumed his slow progress. At the very edge of the blanket he -paused for a long and deathly minute, but Lefty was not a woman, to -fail at the last moment. - -He swung the blanket aside and crouched in the entrance with his gun -leveled. The little round sight framed the face of Slim Malone, who -still sat reading quietly and puffing at a black-bowled pipe. - -“Hands up!” said Lefty softly. - -Even then, with his bead on his man, he did not feel entirely sure of -himself. It seemed that this could not be true. Opportunity had -favored him too much. There must still be some turn of the game. - -The meaningless gray eyes raised calmly from the book. It seemed to -Lefty that a yellow glint came into them for a moment like the light -that comes into an animal’s eyes when it is angered, but the next -moment it was gone, and he could not be sure that it had come there at -all. The rest of the face was perfectly calm. Malone lowered the book -slowly and then raised his hands above his head. - -“Ah, sheriff,” he said quietly, “I see that you have honored my -invitation.” - -“Right-o,” said Lefty, “I’m here all right.” - -He felt strangely relieved after hearing his quarry speak. He stepped -through the entrance and straightened up, still with the revolver -leveled. It was beyond his fondest hopes that he should be able to -bring the desperado alive to Appleton, and the thought of his complete -success warmed his heart. Also the immediate prospect of that -five-thousand-dollar bonus. - -“In order to remove any strain you may be under,” went on Slim Malone, -“I’ll assure you that I am quite unarmed. My guns are both lying on -the table there. In order that you may make sure, I shall stand up, -with my hands over my head, and turn around slowly. You can examine me -to your own satisfaction.” - -He did as he had said, and Lefty’s practised eyes saw that there was -not the suspicion of a lump under the clothes. - -“Now,” said Slim Malone, as he faced his captor again, and his smile -was strangely winning, “I hope that I may lower my arms and we can -commence our little party.” - -“Your end of this here party is all over, my beauty,” said Lefty -grimly, “except that the boys at Appleton may give you a little -impromptu reception when we hit town. They seem to be rather strong on -celebrations.” - -“So I understand,” smiled Slim Malone. “I have no doubt they will be -glad to see me.” - -“Ain’t no doubt in the world,” grinned Lefty, warming to the perfect -calm of this man. “Between you an’ me, pal, I’m sorry to have to turn -this little trick; but—” - -Malone waved a careless and reassuring hand. - -“Business is business, my dear fellow,” he said. - -“That bein’ the case,” said Lefty, “I’ll have to ask you to turn -around and put your hands behind your back while I put these here -bracelets on. I don’t want to discourage you any, but while I’m doin’ -it this here gun will be in my hand and pointin’ at your back.” - -“Naturally,” nodded Malone; “quite right, of course; but before we -start on our little jaunt back to the camp won’t you have a drink with -me? I have some really rare old stuff here; quite different from the -firewater they put labels on in Appleton.” - -Lefty grinned appreciatively. - -“It’s a good move, pal,” he said, shaking his head with admiration, -“an’ I know that you’re hard put to it or you wouldn’t try such an old -dodge on me. It’s a good move, but down in Texas the booze stunt is so -old that they’ve almost forgotten it—not quite!” - -“Ah,” said Malone, with a little sigh of regret, “then I suppose we -shall have to ride out in the night without a nip. Gets mighty chilly -here before morning, you know.” - -This fact had gradually dawned on Lefty during his ride up the valley, -and as he looked forward to the journey back he shivered with -unpleasant anticipation. In Texas a summer night was one thing; in -these mountains it was quite another. - -“I suppose the booze is the real thing,” he inquired casually. - -“There are little bubbles under the glass,” said Slim Malone with -subtle emotion. - -Lefty Cornwall sighed deeply. The taste of the Appleton bar whisky -still burned his mouth. After all this fellow was a man. He might be a -criminal, but Lefty’s own past was not free from shady episodes. -Furthermore he was about to make five thousand dollars on presenting -him to the good people of Appleton. - -“If you sure want a drink before we start, go ahead,” said Lefty. - -“The bottle and a glass is over there in that little dugout on the -wall,” pointed Malone. - -In the little open hutch on the wall the sheriff perceived a tall -bottle which shimmered pleasantly in the torch-light. - -“Go ahead,” said the sheriff, “I reckon you know I’m watchin’ all the -time.” - -“Surely,” said Malone pleasantly. “I know you’re on your job all the -time.” - -He walked over to the hutch and picked up the bottle and the glass. He -paused with the bottle tucked away under his arm. - -“Queer thing,” pondered Malone, “the same pack that held this bottle -of whisky held this also.” - -Lefty tightened his grip on the gun as Malone reached deeper into the -hutch, but he straightened again, and appeared carrying a large -concert banjo. - -“That fellow had taste,” he continued, crossing the room and laying -down the banjo carelessly on the chair; “just run your eyes over that -banjo.” - -“Some banjo, all right,” said the sheriff, “but hurry up with your -drink, Malone. We’ve got to be on our way.” - -Malone uncorked the bottle and held it under his nose while he inhaled -a whiff. - -“The old aroma, all right,” he pronounced with the air of a -connoisseur; “must be a vintage as far back as the eighties. You won’t -join me?” - -Now the heart of the sheriff was a human heart, but his will was -adamant. - -“Not me, Malone,” he answered, “I’ve been in the game too long. Can’t -drink on this sort of a job.” - -“Guess you’re right,” murmured Malone, letting the amber stream -trickle slowly into the glass; “but it’s too bad.” - -He raised the glass to his lips and swallowed half of the contents -slowly. - -“The stuff is so oily,” he mused, “that you don’t need a chaser. Just -sort of oils its own way down, you know.” - -The sheriff