Bucky O'Connor: A Tale of the Unfenced Border

criminals or frontiersmen with money were wont to resort were reported upon. For the ranger's experience had taught him that since the men he wanted had money in their pocke

cson the third day after his interview with that gentleman, at the same t

ode, and tossed across the table to hi

for this photo it might help us. You don

head. "Not in my rog

f Hardman. All the trimmings were lacking, to be sure-the fierce mustache, the long hair, the buckskin trappings, none of them were here. But beyond a doubt it was the same shifty-eyed villain. Nor did it shake Bucky's confidence that Mackenz

e middle of the next afternoon his reward came

you don't want wha

ry other word and garnered

u want

h, and for that town the ranger and

the Rangers, whose wire had brought him here. The cause of the latter's abse

Don't know when I'll get back. Suggest you take in t

he gathered that the showman was henceforth to be a resident of Epitaph. Mr. Jay Hardman, or Signor Raffaello Cavellado, as he was known the world over by countless thousands whom he had entertained, had purchased a corral

through his act magnificently, and held his spectators breathless. Bucky took care to s

he audience who had admired very much the artistic performance would like the pleasure of drinking a glass of wine with Signor Cavellado if the latter would

oor until the showman had entered, and while the latter was me

ithout shaking hands. "Glad to meet you, seh. But you're mistake

as standing with his back against t

'm glad to have the pleasure of entertaining you, Signor Raffaello Cavellado,

st. He turned with a show of firmness to Collins. "If you're a s

his chair. "I ain't sheriff of Hualpai County. My

ed man," plea

hink of it

explained the ranger affably. "Or do you prefer in priv

s lips and offered his t

estioned him blandly as he drew from his pocket a little box and tossed it on the table.

, but the compelling eyes that met his so steadily were not to be resisted. Slowly he unwrapped the paper

and after the man had found a chai

is watch. He laid them on the table side by side and lo

as you know it. If you don't care to tell it I shall have to mess this floor up with your remains. Get one proposit

railroad rebates, the ranger delivered his ultimatum. It seeme

e tip of his tongue. Once his gaze shifted to the sheriff but found smal

him kill me?" the ma

t at such unreason. "Me? I ain't sittin' in th

tell you I'm allowing only three minutes to begin your story, half of which three has already slipped away

ed the victim, with a

tell till I see. If he says he will he's

-why

lawyer. I don't reckon he cares sour grapes for the law-as law.

he ranger cheerfully. He pocketed his watch and picked up the .45. "Any last message or

chattered. "I'll tell you

to come into another man's house and

know-what

Dave Henderson, and full directions where I may locate Frances Mackenzie. Begin at the beginning, and I'll

ng Spaniard and their hopes of riches from the mine he had left them. From that night he had set himself to discover the secret of its location, had listened at windows and at keyhole

all hours to steal the chain. But it was wound round her neck in such a way that he could not slip it over her head. She had awakened while he was fumbling with the clasp

ice caught sight of a rider picking his way toward him. The heart of the guilty man was like water. He could not face the outraged father, nor was it possible to escape so dogged a foe by flight. An alternative suggested itself, and he accepted it with sinking courage. The child was asleep in his arms now, and he hastily dismounted, picketed his horse, and stole back a quarter of a mile, so that the neighing of his bronco might not betray his

many hours. The child he still carried with him, simply because he had not the heart to leave it to die in the desert alone.

ence had been purely circumstantial. The bullet found in the dead body of the trooper was one that might have come from his rifle, the barrel of which was empty and had been recently fired. For the rest, he was a hated Americano, and, as a matter of cou

man explained that it had been broken off by accident and lost. When he discovered that only half the secret was contained on the map section he had returne

t-when did you lose them?

Nogales, that I sold it to a fellow. I was playin

gineer while his companions robbed the train. But of this they had no proof. Nor did Bucky even mention his suspicion to Hardman, for it was his intention to turn him loose and have him watched. Thus,

s, to records already yellowed with age, to court reports and prison registers. In the end it flashed back to Bucky great news. Dave Henderson, arrested for the murder of the Rurales policeman, was still serving time in a Mexican prison for another