Wolfville

ain't none shore about the merits of what you-all calls law an' order. Now a pains-takin' an' discreet vig'lance committee is my notion of a bulwark. Let any outfit take a bale o

ements general. We even culminates in a paper, which Doc Peets assures us is the flower of our progress. Nacherally on the heels of all them outbursts we gives up our simple

te a b'ilin' of us is in the Red Light discussin' some sech future. Our rival, Red Dog, is al

to his taste, 'for myse'f, I can see it comin'. Thar's to be law yere an' 'lections; an' while at first it's mighty likely both is goin' to turn out disturbin' element

vig'lance committee gets my game right along. They's more honest than any of these yere laws

ttee; but I ain't bluffin' on a four- flush when I challenges any gent to put his tongue to an event where a vig'lance committee stretches a party who ain't

' I says further, that any party who's lookin' for the place where the bad man is scarce, an' a law- abidin' gent has the fullest liberty, pegged out to the shor

rovided is a model

lumb aware of these yore trooths

an effort to 'lect a jedge an' institoot reg'lar shore-'nough law; an' the same comes mighty

would have been a scene of bleatin' peace that day, instead of a stric'ly corpse-an'-cartridge occasion. The death rate rises to that degree in fact that the next roundup is shy on men; an' thar ain't enough

, of the Tucson preacher who pulls his freight the other day. They puts it to him, the Tucson folks do, that he talks an' he talks, but he don't p'int out; an' he argufies a

fret me none about my style not bein' incisive. Thar be other plays where any gent who comes puttin'

malignant over what's most likely nothin' worse than humor on Tutt's part; an', Tutt, it ain't up to you none neith

fense when I su'gests that he whirl a smaller loop when he onbosoms himse'f of a tale. I yere tenders Texas my hand, assurin' of him that I means my l

edo divorce I'm mentionin' to you-alls, sorter leaves me a heap petulant, that a

ows from a business transaction; an' the effort tharfrom to improve

e deal. This Cimmaron Pete comes trailin' in one day; an' a shorthorn called Glidden, who runs a store at the ford, co

or hoss an' saddl

to go you. Saddles is hard to get, an' I won't resk mine. P

inishes,-jest as Cimmaron begins to pull ahead, his pony bein' a shade suddener than Glidde

is Cimmaron turns loose his six-shooter from where he's tangled up with his bronco on the ground

a little florid; still, when a gent armed with nothin' but a cold sense of jestice comes to pirootin' plumb through the

body to claim it; thar bein' no fam'ly

observes this yere Cimmaron, "I nacherally takes th

Cimmaron turns himse'f loose in Glidden's store, an' begins to sell things a whole lot. He's shorely doin' well, I reckons, when mebby it

y back on this yere dead person's trail, an' settle all his gray an' hoary indebtnesses. Would it be right, gents? I puts it to you-alls on the squar'; do I immerse myse'f, I'd like for to be told, in deceased's liab

rp come up from Dallas who claims that Cimmaron's got to pay him what Glidden

good, "says the Dallas sharp, p'intin' at

. "Yere I've told this perverse sport that Glidden's done cashed in an' qu

mmittee no time to agree it ain'

lains Old Monroe, who's chief of the Paloduro Stranglers, "where we-all

ron. He gives it out cold he's goin' to c'lect

ich I ever cuts the trail! You-alls better get a hustle on right now an' 'lect a jedge. If I goes back to Dallas an' tells this story of how you-alls ain't got no jedge nor no law yere, they won't let this Plaza Paloduro get close

on a heap of hawtoor an' dog, walks over to the tavern

an' jestice in them observations. It's my idee, that thar bein' no jedge yere, that a-way, to make a money round-up for a gent when his deb

Them law-wolves gets into 'em, an' when they can't find no gate to come at you, they ups an'

s a heap too obvious. Now if you gets your stack in ag'in when it ain't your turn; or picks up anybody's hand but your own, I'l

al an' gets a nose-bag for to deposit the votes; an' it's decided that Old Monroe an' a Cross-Z party named Randall has got to do the runnin'. Randall is plenty p'lite

o Old Monroe says, "or it don't go. The 'lection ai

in, they's to count 'em out accordin' to Hoyle, so we-alls can tell where the play's headin'. Bronco Charlie is jedge for Randall, an' Orm

, when everythin' is shorely ready. "Get in you

says Bronco Charlie

roe," remarks Ormsby w

e p'int out by votin' for each other that a-way, and tha

riction, if it ain't for a Greaser from San Antonio who tries to ring in on us. Thar's twenty-one of us has voted, an' it stands nine for Randall an'

ays the Mexican, p'i

ls Bronco Charlie, "'I

ns is

' the vote of this yere enlightened maverick from so

remonstrates Bronco Char

msby, as his Colt's comes into action

hakes down the ballots in the nose-bag, "I'll now conduct these yere polls alone. Gents who haven

r'ard. "'You-all can't ring in Mexicans an' snake no play on us. This yere '

h his six-shooter while he's freein' his mind, slams her loose. Red

r Old Monroe,

e 'lection ends. Foll

ir is as full of lea

' the flashes, an' th

y who

n for Old

y; but he dies the next day, so he never is 'lection jedge no more. Five gents gets downed, an' a whole corralfull is

as party, who comes caperin' over with the first shot, is layin' at the windup ou

s feelin' 'round in for a bullet at the time, sends over word that he indorses Old Monroe's p'sition; an' that as long as the Dallas sharp hits the trail after G

omes of an effort at law an' order in Plaza Paloduro. I ain't over-statin' it,