moistened his lips. - -“It certainly is a shame that you can’t taste it,” continued Malone, -as he drained the glass. - -The sheriff hitched his belt with his customary gesture. - -“It looks like the real thing,” he said judicially. - -“It is,” pronounced Malone with decision, “and after the sort of -poison they serve you around here—” - -The sheriff shuddered with sympathy. - -“I reckon,” he said hesitatingly, “that you might pour me just a -drop.” - -It seemed to him that as he spoke the yellow glint came into the eyes -of Malone again, but a moment later it was gone, and he decided that -the change had been merely a shadow from the wavering torch-light. He -took the glass which Malone extended to him under the cover of the -pointed gun and raised it slowly to his lips. - -“Just stand a bit further back while I drink, pal,” he said. - -Malone obeyed, and the sheriff tilted the glass. It was, as Malone had -said, “the real old aroma,” and the sheriff drew a deep breath. - -Now there is a saying about liquor that the drink which does the harm -is “just one more,” and certain it is that one whisky calls for -another as surely as a question calls for an answer. - -“I reckon it ain’t quite as old as you say,” said the sheriff, feeling -his way from word to word cautiously. “I reckon it ain’t more than -fifteen years old at the outside.” - -Malone paused, with the bottle suspended over the glass to consider. - -“I thought that myself when I first drank,” he nodded; “but that was -before I got used to it. All Bourbon is a little sharp, you know.” - -The sheriff was inclined to agree. He also felt sure that one more -drink would quite banish from his memory the taste of that one drink -in Appleton. Moreover, the danger, if there was any, was slight, for -Malone was taking drink for drink with him, and larger drinks at that. -It was a sort of subtle challenge to the manhood of the sheriff, and -he was as proud of his capacity for whisky as of his speed with a gun. - -It was perhaps half an hour later that the sheriff indicated the banjo -with a careless wave of the pistol. - -“Play any?” he inquired, “or do you keep it around as sort of an -ornament?” - -“Both,” smiled Malone. “It makes the place more homelike, you know, -and then I sing once in a while, but not often. Folks around here -aren’t particularly partial to my voice.” - -“I’m a pretty good judge,” stated the sheriff; “blaze away, and I’ll -see you ain’t interrupted. Been a long time since I had the pleasure -of hearing any decent singin’.” - -He was, as he said, a fairly good judge, and he was delighted with the -rich barytone which rang through the cave. After a time, as the whisky -and the music melted into his mood, he began to call for old -favorites, darky ballads, and last of all, for the sentimental ditties -which have always charmed the heart of the rough men of the West: -“Annie Laurie,” “Old Black Joe,” “Ben Bolt,” “Silver Threads Among the -Gold.” - -As he sang the bandit commenced, naturally, to walk back and forth -through the cave, and the sheriff sat back in the chair and with -half-closed eyes waved the revolver back and forth in time. He failed -to note that as Malone walked up and down each time he made a longer -trip, until at last he was pacing and turning close to the table on -which lay the revolvers side by side. He did not note it, or if he did -his mind was too thrilled with the tender airs and the tenderer liquor -to register the fact clearly. It faded into the pleasant blur of his -sensations. - - Oh, don’t you remember sweet Alice, Ben Bolt, Sweet Alice - with— - -The music stopped. Malone had stooped over the table with the speed of -a bird picking up a grain of wheat, and with the same movement he -whirled and fired. The gun spun from the hand of the sheriff and he -stood staring into eyes which now beyond all doubt flared with a -yellow animal fire. - -“Now put your hands behind your back after you’ve thrown those -bracelets to me,” said Malone. “I naturally hate to break up this -party, but I think you’ve had about enough whisky to keep you warm on -the ride back, Lefty, my boy.” - -There was an insane desire on the sheriff’s part to leap upon Malone -bare-handed, but he had seen too many fighting men in action before. -He knew the meaning of those eyes and the steadiness of the revolver. - -“It’s your game, Slim,” he said, with as little bitterness as -possible; “but will you tell me why in the name of God you aren’t on -the stage? It isn’t what you do, pal, it’s the way you do it!” - -Appleton woke early the next morning. Some one shouted and then fired -a pistol. The populace gathered at windows and doors rubbing sleepy -eyes which a moment later shone wide awake, and yawns turned into -yells of laughter, for down the middle of Appleton’s one street came -the sheriff. He was sitting the roan horse, with his feet tied below -the girth, and his hands tied behind his back. And even the weary roan -seemed to feel in his drooping head the defeat of his rider. - -Upon the back of the sheriff was a large piece of cardboard, upon -which was printed in large letters the following: - - I’m sending this back with my signature in token of a - pleasant evening in my home in Eagle Head Cañon. I’m sorry - to announce that I’m moved. Slim Malone. - - -[Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the June 14, 1919 issue -of All-Story Weekly magazine] - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAUGHTER OF SLIM MALONE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Laughter of Slim Malone</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Max Brand</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 2, 2022 [eBook #67306]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Roger Frank and Sue Clark</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAUGHTER OF SLIM MALONE ***</div> -<div class='ce'> -<h1 style='margin-bottom:0em;'>The Laughter of Slim Malone </h1> -<div style='font-size:1.1em;margin-bottom:2em;'>By Max Brand </div> -</div> -<div id='001' class='mt01 mb01 w001'> - <img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' style='width:100%' /> -</div> -<p>Time has little to do with reputation in the far West, and accordingly -the name of Slim Malone grew old in the region of Appleton, and yet -the owner of the name was still young.