2-Gun Western, November 1955 — page 76: what you’re looking at

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

BLOOD AND SWEAT - OR BULLETS? by L. P. HOLMES HE TRAVELING man wasn’t exactly coherent, for which ke could hardly be blamed. For when a man had been first scared half to death, then creased with a .45 slug and left for dead, and finally woke up to find himself still in the land“ of the living, his recollections of what had happened were bound to be some- what distorted. Of only one thing was he reason- ably certain. At least two men had been in on the stage hold-up, and both were masked. As Sheriff Barney _ Carr pieced the picture together from the drummer’s disjointed story, the drummer had been dozing and was awakened when the stage stopped abruptly. Right away there were two shots, and the startled drummer had stuck his head out the stage door just as Macklin, the shotgun guard had toppled limp and dead into the dust right under the drummer’s horrified eyes. After which the drummer had just time to throw a single glance along the road and see the two ban- dits standing there, both masked, both with smoking guns. One of the bandits had cursed, stabbed his gun level and the drummer’s senses had left him in a great, flaming crash of thunder and shock. The grizzled old sheriff tried a few questions in his slow, gentle drawl. How had the bandits been dressed? Were they big or little men, or of medium size? Was there any charac- teristic of any sort by which they might be marked? To which the SOPHO HODHOE HS HHO OOF + TIME E> HONORED drummer mumbled that..all he knew $ 3 was that there : WESTERR €9 = were two of them, : + 7K * CLASSIC : Copyright 1941 News- Pessceresereerererets stand Pub, <iIncs The lynch mob had saad gathered. It was a hell of a country where a law-abiding cit- izen couldn't ride through without getting his brain | blasted out by a .45 slug, i but Sheriff Carr couldn't challenge every side- winder in town to guns in the. dust at sunset! that they were masked, that they had tried to kill him and that it was a hell of a country where a law abiding citizen couldn’t ride through without getting his brain half battered out by a .45 slug. 5 ieee CARR looked up at Doc Oliver and shrug geds Doc shrugged back. So Barney left and Doc walked with him as far as the door. “Maybe when the shock has worn off he’ll remember something else. Barney,” said Doc. “It he does, I'll let you know.” Barney Carr walked slowly back to his- office. Down street the stage stood in front of the livery barn. The grizzled old law man had already looked that over, along with the bod- ies. of Jim Dykes, the driver, and Shove Macklin, the shotgun guard. So 76 QO Cconnielooo S (©