by J. T. Edson
‘They didn’t get the arms?’ Belle inquired.
‘No,’ Ballinger replied, sounding equally relieved. ‘It seems that he said he’d made the deal, but they don’t know who with, and he was supposed to tell Branigan where to collect them. As far as the Barber or the other three know, he never passed the word. There’s only one thing, though. Papa Champlain reckoned they’d be starting the invasion from out in Montana, didn’t he?’
‘He said Tinville told him it was to be from Stokeley,’ Belle verified.
‘Fitzgerald told me they were planning to go in across the narrows at Sault Ste. Marie,’ Ballinger explained. ‘In fact, I went with him to send a telegraph to the man in command up there telling him to disband the army and come back.’
‘Then it’s not over yet!’ Belle warned grimly.
‘You mean that they’ll start organizing again?’ asked the Kid.
‘Perhaps, but it will take time and before they can, something may happen to change their minds,’ Belle replied. 53 ‘I think that their invasion was supposed to coincide with an uprising of the Metis organized by Cavallier and it’s they who’ll have arms delivered to Stokeley.’
‘It’s possible,’ the Remittance Kid conceded. ‘Anyway, I think we should go up there and see whether you’re right or not, dear girl.’
‘Actually, dear boy,’ the Rebel Spy replied. ‘I was just going to suggest that myself.’
About the Author
J.T. Edson was a former British Army dog-handler who wrote more than 130 Western novels, accounting for some 27 million sales in paperback. Edson’s works - produced on a word processor in an Edwardian semi at Melton Mowbray - contain clear, crisp action in the traditions of B-movies and Western television series. What they lack in psychological depth is made up for by at least twelve good fights per volume. Each portrays a vivid, idealized “West That Never Was”, at a pace that rarely slackens.
If you enjoyed the westerns of J. T. EDSON, you may also enjoy the westerns of
BEN BRIDGES and MIKE STOTTER:
BEN BRIDGES:
APACHERIA SERIES:
Apacheria
Lockwood’s Law
ASH COLTER SERIES:
Gunsmoke Legend
Ride the High Lines
Storm in the Saddle
COMPANY C SERIES:
Hit ’em Hard!
To the Death!
LEW EDEN SERIES (with Brent Towns):
Bugles and Blood
Riding for Glory
HELLER SERIES
Heller
Heller in the Rockies
JIM ALLISON SERIES:
Rattler Creek
Blood Canyon
Thunder Gorge
JUDGE AND DURY SERIES:
Hang ’em All
Riding for Justice
Law of the Gun
Trial by Fire
Barbed Wire Noose
Judgment Day
MOVIE TIE-INS:
Day of the Gun
O’BRIEN SERIES:
The Silver Trail
Hard as Nails
Mexico Breakout
Hangman’s Noose
The Deadly Dollars
Squaw Man
North of the Border
Shoot to Kill
Hell for Leather
Marked for Death
Gunsmoke is Gray
Cold Steel
Mean as Hell
Draw Down the Lightning
Flame and Thunder
THREE GUNS WEST (Writing with Steve Hayes):
Three Rode Together
Three Ride Again
Hang Shadow Horse!
WESTERN LEGENDS (Writing with Steve Hayes):
The Oklahombres
The Plainsman
THE WILDE BOYS SERIES:
The Wilde Boys
Wilde Fire
Wilde’s Law
Aces Wilde
STAND-ALONE WESTERNS:
Ride for the Rio!
Back With a Vengeance
Blaze of Glory
Tanner’s Guns
Coffin Creek
The Spurlock Gun
All Guns Blazing
Cannon for Hire
Montana Gunsmoke
Starpacker
Cougar Valley
SHORT STORIES:
Five Shots Left
MIKE STOTTER
McKINNEY WESTERNS:
McKinney’s Revenge
McKinney’s Law
BRANDON AND SLATE SERIES:
Tombstone Showdown
Tucson Justice
STAND ALONE WESTERNS:
Death in the Canyon
SHORT STORIES:
Six Trails West
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More on J. T. EDSON
1 There is no mention of the true identity of the man who took Father Matthew Devlin’s place in any of the records supplied to the author by Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog. So we will continue to refer to him by his victim’s name. Details of our informant’s early career are given in: ‘CAP’ FOG AND J. G. REEDER, and ‘CAP’ FOG, COMPANY ‘Z’.
2 ‘Spic’: derogatory name for a person of Latin origin.
3 ‘Heeb’: derogatory name for a Jew.
4 ‘Bohunk’: an immigrant from Central Europe; i.e., a Pole, Slav, Czech, Hungarian, or an Austrian.
5 According to the legend, being informed during an argument that an Italian born in the United States was entitled to be considered a one hundred per cent American, an Irishman replied in that case he was a one hundred and ten per cent American.
6 ‘Derry’: colloquial name for the city of Londonderry.
7 ‘Joe’: derogatory name for a Protestant, chiefly employed by Catholics in Northern Ireland. Said to be an abbreviated corruption of ‘Judas Iscariot’.