</p> - -<p>Appleton was somewhat of a misnomer, for the region had never known -anything save imported apples or any other sort of fruit since the -time of its birth into the history of whisky and revolvers. But a -misguided pioneer in the old days had raised a few scrubby trees and -had named the town forever. The dreams of the early agriculturalists -had died long ago, but the name remained to pique the curiosity of -travelers and furnish jokes for inhabitants.</p> - -<p>The town lay at the conjunction of three gorges in the heart of the -Rockies, and the little plain where it nestled was crowded with -orchards which bore everything but apples. The six original trees -which had given the town its name now stood in the back yard of Sandy -Orton’s saloon—old trees with knotted and mossy limbs which suggested -a venerable age due to the hard climate rather than to the passage of -years. They were pointed out to casual travelers with great pride, and -they were the established toast of Sandy’s place. But Sandy’s was -frequented by a loud-voiced and spendthrift crowd not usual to -agricultural towns.</p> - -<p>In the old days, when Appleton was a name rather than a fact, the -hilarity had been as absent as the men; but after gold was discovered -in the three gorges which led from the settlement into the heart of -the mountains, the little town became a rendezvous of a thousand -adventurers. The stages to and from the railroad thirty miles away, -were crowded with men eager to face the hardships of the climate and -the great adventure of the gold-fields.</p> - -<p>It was then that Slim Malone appeared. It was said that he had first -come upon the scene as the owner of the Red River strike, which was -finally owned by Sandy Gleason. It was further rumored that Sandy had -beaten Slim Malone out of the claim by a very shady deal at cards; but -Sandy refused to discuss the matter, and Slim Malone was rarely within -vocal range, so the matter had never been sifted. Sandy was rarely -more vocal than a grunt, and when Slim Malone appeared, people had -generally other things to think about than questions concerning his -past.</p> - -<p>A certain percentage of lawlessness is taken for granted in a mining -town. People are too busy with their own concerns to pay attention to -their neighbors, but when three stages in succession, passing from -Appleton to Concord, the nearest railroad station, were robbed by a -rider on a white horse, the community awoke and waxed wrath. The loss -was too much in common to be passed over.</p> - -<p>The first effort was an impromptu organization of half a dozen angered -miners who rode into the Weston Hills. They found fresh hoof-prints -after an hour of riding, and went on greatly encouraged, with the -pistols loosened in their holsters. After some hours of hard travel -they came upon a white horse in the midst of a hollow, and then spread -into a circle and approached cautiously. But not cautiously enough. -While they were still far from the white horse the bandit opened fire -upon them from the shelter of a circle of rocks. They rode into town -the next day with three of their number badly hurt and the other three -marked for life. That started the war.</p> - -<p>As the months passed posse after posse left Appleton and started to -scour the Weston Hills for the marauder. The luckiest of the -expeditions came back telling tales of a sudden fusillade from an -unexpected covert, and then a swift white horse scouring into the -distance. The majority came back with no tales at all save of silent -mountains and the grim cactus of the desert.</p> - -<p>In the mean time the stages from Appleton to Concord were held up with -a monotonous regularity by a rider of a fleet white horse, and the -mining town grew more and more irate. Men cursed the name of Slim -Malone. An adventurous singer in one of Appleton’s dance halls -invented a song featuring the marauder, and it was taken up by the -matrons of the town as a sort of scare-crow ballad to hush their -children.</p> - -<p>Then the new mayor came to Appleton. He owned three claims on -Askwarthy Gulch, and he ran on the double platform of no-license for -the Appleton saloons and the end of Slim Malone. The women used their -influence because of the first clause in his platform, and the men -voted for him because of the second. His name was Orval Kendricks, but -that didn’t count. What mattered was his red hair and the statements -of his platform. Slim Malone celebrated the new reign of holding up -two stages within the first five days.</p> - -<p>But the new mayor lived up to the color of his hair, and proved worthy -of his platform. He held a meeting of every able-bodied citizen in -town three days after his inauguration, and in his speech the men -noted with relief that he forgot to mention the saloons, and that he -concentrated his attention on Slim Malone. He stated that the good -name and the prosperity of Appleton depended upon the capture of this -marauder at once. Divorced from the mayor’s rather sounding rhetoric, -the populace of Appleton realized the truth of his remarks and -applauded him to the echo. His silences were as much appreciated as -his words.</p> - -<p>After a carefully prepared peroration he built up to his climax by the -proposal that the community import “Lefty” Cornwall, at a salary of -five hundred dollars a month and five thousand bonus, to act as deputy -sheriff until the apprehension of Slim Malone. Then the crowd -applauded to the echo. In their midst were men who had lost more than -five thousand at a blow owing to the strenuous activity of this Slim -Malone. They were equal to any measures for his suppression even if it -meant the importation of Lefty Cornwall.</p> - -<p>The fame of Lefty had begun in Texas when he mortally wounded one -greaser and crippled two others in a saloon fight. Since then it had -increased and spread until he was a household word even farther north -than Appleton. He came from that sun-burned southland where a man’s -prowess was gaged by his speed and dexterity with his “irons,” and -even on that northern plateau of Appleton men knew that to cross Lefty -Cornwall was death or murderous mutilation.