by Short, Luke;
Nora watched the street absently, Then she turned and came back to Tip. “It’s grand, Tip,” she said simply. “Everything bad I’ve said about Johnny Hendry, I gladly take back.”
“I knew you would.”
“I wish him all the success in the world,” Nora said quietly. “Will—will he come to see me before he leaves?” she asked slowly.
“Certainly. Besides, his outfit is here.”
They talked on a few moments more, and then the lobby door opened, and Pick and Johnny came in. Nora ran to greet Pick and gave his leathery old cheek a smacking kiss. They talked a long time, and then she turned to Johnny.
“I was wrong, Johnny, about Major Fitz.”
Johnny’s tense, clean-shaven face broke into a slow smile, but his eyes were veiled, black as night pools. “So were a lot of people, Nora—me among ’em.”
There was an awkward silence. Pick sidled over to Tip and started to talk, leaving Johnny to face Nora alone.
“Tip told me you were leaving, Johnny,” Nora said.
“That’s right.”
“For where?”
“I dunno. To see the world, maybe.”
“But you’re the rightful sheriff, Tip says. He said the commissioners are sure to recall you.”
Johnny grinned. “Turk and Hank can take care of that job better than I can. Bledsoe has promised to make one sheriff, the other marshal as a favor to me. And they’ll post a five-thousand-dollar reward to keep Wigran over the mountains. So it’ll be easy.”
“I wish you luck, wherever you go,” Nora said. Johnny looked at her face, which was paler than he had ever seen it. And more beautiful—so that it hurt him to see it. His glance traveled down her slim figure, approving of the deep-blue dress. But it rested on the ring—Tip’s ring, which she was wearing.
“And I wish you luck,” Johnny said gravely. “I haven’t had much of a chance to till now. But I do, Nora. You and Tip—you’re both fine people.”
And with that, Johnny ducked upstairs.
Nora was not in the lobby when he came down. Out on the street with his war bag over his shoulder, Pick beside him, they strolled toward the feed stable.
“I think you’re bein’ stubborn, son,” Pick said with unaccustomed gentleness. “You don’t seem to realize I’m a rich man.”
Johnny teased him. “I think you’re kiddin’ me, Pick. I won’t believe it until we ride up and see it tonight.”
“But where you goin’ from there?” Pick growled.
“Travel.”
“And leave a good job and a clean town to be a saddle bum?”
“That’s it,” Johnny said crisply. He added more gently, “Pick, a man never likes to stay around a place where he’s got a kick in the teeth, does he?”
“I reckon not.” Pick looked at him. “You mean Nora.”
Johnny only nodded. They swung in under the arch of the feed stable, and Tip Rogers, who had been leaning against one of the stalls, walked over to Johnny.
“Johnny, I’m leavin’ today,” he said simply. “I’ve got a job in Mexico.”
“Good,” Johnny said. “I hope Nora will like it.”
“She doesn’t even know about it.”
Johnny looked Tip steadily in the eye. He said quietly, “You runnin’ out on her?”
Tip nodded a little. “You could call it that, Johnny. You see, I don’t like the idea of playing second fiddle all my life. No man does.”
“Second fiddle to who?”
“You,” Tip said quietly. He stuck out his hand and smiled fondly at Johnny. “Go up there and tell her you love her, Johnny. You do. She loves you. And treat her well, Johnny. I know you will.”
Johnny took Tip’s hand, but a frown creased his forehead. “You’re a jump ahead of me, Tip. How do you know all this?”
“About her loving you?”
“Yes.”
“You can tell that when you watch her,” Tip said evenly. “She was mad at you, Johnny. I came just at the right time. But now you’re back, it’s the way it always was. She’s too loyal to send me away. She’d die before she’d admit to me that she loves you better. But I think she’ll admit it to you after I’m gone.”
Johnny wrung Tip’s hand in one violent wrench and then raced out of the livery stable and up to the Cosmos House. She wasn’t in the lobby. He slammed open the door of the dining-room, and there she was in the act of putting the silver out on the tables for the noon meal.
Johnny walked over to her, took the silver out of her hand, and dropped it on the floor with a crash, then folded her to him and kissed her time and again. She struggled violently to free herself, and when she finally did, her eyes were bright with anger.
“Johnny Hendry!” she cried, stamping her foot. “I’m an engaged woman!”
“You bet you are,” Johnny growled fondly. “Engaged to me.” He reached down for her hand and pulled the ring off her finger and threw it across the room, then, taking both hands, he said to her, “To think what a hammerhead I am! Of course you love me. Of course I love you. And we’ll be married.”
“But Tip—”
“Tip’s a right nice jasper. And smart. He had sense enough to see that both of us would die without each other, so he just rode off for Mexico.”
“But—”
“No buts. When do we get married?”
Nora gave a little moan of delight and threw her arms around his neck. “The sooner the better,” she said, and she was squeezing him so hard he didn’t have the breath to answer.
About the Author
Luke Short is the pen name of Frederick Dilley Glidden (1908–1975), the bestselling, award-winning author of over fifty classic western novels and hundreds of short stories. Renowned for their action-packed story lines, multidimensional characters, and vibrant dialogue, Glidden’s novels sold over thirty million copies. Ten of his novels, including Blood on the Moon, Coroner Creek, and Ramrod, were adapted for the screen. Glidden was the winner of a special Western Heritage Trustees Award and the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award from the Western Writers of America.
Born in Kewanee, Illinois, Glidden graduated in 1930 from the University of Missouri where he studied journalism. After working for several newspapers, he became a trapper in Canada and, later, an archaeologist’s assistant in New Mexico. His first story, “Six-Gun Lawyer,” was published in Cowboy Stories magazine in 1935 under the name F. D. Glidden. At the suggestion of his publisher, he used the pseudonym Luke Short, not realizing it was the name of a real gunman and gambler who was a friend of Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. In addition to his prolific writing career, Glidden worked for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He moved to Aspen, Colorado, in 1946, and became an active member of the Aspen Town Council, where he initiated the zoning laws that helped preserve the town.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This story was first published in Argosy magazine.
Copyright © 1937 by Frank A. Munsey Co.
Copyright © renewed 1965 by Frederick D. Glidden
Cover design by Andy Ross
ISBN: 978-1-5040-3983-3
This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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