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Emigrant and prospector, pioneer and Indian chief, cow-boy and cattle-thief, sheriff, stage-robber, and pony express rider only the old men can tell their stories now. All of those men, whether they be famous or forgotten, owned a common virtue which still survives among the people who came after them.
McCloud said nothing, and, after an interval, Smith spoke again: "He was an oracle for all the small boys in town, and could advise us on any subject on earth whether he knew anything about it or nothing about it made no difference. I told him once I wanted to be a California stage-robber, and he replied without an instant's hesitation that I ought to begin to practise running.
"Well, in view o' the fact that there never was any marriage license issued to you an' that that stage-robber " "Miss Pickett and you other two shining examples of Christian charity! Please leave my home at once. Do you hear? At once! I have no explanations or apologies to make, and if I had I would not make them to a soul in San Pasqual. Leave my home instantly." The three ladies stood up.
"'I'm a Wells-Fargo detective, says the squar'-built gent, 'an' this yere, p'intin' to Old Gentry, 'is Jim Yates, the biggest hold- up an' stage-robber between hell an' 'Frisco. That old tarrapin'll stop a stage like a young-one would a clock, merely to see what's into it. He's the party I'm pastin' up the notice for this mornin."
He'll never come back, an' if they trace him to her she'll die o' shame. Whiskered bob- cats, I never thought o' that. She'll have to get out too!" The gambler had a sudden thought. Donna could do two things. She could leave San Pasqual, or she could stand pat! If she said nothing, not a soul could befoul her by linking her name to that of a stage-robber, She must stand pat!
"So there are people who can restrain you?" "Not many, but he can." "And now you regret it?" "Honestly, no! This brave stage-robber did the business with such swaggering bravado that I admired him. I love brave men instinctively. Had I not killed M. de Barjols I should have liked to be his friend. It is true I could not tell how brave he was until I had killed him.
"It doesn't look right to me to let a stage-robber go scot-free " "Well, I tell you, Doc," drawled Mr. Hennage serenely, "it'd better look right to you, an' damned quick at that. You seem to think I'm here a-askin' a favor o' you. Not much. I never ask favors o' no man. I'm just as independent as a hog on ice; if I don't stand up I can set down.
The boys of whom Curly Bill had spoken were there all right, ten of them, and none of the number but was known at the time over in Tombstone either as a rustler or a stage-robber. His guide introduced Breckenbridge with the usual terseness of such ceremonies among his kind.
I was so upset at his grasp of the subject that I hadn't the nerve to ask him why I needed to practise running to be a stage-robber. I was ashamed of appearing green and to this day I've never understood what he meant. Whether it was to run after the stage or to run away from it I couldn't figure out. Perhaps my being too proud to ask the question changed my career.
The disclosure of the identity of the stage-robber had overwhelmed the gambler with anguish, and he wanted to be alone to think the terrible affair over calmly. In the language of his profession, the buck was clearly up to Mr. Hennage. Twice during his eventful career the gambler had sat in poker games where an opponent had held the dead man's hand and paid the penalty.
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