</p> - -<p>At first there were some dissenters. Men stated freely that Lefty -would never dream of coming as far north as Appleton for a paltry five -thousand dollars. There were even a few dissenters who claimed that -even should he come he would never be able to cope with Slim Malone, -but these were laughed and hooted down by a radical minority who came -from the southland and knew the fame of Lefty Cornwall in detail. The -sheriff accounted for the others by stating that he had already -communicated with Lefty, and had received his assent by letter. This -announcement dissolved the meeting in cheers.</p> - -<p>Appleton decreed the day of the arrival of the new sheriff a festival -occasion. The farmers from the adjoining table-land drove into town, -the miners from the three valleys rode down. And when the stage -arrived from Concord the incipient sheriff dismounted in the midst of -a huge crowd, and cheers which shook the sign-board of Sandy Orton’s -saloon.</p> - -<p>Now the mayor of Appleton had declared deathless war against the -saloons in his platform, but since his election he had been strangely -silent upon the liquor question. He was as canny as his red hair -suggested, and he had a truly Scotch insight into the crucial moments -of life. He perceived the arrival of Lefty Cornwall to be such a -moment, and he perceived at the same moment the correct way of meeting -that crisis.</p> - -<p>It was with surprise no less than pleasure that the throng heard the -lusty voice of their chief official inviting them to Sandy Orton’s -saloon, and where they were in doubt, his beckoning arm put them -right. They filled the saloon from bar to door, and those who could -not enter thronged at the entrances with gaping mouths.</p> - -<p>The sheriff was equal to the occasion. He mounted the bar much as a -plainsman mounts a horse, and standing in full view of his fellow -citizens, he invited Lefty Cornwall to join him in his prominent -position. Nowise loath, Lefty swung onto the bar in the most approved -fashion, and stood, locked arm in arm with the dignified official of -Appleton. In the mean time the bartenders, thrilled equally with -surprise and pleasure, passed out the drinks to the crowded room. It -was apparently a moment big in portent to Appleton, and not a heart -there but pulsed big with pride in their mayor.</p> - -<p>“Fellow citizens,” began the mayor, raising a large freckled hand for -silence.</p> - -<p>A hush fell upon the assemblage.</p> - -<p>“Boys,” continued the mayor, after a proper silence reigned, “I -haven’t got much to say.”</p> - -<p>“Here’s to you!” yelled a voice. “I hate a guy that’s noisy.”</p> - -<p>The mayor frowned and waved a commanding hand for silence.</p> - -<p>“I spotted you, Pete Bartlett,” he called. “If you don’t like silence -you must hate yourself.”</p> - -<p>The crowd roared with approving laughter.</p> - -<p>“Boys,” began Orval Kendricks again, when the laughter had subsided, -“this here is a solemn occasion. I feel called upon to summon the -manhood of this here town to listen to my words, and I reckon that -most of the manhood of the town is within hearin’.”</p> - -<p>A chorus of assent followed.</p> - -<p>“I don’t need any Daniel Webster to tell you men that this here town -is hard hit,” continued Mayor Kendricks. “It don’t need no Henry Clay -to tell you that these diggin’s are about to bust up unless we have -the right sort of a strong arm man in town. We’ve been sufferin’ -patiently from the aggressions of a red-handed desperado who I don’t -need to mention, because his name just naturally burns my tongue.”</p> - -<p>“Slim Malone!” cried a dozen voices. “We’re followin’ you, chief!”</p> - -<p>The mayor thrust his hand into his breast and extended the other arm -in imitation of a popular wood-cut of Patrick Henry. The crowd -acknowledged the eloquence of the attitude with a common gaping.</p> - -<p>“There may be some of you guys,” cried the mayor, rising to the -emotion of the moment, “there may be some of you guys who don’t know -the man I mean, but I reckon that a tolerable pile of Appleton’s best -citizens spend a large part of their time cursing Slim Malone.”</p> - -<p>“We ain’t through damning him yet,” yelled a voice, and the crowd -voiced their assent, half in growls and half in laughter.</p> - -<p>“He has tricked our posse as an honest man would be ashamed to do,” -went on the mayor, warming to his oration; “he has shot our citizens, -and he has swiped our gold! I’m askin’ you as man to man, can a -self-respectin’ community stand for this? It can’t. What’s the answer -that Appleton makes to this desperado?”</p> - -<p>He paused and frowned the audience into a state of suspense.</p> - -<p>“There is only one answer to this gun-fighter, and that answer stands -at my right hand,” bellowed the mayor, when he judged that the silence -had sunk into his hearers sufficiently. “The name of the answer is -Lefty Cornwall!”</p> - -<p>The following burst of applause brought a momentary blush into even -Lefty’s cheek. At the reiterated demands for a speech he hitched at -his revolver in its skeleton holster, removed his sombrero, and mopped -his forehead with a ponderous hand. When it became evident that the -hero was about to break into utterance the crowd became silent.</p> - -<p>“Fellows,” began the gun-fighter, “makin’ speeches ain’t much in my -line.”</p> - -<p>“Makin’ dead men is more your game,” broke in the wit of the -assemblage.</p> - -<p>A universal hiss attested that the crowd was anxious to hear the Texan -gun-man out.</p> - -<p>“But if you are goin’ to do me the honor of makin’ me sheriff of this -here county and this here city of Appleton,” he continued, letting his -eye rove down Appleton’s one street, “I’m here to state that law and -order is goin’ to be maintained here at all costs. Right here I got to -state that the only costs I’m referrin’ to is the price of the powder -and lead for this here cannon of mine.”</p> - -<p>The crowd broke in upon the speech with noisy appreciation, and many -cries of “That’s the stuff, old boy!”