8 ‘Billycock hat’: also known as a ‘derby’, or a ‘bowler’.
9 ‘Mason jar’: a glass container having a tightly fitting screw top, used for canning and preserving. Designed and patented by John L. Mason of New York in 1857.
10 For the benefit of new readers, ‘Hessian’ boots were originally designed as footwear for Hussars and other types of light cavalry. The legs extended to just below knee level, with a V-shaped notch at the front.
11 Raging over an area of three and one-third miles, the fire destroyed over 17,450 buildings valued at $196,000.00. Almost one hundred thousand people were rendered homeless and at least two hundred and fifty lost their lives. Of the $4,966,782.00 relief fund subscribed in the United States and overseas, half of the one million dollars foreign contributions came from the British Isles.
12 The researches of fictionist-genealogist Philip José Farmer—author of among numerous other works, the biographies, TARZAN ALIVE and DOC SAVAGE, HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE—have established that Captain (later Major General Sir) Patrick Reeder (K.C.B., V.C., D.S.O., M.C. and Bar) was the uncle of the famous detective, Mr. Jeremiah Golden Reeder, whose career is recorded by his biographer, Edgar Wallace, in ROOM 13, THE MIND OF MR. J. G. REEDER, RED ACES, MR. J. G. REEDER RETURNS and TERROR KEEP and whose organization played a prominent part in the events told by the author in ‘CAP’ FOG, TEXAS RANGER, MEET MR. J. G. REEDER.
13 The records supplied to the author by Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog referred to Captain Patrick Reeder having been sent to Texas to observe the events recorded in SET A-FOOT, but he did not have any participation in them. So there was no need to mention him in that volume.
14 As in most large cities, the Chicago Fire Department had appliances equipped with steam engines to power the pumps in all its station houses. However, although the engines had fires laid ready in the grates, these were not lit until an alarm was received. So, particula
rly in cases where the incident was not too far from the station house, a manually-operated pump would be dispatched to start fighting the fire while steam was being raised in the more sophisticated devices.
15 A description of a Rocker ambulance is given in; HOUND DOG MAN.
16 The researches of Philip José Farmer, q.v., suggest that Lieutenant Edward Ballinger’s grandson, Frank, held a similar rank in the Chicago Police Department at a later date and his exploits formed the basis of the 1997 television series, M SQUAD, starring Lee Marvin.
17 ‘Orangeman’: member of a secret society—named in honor of William, Prince of Orange—founded in Northern Ireland in 1795 for the purpose of upholding Protestant ascendancy and succession in England.
18 Told in: THE LAW OF THE GUN.
19 Information about modem scientific investigation techniques is given in the author’s ROCKABYE COUNTY series covering the work carried out by a present-day Texas sheriff’s office.
20 New readers can find details regarding the careers of the Ysabel Kid and Waco in the author’s CIVIL WAR, FLOATING OUTFIT and WACO series.
21 Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog’s records establish that the Greek fire concoction was based upon the composition of benzol, crude petroleum, coal tar, turpentine, residium and coal oil used in the ‘Shell, Liquid Fire’ projectile patented by Alfred Berney of Jersey City, New Jersey, on November the nth, 1862 (Patent No. 36,834). The No. 76 S.I.P. (Self Igniting Phosphorus) glass bottle hand grenade issued to the British Armed Forces and Home Guard during World War II employed a similar method of detonation. However, its additives were benzine—a colorless derivative of petroleum—and the compound of jellied aluminum soap powder and oil known as napalm.
22 The identity of Miss Boyd’s friend is disclosed in THE WHIP AND THE WAR LANCE.
23 Lieutenant Edward Ballinger’s first meeting with Captain Dustine Edward Marsden ‘Dusty’ Fog—grandfather of Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog, q.v., and details of whose career are given in the author’s CIVIL WAR and FLOATING OUTFIT series—is described in THE LAW OF THE GUN and a second is recorded in: THE FORTUNE HUNTERS.
24 Betty Hardin: ‘granddaughter’ of General Jackson Baines ‘Ole Devil’ Hardin, C.S.A.—although there is some doubt about their actual relationship which Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog cannot, or will not, clear up—and cousin of Captain Dustine Edward Marsden ‘Dusty’ Fog, q.v. She appears in: KILL DUSTY FOG!, THE BAD BUNCH, McGRAW’S INHERITANCE, THE RIO HONDO WAR and GUNSMOKE THUNDER.
25 Although Tommy Okasi—an Americanized corruption of the name he adopted-served as valet for General Jackson Baines ‘ Ole Devil’ Hardin, he was a trained Samurai warrior. Details of his early career and that of the General are given in the author’s OLE DEVIL HARDIN series. He taught Betty Hardin and Dusty Fog ju-jitsu and karate.
26 Unlike in the United Kingdom, the ground floor of a building is referred to as the first and the one immediately above it the second floor in the United States.
27 ‘Fringe-top Surrey: a light four-wheel, four-seat passenger vehicle having a decorative hood and considered more stylish and elegant than a buggy.
