15 Western Short Stories — page 49: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE TEXAS KIND knee, Audrey,’ said Larribee with great calmness. She glared at his lean-looking 192 ounds and snapped: “You wouldn't be man enough!” “You're a mighty fetchin’ girl, Au- drey. A blame sight better’n Millie on the whole, come to think of it.” “Who’s Millie? The devil with Mil- lie!’ There was a trace of peculiar. expression on her face for a moment. “Vamoose! And don’t come back.” He turned and headed up the trail south, He could feel her sitting there watching him balefully and maybe a trace confused. Presently he heard the pinto heading back to the house. After a time Larribee reached the top of the valley trail’s incline. As far as he could see south there was nothing but dry brown foothills and scrubby valleys, which tapered off into rolling plains at the horizon. Not a sign of a house anywhere. He took the trail to the left, east- ward. She'd mentioned that there were some nesters over the hills. The nesters might have a horse to sell. This easterly trail was little used. It ran along a cleft in-the hill to the south of the artesian well and its siz- able storage lake. The well’s ig pipe, sticking up out of the ground, was capped. Underwood didn’t want to waste its water or its natural pressure in a dry year. The lake was 50 or 60 feet above the level of the valley. A big flume carried the clear water down for irrigation purposes. Larribee’s feet ached almost as much as his tooth when he reached the lake. But, he decided, as long as you ache you’re sure you're alive. He re- moved his boots and socks, soaked his feet and looped down the slope to the east. There was a cluster of unpaint- ed rickety buildings, parts of two haystacks brown as the taste in a drunkard’s mouth, and a few thin ani- mals grazing dispiritedly on the juice- less grass. Evidently Daniel Under- wood didn’t feel very neighborly to these neighbors. A wistful-looking and ancient drywash ran down the east slope toward the nesters’ build- ings. A BEEFY nester with a heavy face was sitting on the front porch in 49 the shade. He was whittling and he looked up, spat tobacco juice at an enervated grasshopper and _ said: “Howdy.” | “Nice day,” said Larribee. “I’m lookin’ for a horse and a job. Espe- cially a horse.” The nester squinted at him shrewd- ly. “Come far?” “Quite a piece.” “Like walkin’ ?” “Nope. Horse busted its leg up- country.” “Oh.” He glanced at the empty loops in the gunbelt. “Rancher over the hill there took my bullets. Got the drop on me. He wasn’t a very trustful Texan.” “Underwood, huh?” The nester’s face was mean and crafty for a mo- ment. Presently he looked up. “It so happens I got both a horse an’ a job. Job won’t start till near daybreak. Tell you about it then. Do the job and I’ll give you a horse.” “That sounds fair enough.” Larri- bee gazed at the face. He could al- most swear he’d seen it before—and yet he knew he hadn’t. He’d seen quite a few men in his time, and they couldn’t all look absolutely different. That must be it. “What kind of dentist are you?” Larribee asked. “Dentist?” a Larribee pointed at his molar. “Aches like the tines of the devil’s pitchfork. Got a cup of whiskey and some thin wire?” “Why, sure. No need for a man to suffer. Come on in. My name’s Smath- ers, by the way. Hank Smathers.” “Mine’s Joe Larribee, includin’ the tooth.” , They went inside. Smathers poured a tincup full of whiskey. Larribee put a silver dollar on the table to pay for it and drank the whiskey. Smathers found some thin wire and looped it around the tooth, and fixed the other end of the wire to a doorknob. By some simple law of physics, this gives added poundage to the pull. He pushed the door toward Larribee to make slack in the wire and yelled “Ready?” And Larribee yelled “Take it away!’ Smathers jerked on the oth- er doorknob with all his 227 pounds. It nearly tore Larribee’s head off, cCOMmicbooks CO