</p> - -<p>“I been hearin’ a tolerable pile about one Slim Malone,” went on the -new sheriff.</p> - -<p>“So have we,” broke in the irrepressible wit of the assemblage, only -to be choked into silence by more serious-minded neighbors.</p> - -<p>“Sure,” agreed the sheriff. “I reckon you’ve heard a lot too much -about him. But I’m here to state that all this talk about Slim Malone -has got to stop, and has got to stop sudden. I’m here to stop it.”</p> - -<p>He hitched his holster a little forward again as he spoke and a deep -silence fell upon the crowd.</p> - -<p>“Fellow citizens,” he continued, spitting liberally over the side of -the bar, “whatever gun-play is carried on around here in the future is -to be done strictly by me, and all you men can consider yourselves -under warning to leave your shootin’-irons at home, unless you want to -use them to dig premature graves.”</p> - -<p>This advice was received with an ironical chuckle of appreciation from -the crowd.</p> - -<p>“As for Slim Malone,” he went on, “I’m goin’ out into the Weston Hills -to get him single handed. I don’t want no posse. I’ll get him single -handed or bust, you can lay to that; and if I come back to this town -without Slim Malone, alive or dead, you can say that Malone has the -Indian sign on me.”</p> - -<p>Having finished all that he had to say, Lefty felt about in his mind -to find a graceful manner of closing his exordium, when the mayor came -to his assistance. He recognized that nervous clearing of the throat -and wandering of the eyes out of his own first political experiences. -Now he raised his glass of colored alcohol and water, which in -Appleton rejoiced in the name of Bourbon.</p> - -<p>“Boys,” he shouted, “there ain’t no better way of showin’ our -appreciation of our new sheriff than by turnin’ bottoms up. Let’s go!”</p> - -<p>Every hand in the barroom flashed into the air, and after a loud whoop -there was a brief gurgling sound which warmed the heart of Sandy -Orton.</p> - -<p>It should have been the signal for a day’s carousal, and the good -citizens of Appleton were no wise averse. They desired to hear the -voice of their new sheriff in friendly converse. They desired to see -him in that most amiable of all poses, his foot on the rail and his -hand on the bar. They wanted to look him over and size him up just as -a boy wishes to fondle his first gun. But the sheriff objected. He was -sorry to spoil the fun. He said that they could go ahead and have -their little time, but that they must leave him out. He had business -to perform that didn’t admit of drinking.</p> - -<p>There might have been adverse criticism of this Spartan strenuousness, -but at this point a diversion occurred in the shape of four wild -riders who broke into Appleton and brought the word that Slim Malone -had been out again. This time he had held up a mule train on its way -to carry provisions up Bender Cañon to Earl Parrish’s claim. With his -usual fine restraint Slim had taken no lives, but he had winged two of -the drivers badly and had helped himself from the provisions without -unnecessary waste. He had even lingered to give first aid to the two -drivers whose courage had overcome their sense of proportion.</p> - -<p>If anything had been needed to spur on the new official of Appleton it -came in the form of the message which Slim Malone had left with the -wounded man before he rode away.</p> - -<p>“Tell the new sheriff,” he called, as he sat easily in the saddle, -“that I’ve heard of him, and that I’ll organize a little party for him -as soon as possible so that we can get better acquainted. Tell him -that the one thing he lacks to make him a good fighting man is a sense -of humor.”</p> - -<p>Lefty Cornwall heard this message in silence the while he spat with -vicious precision into a distant spittoon. Afterward, and still in -silence, he retired and worked for an hour cleaning his already -shining revolver and patting and oiling the holster. He performed -these grave functions in the house of the mayor, and that dignitary -announced later that he had wound up by practising the draw and point, -walking and sitting down, and at every angle. The mayor was impressed -past speech.</p> - -<p>When Lefty issued at last he found a score of hard riders standing by -their horses in the street.</p> - -<p>“An’ what might all this here gang be for?” inquired Lefty mildly.</p> - -<p>“We’re the posse, waitin’ to be sworn in,” announced one of the men.</p> - -<p>“Swearin’ in takes a terrible lot of time,” said Lefty, “an’ besides, -I don’t know how it’s done. I don’t want no posse, as I said before. I -wouldn’t know how to handle it. Anyway, twenty men on horseback make -enough noise to scare away a whole gang of bandits. You might as well -start lookin’ for trouble with a brass band, because you’d sure find -the trouble.”</p> - -<p>He hitched at his belt in his customary manner when at a loss for -words, and his right hand dropped gracefully upon the handle of his -gun and drooped thereon somewhat sinisterly.</p> - -<p>“This here Malone,” went on the sheriff, “may be a tolerable bad man -in his way, but I ain’t no shorn lamb myself. I’m goin’ out to get -him, an’ I’m goin’ to get him by myself. I reckon that’s final.”</p> - -<p>They accepted his announcement with cheers, and set about offering all -the information in their power. It was generally believed that the -bandit lived somewhere at the far end of Eagle Head Cañon, about -fifteen miles from the town. His dwelling had never been spotted, but -he was most frequently seen riding to and from this place. Thrice -posses had raked the cañon as with a fine-toothed comb, but they had -never come upon a trace of his habitation; but the cañon was thick -with caves, and heaped with giant boulders which offered innumerable -places of concealment, and the legend was strong that Slim Malone -lived in that place.</p> - -<p>The next thing was to find a proper mount. This proved a more -difficult task. The sheriff knew horses from nose to hoof, and he was -hard to please. At last he selected a tall roan with a wicked eye and -flat shoulders which promised speed. These preparations made, he swung -to the saddle, waved his hand to the crowd, and galloped out of town.