28 Told in: THE BLOODY BORDER.
29 The first occasion is described in: THE COLT AND THE SABER.
30 ‘Metis’ and ‘metissage’ are pronounced, ‘Matees’ and ‘matesazh’.
31 Miscegenation: marriage, or interbreeding, between members of different races.
32 In 1872, an international committee sitting in judgment on what had become known as the ‘Alabama’ Arbitration Tribunal, over protests leveled by the United States of America at Great Britain’s conduct during the War of Secession, had ruled in favor of the complainants. For allowing Confederate States’ naval vessels such as the cruisers Alabama, Florida and Shenandoah to not only be built in, but to operate out of its ports—and being involved in blockade running and other activities equally detrimental to the Union’s cause—the Government of Great Britain had been ordered to pay restitution to the sum of £15,500,000.
33 This was true at the period of the events recorded in the present volume.
34 What the arrangements entailed is told in: BEGUINAGE and BEGUINAGE IS DEAD!
35 For the benefit of new readers, the Colt ‘Storekeeper’ differed from the other models of the 1873 Model P ‘Peacemaker’—details of which are given in various of the author’s works—by having a shorter barrel, 3”, 3½”, or 4” in length and having no ejector rod fitted.
36 Agar ‘Coffee-Mill’ gun: an early and comparatively successful type of machine gun. Its name derived from the funnel-like magazine resembling the hopper of a coffee-mill into which the beans were fed for grinding.
37 How and why the scheme failed is told in: THE DEVIL GUN.
38 ‘Chicago’ is said to be a corruption of the Ojibwa Indian words, ‘she-kag-ong’, meaning wild onion place.
39 The French national anthem, le Marseillaise, was written in 1792 by Roget de Lisle.
40 ‘Midi’: the southern regions of France.
41 ‘Hadrian’s Wall’ : a defensive structure extending from Solway Firth to the Tyne, built between 122-128 A.D. on the orders of Emperor Hadrian (76-138 A.D.) to protect Roman Britain from the Picts and the Scots.
42 The Canadian Northwest Mounted Police were founded in May, 1873. According to the legend, their original name was to be the Northwest Mounted Rifles. However, when the United States’ Congress expressed concern about the presence of a military force operating along its border with Canada, the first commanding officer, Colonel George A. French, substituted the word ‘Police’ for ‘Rifles’ and this proved acceptable to both countries.
43 Details of how a pole-axe is used are given in THE HIDE AND TALLOW MEN.
44 For the benefit of new readers: a ‘spear point’ blade had two sharpened edges coming together in symmetrical convex curves, as opposed to the more utilitarian ‘clip’ point of the bowie type of knives wherein only the last few inches of the otherwise unsharpened ‘back’ of the blade forms a concave arc to join and become an extension of the main cutting surface.
45 Knowing of Henri “Papa” Champlain’s hatred and suspecting arrangements had been made to have his arrival reported, Arnaud Cavallier had not taken his usual suite at the Paris Hotel. Lieutenant Ballinger’s investigations proved he stayed with a respectable and well-to-do family of British origin, who were unaware of his true nature and purpose, while he was waiting for his two Metis supporters to join him with the remainder of the money he required to pay for his share of the arms.
46 The Fenians, members of a secret Irish revolutionary brotherhood founded in New York during the late 1850’s, were dedicated to freeing Ireland from British rule. In June, 1866, a force of one thousand men—mostly Civil War veterans—was organized by them and invaded Canada. By doing so, the Fenians hoped to bring pressure to bear upon the British Government to grant home rule to Ireland.
47 First manufactured in 1834 at Greenfield, Massachusetts—on the banks of the Green River—the very popular type of knife carried by Arnaud Cavallier had the maker’s name ‘J. Russell & Co. Green River Works’ inscribed along the blade just below the guard of the hilt. Any knife driven into a human adversary ‘up to the Green River’ was likely to prove fatal whether the inscription was there or not.
48 Presbytery: the Roman Catholic Church’s name for the parish priest’s official residence.
49 ‘Lon’: an abbreviation of Loncey Dalton, the Christian names of the Ysabel Kid; see Footnote i, CHAPTER SIX.
50 ‘Ka-Dih’: the Comanche Indian’s name for their ‘Great Spirit’.
51 In Chapter Six of ON REMITTANCE—the as yet unpublished biography of Major General Sir Patrick Reeder, K.C.B., V.C., D.S.O., M.C. and Bar—the Remittance Kid says the man posing as Father Matthew Devlin was obsessed with hatred for the Irish—his own people—over what he considered to have been completely unjustified ostracism and hostility after he was unfrocked by the Catholic Church for gross misconduct. The intention of the
betrayal was to cause what he hoped would be a bloody repulse of the invasion. In turn this would create animosity between Great Britain and the United States. Even if open war between the two countries did not happen, the incident was likely to produce a hardening of the British attitude towards Ireland and, as “Devlin” wanted for personal as well as anarchistic reasons, prolong the sufferings of the Irish.