</p> - -<p>There was not much bluff about Lefty Cornwall, as the curious-minded -had frequently discovered in the past, but as he swung into the narrow -throat of Eagle Head Cañon, he began to realize that he might have -gone too far. While he was in the town it had been easy enough to make -ringing speeches. Now that the evening began to come down by lazy, -cool degrees a certain diffidence grew in him.</p> - -<p>He had fought many men during his brief life, but he had never come -across a reputation as strange or as fascinating as this of Slim -Malone. If the challenge which the bandit had sent him was irritating, -it also roused in his mind a certain degree of respect, and as he rode -up the cañon, winding slowly among the boulders, a hundred doubts -infested his mind.</p> - -<p>If he had been back upon the level reaches of the Texan desert, which -he knew, these uncertainties would probably have never entered his -head, but here every half mile of his journey was passed under the eye -of a thousand coverts from which a man could have picked him off with -the safety of a hunter firing from a blind at partridges. Moreover a -curious loneliness akin to homesickness came in him, located, as far -as he could discover, chiefly in the pit of the stomach.</p> - -<p>The mountains were blue now, and purple along their upper reaches, and -as the sun left off the moon took up her reign over the chill blue -spaces. It was very solemn, almost funereal to the thought of Lefty -Cornwall. And the silence was punctuated with the melancholy howling -of a far-off coyote.</p> - -<p>It was complete night before he reached the upper end of Eagle Head -Cañon, and he was weary from the stumbling gait of his horse over the -rocks. Moreover, the mountain night air was cold—very cold to Lefty. -He wanted desperately to turn back, but he had not the heart to face -the inquiries which would meet him at the town, and the covert smiles -which would welcome the hero returning empty handed, the man who -needed no posse.</p> - -<p>Lefty was a very brave man, but like almost all of the physically -courageous, he dreaded derision more than actual pain. Yet, in spite -of this he finally decided that it was better to go back to the town -and face the smiles than to remain through the cold night in these -dread silences. He wished heartily that he had taken one other man -with him if it were only for the companionship. As it was he felt that -it was no use to hunt further, and he started back down the cañon. He -had not gone far when his horse stumbled and commenced to limp.</p> - -<p>Lefty got off with a curse and felt of the fore hoofs. The difficulty -proved to be a sharp, three-cornered rock which had been picked up -under the shoe of the left fore foot. He was bending over to pry this -loose between his fingers when he caught the glint of a light.</p> - -<p>In his excitement he sprang upright and stared. At once the light -disappeared. Lefty began to feel ghostly. His senses had never played -him such tricks before.</p> - -<p>He leaned over and commenced work on the stone again, but as he did so -his eye caught the same glint of light. There was no possible mistake -about it this time. He remained bent over and stared at it until he -was certain that he saw a yellow spot of light, a long, thin ray which -pointed out to him like a finger through the shadows.</p> - -<p>This time he took the bearings of the light carefully, and when he -stood up he was able to locate it again. Lefty’s heart beat high.</p> - -<p>He threw the reins over his horse’s head and commenced to stalk the -light carefully. Sometimes as he slipped and stumbled over the rocks -he lost sight of it altogether, only to have it reappear when he had -almost given up hopes of finding it again. And so he came upon the -cave.</p> - -<p>The light shone through a little chink between two tall boulders, and -as Lefty pressed his eye to the aperture, holding his breath as he did -so, he saw a long dugout, perhaps a dozen paces from end to end, and -some five paces wide. Behind a partition at one end he heard the -stamping of a horse, and as Lefty gazed, a magnificent white head rose -behind the partition and looked fairly at him. His heart stopped as -that great-eyed gaze turned on him, the ears pricking and the wisp of -hay motionless in the mouth. But after a moment the horse dropped his -head again and went on crunching his fodder, stamping now and then and -snorting as he ate.</p> - -<p>At first he saw no other occupant of the place, but by moving his eye -to one side of the aperture he managed to get a glimpse of the bandit -himself. There was no question about his identity. From the -descriptions which he had heard while in Appleton he knew him at once, -the expressionless gray eyes, and the thin, refined face with an -almost Greek modeling about its lower part.</p> - -<p>He sat tilted back in a heavy chair smoking a pipe and reading, and -Lefty saw that he sat facing a blanket at the far end of the room. -Evidently this was the entrance. So far as Lefty could see the bandit -was unarmed, his two long guns lying on the table half a dozen paces -away.</p> - -<p>Very softly he crept along the side of the boulder, and finally came -to an aperture, as he had expected. It was just wide enough for a man -to press through, and from the chisel marks at his sides it had -evidently been artificially widened from time to time. At the end of -the narrow passage hung the blanket.</p> - -<p>If Lefty had proceeded cautiously up to this point, his caution now -became almost animal-like. Behind that blanket he had no idea what was -happening. Perhaps the bandit had heard a noise long before, and was -now crouched against the wall in another part of the place, ready to -open fire at the first stir of the blanket. Perhaps he had stolen out -of the cave by another entrance and was now hunting the hunter. The -thought sent a chill down Lefty’s back and he turned his head quickly. -Then he resumed his slow progress. At the very edge of the blanket he -paused for a long and deathly minute, but Lefty was not a woman, to -fail at the last moment.</p> - -<p>He swung the blanket aside and crouched in the entrance with his gun -leveled. The little round sight framed the face of Slim Malone, who -still sat reading quietly and puffing at a black-bowled pipe.</p> - -<p>“Hands up!” said Lefty softly.</p> - -<p>Even then, with his bead on his man, he did not feel entirely sure of -himself. It seemed that this could not be true. Opportunity had -favored him too much. There must still be some turn of the game.</p> - -<p>The meaningless gray eyes raised calmly from the book. It seemed to -Lefty that a yellow glint came into them for a moment like the light -that comes into an animal’s eyes when it is angered, but the next -moment it was gone, and he could not be sure that it had come there at -all. The rest of the face was perfectly calm. Malone lowered the book -slowly and then raised his hands above his head.</p> - -<p>“Ah, sheriff,” he said quietly, “I see that you have honored my -invitation.”</p> - -<p>“Right-o,” said Lefty, “I’m here all right.”</p> - -<p>He felt strangely relieved after hearing his quarry speak. He stepped -through the entrance and straightened up, still with the revolver -leveled. It was beyond his fondest hopes that he should be able to -bring the desperado alive to Appleton, and the thought of his complete -success warmed his heart. Also the immediate prospect of that -five-thousand-dollar bonus.</p> - -<p>“In order to remove any strain you may be under,” went on Slim Malone, -“I’ll assure you that I am quite unarmed. My guns are both lying on -the table there. In order that you may make sure, I shall stand up, -with my hands over my head, and turn around slowly. You can examine me -to your own satisfaction.”</p> - -<p>He did as he had said, and Lefty’s practised eyes saw that there was -not the suspicion of a lump under the clothes.</p> - -<p>“Now,” said Slim Malone, as he faced his captor again, and his smile -was strangely winning, “I hope that I may lower my arms and we can -commence our little party.”</p> - -<p>“Your end of this here party is all over, my beauty,” said Lefty -grimly, “except that the boys at Appleton may give you a little -impromptu reception when we hit town. They seem to be rather strong on -celebrations.”</p> - -<p>“So I understand,” smiled Slim Malone. “I have no doubt they will be -glad to see me.”</p> - -<p>“Ain’t no doubt in the world,” grinned Lefty, warming to the perfect -calm of this man. “Between you an’ me, pal, I’m sorry to have to turn -this little trick; but—”</p> - -<p>Malone waved a careless and reassuring hand.</p> - -<p>“Business is business, my dear fellow,” he said.</p> - -<p>“That bein’ the case,” said Lefty, “I’ll have to ask you to turn -around and put your hands behind your back while I put these here -bracelets on. I don’t want to discourage you any, but while I’m doin’ -it this here gun will be in my hand and pointin’ at your back.”</p> - -<p>“Naturally,” nodded Malone; “quite right, of course; but before we -start on our little jaunt back to the camp won’t you have a drink with -me? I have some really rare old stuff here; quite different from the -firewater they put labels on in Appleton.”</p> - -<p>Lefty grinned appreciatively.</p> - -<p>“It’s a good move, pal,” he said, shaking his head with admiration, -“an’ I know that you’re hard put to it or you wouldn’t try such an old -dodge on me. It’s a good move, but down in Texas the booze stunt is so -old that they’ve almost forgotten it—not quite!”</p> - -<p>“Ah,” said Malone, with a little sigh of regret, “then I suppose we -shall have to ride out in the night without a nip. Gets mighty chilly -here before morning, you know.”</p> - -<p>This fact had gradually dawned on Lefty during his ride up the valley, -and as he looked forward to the journey back he shivered with -unpleasant anticipation. In Texas a summer night was one thing; in -these mountains it was quite another.</p> - -<p>“I suppose the booze is the real thing,” he inquired casually.</p> - -<p>“There are little bubbles under the glass,” said Slim Malone with -subtle emotion.</p> - -<p>Lefty Cornwall sighed deeply. The taste of the Appleton bar whisky -still burned his mouth. After all this fellow was a man. He might be a -criminal, but Lefty’s own past was not free from shady episodes. -Furthermore he was about to make five thousand dollars on presenting -him to the good people of Appleton.</p> - -<p>“If you sure want a drink before we start, go ahead,” said Lefty.</p> - -<p>“The bottle and a glass is over there in that little dugout on the -wall,” pointed Malone.</p> - -<p>In the little open hutch on the wall the sheriff perceived a tall -bottle which shimmered pleasantly in the torch-light.</p> - -<p>“Go ahead,” said the sheriff, “I reckon you know I’m watchin’ all the -time.”</p> - -<p>“Surely,” said Malone pleasantly. “I know you’re on your job all the -time.”</p> - -<p>He walked over to the hutch and picked up the bottle and the glass. He -paused with the bottle tucked away under his arm.</p> - -<p>“Queer thing,” pondered Malone, “the same pack that held this bottle -of whisky held this also.”</p> - -<p>Lefty tightened his grip on the gun as Malone reached deeper into the -hutch, but he straightened again, and appeared carrying a large -concert banjo.</p> - -<p>“That fellow had taste,” he continued, crossing the room and laying -down the banjo carelessly on the chair; “just run your eyes over that -banjo.”</p> - -<p>“Some banjo, all right,” said the sheriff, “but hurry up with your -drink, Malone. We’ve got to be on our way.”</p> - -<p>Malone uncorked the bottle and held it under his nose while he inhaled -a whiff.</p> - -<p>“The old aroma, all right,” he pronounced with the air of a -connoisseur; “must be a vintage as far back as the eighties. You won’t -join me?”</p> - -<p>Now the heart of the sheriff was a human heart, but his will was -adamant.</p> - -<p>“Not me, Malone,” he answered, “I’ve been in the game too long. Can’t -drink on this sort of a job.”</p> - -<p>“Guess you’re right,” murmured Malone, letting the amber stream -trickle slowly into the glass; “but it’s too bad.”</p> - -<p>He raised the glass to his lips and swallowed half of the contents -slowly.</p> - -<p>“The stuff is so oily,” he mused, “that you don’t need a chaser. Just -sort of oils its own way down, you know.”</p> - -<p>The sheriff moistened his lips.</p> - -<p>“It certainly is a shame that you can’t taste it,” continued Malone, -as he drained the glass.</p> - -<p>The sheriff hitched his belt with his customary gesture.</p> - -<p>“It looks like the real thing,” he said judicially.</p> - -<p>“It is,” pronounced Malone with decision, “and after the sort of -poison they serve you around here—”</p> - -<p>The sheriff shuddered with sympathy.</p> - -<p>“I reckon,” he said hesitatingly, “that you might pour me just a -drop.”</p> - -<p>It seemed to him that as he spoke the yellow glint came into the eyes -of Malone again, but a moment later it was gone, and he decided that -the change had been merely a shadow from the wavering torch-light. He -took the glass which Malone extended to him under the cover of the -pointed gun and raised it slowly to his lips.</p> - -<p>“Just stand a bit further back while I drink, pal,” he said.</p> - -<p>Malone obeyed, and the sheriff tilted the glass. It was, as Malone had -said, “the real old aroma,” and the sheriff drew a deep breath.</p> - -<p>Now there is a saying about liquor that the drink which does the harm -is “just one more,” and certain it is that one whisky calls for -another as surely as a question calls for an answer.</p> - -<p>“I reckon it ain’t quite as old as you say,” said the sheriff, feeling -his way from word to word cautiously. “I reckon it ain’t more than -fifteen years old at the outside.”</p> - -<p>Malone paused, with the bottle suspended over the glass to consider.</p> - -<p>“I thought that myself when I first drank,” he nodded; “but that was -before I got used to it. All Bourbon is a little sharp, you know.”</p> - -<p>The sheriff was inclined to agree. He also felt sure that one more -drink would quite banish from his memory the taste of that one drink -in Appleton. Moreover, the danger, if there was any, was slight, for -Malone was taking drink for drink with him, and larger drinks at that. -It was a sort of subtle challenge to the manhood of the sheriff, and -he was as proud of his capacity for whisky as of his speed with a gun.</p> - -<p>It was perhaps half an hour later that the sheriff indicated the banjo -with a careless wave of the pistol.</p> - -<p>“Play any?” he inquired, “or do you keep it around as sort of an -ornament?”</p> - -<p>“Both,” smiled Malone. “It makes the place more homelike, you know, -and then I sing once in a while, but not often. Folks around here -aren’t particularly partial to my voice.”</p> - -<p>“I’m a pretty good judge,” stated the sheriff; “blaze away, and I’ll -see you ain’t interrupted. Been a long time since I had the pleasure -of hearing any decent singin’.”</p> - -<p>He was, as he said, a fairly good judge, and he was delighted with the -rich barytone which rang through the cave. After a time, as the whisky -and the music melted into his mood, he began to call for old -favorites, darky ballads, and last of all, for the sentimental ditties -which have always charmed the heart of the rough men of the West: -“Annie Laurie,” “Old Black Joe,” “Ben Bolt,” “Silver Threads Among the -Gold.”</p> - -<p>As he sang the bandit commenced, naturally, to walk back and forth -through the cave, and the sheriff sat back in the chair and with -half-closed eyes waved the revolver back and forth in time. He failed -to note that as Malone walked up and down each time he made a longer -trip, until at last he was pacing and turning close to the table on -which lay the revolvers side by side. He did not note it, or if he did -his mind was too thrilled with the tender airs and the tenderer liquor -to register the fact clearly. It faded into the pleasant blur of his -sensations.</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>Oh, don’t you remember sweet Alice, Ben Bolt, Sweet Alice with—</p> - -</blockquote> -<p>The music stopped. Malone had stooped over the table with the speed of -a bird picking up a grain of wheat, and with the same movement he -whirled and fired. The gun spun from the hand of the sheriff and he -stood staring into eyes which now beyond all doubt flared with a -yellow animal fire.</p> - -<p>“Now put your hands behind your back after you’ve thrown those -bracelets to me,” said Malone. “I naturally hate to break up this -party, but I think you’ve had about enough whisky to keep you warm on -the ride back, Lefty, my boy.”</p> - -<p>There was an insane desire on the sheriff’s part to leap upon Malone -bare-handed, but he had seen too many fighting men in action before. -He knew the meaning of those eyes and the steadiness of the revolver.</p> - -<p>“It’s your game, Slim,” he said, with as little bitterness as -possible; “but will you tell me why in the name of God you aren’t on -the stage? It isn’t what you do, pal, it’s the way you do it!”</p> - -<p>Appleton woke early the next morning. Some one shouted and then fired -a pistol. The populace gathered at windows and doors rubbing sleepy -eyes which a moment later shone wide awake, and yawns turned into -yells of laughter, for down the middle of Appleton’s one street came -the sheriff. He was sitting the roan horse, with his feet tied below -the girth, and his hands tied behind his back. And even the weary roan -seemed to feel in his drooping head the defeat of his rider.</p> - -<p>Upon the back of the sheriff was a large piece of cardboard, upon -which was printed in large letters the following:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>I’m sending this back with my signature in token of a pleasant evening -in my home in Eagle Head Cañon. I’m sorry to announce that I’m moved. -<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Slim Malone</span>.</p> - -</blockquote> -<div class="tn"> - <p style='text-indent:0'>Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in - the June 14, 1919 issue of <i>All-Story Weekly</i> magazine.</p> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAUGHTER OF SLIM MALONE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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