No Justice in Hell by Charles G. West

Author:Charles G. West [West, Charles G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

They descended the trail they had arrived on, down from the hill and the diggings to the town of Butte, which was little more than a ghost town since most of the gold and silver miners had given up and moved on. There were a few dreamers still working the veins, but the only productive operations were now the less-precious mines, like W. A. Clark’s. In the town, there was a post office, a general store, and a saloon, the latter of which drew the interest of the soldiers. Lieutenant Conner was a favorite among the enlisted men, not only for his fair-minded manner, but also because of his carefree disregard for strict military protocol. Consequently, it was not surprising that Corporal Johnson pulled up alongside of him and suggested that it would be good for morale if the men were allowed the opportunity to have a drink of whiskey. “We’ve delivered the payroll safe and sound and stopped an attempted robbery,” he said. “It sure would go a long way with the men, if you were to let ’em have a drink or two. I’d go with ’em to make sure it didn’t go any further than that.”

“Oh, you would, huh?” Conner japed. “You’d make that sacrifice? Well, who’s gonna make sure you limit yourself to one or two?” He let Johnson struggle for a reply for a second or two before giving in. “I wanna find a good spot to camp down here in the valley and we’ll stop here for the night. When the camp is squared away and the horses are taken care of, you can let the men go into town, half of ’em at a time. I want guards on our prisoners at all times. Understood?”

“Yes, sir, understood,” Johnson eagerly replied. “Thank you, sir.”

“I don’t want anybody failing to show up here before I’m ready to ride in the morning, Corporal. Is that understood? I’ll send Hawk to look for them with orders to kill.”

“Yes, sir,” Johnson said. “I’ll tell ’em,” he said, and fell back to give the men the good news.

Hawk found a suitable place to make camp not too far from the town by a small stream. The rickety remains of an old sluice box bore evidence of past placer mining, but the water was now clear and there was grass enough for the horses. Since every man was supplied with rations for himself, there was normally no particular time when they ate it. On this occasion, however, Conner ordered every man to eat his supper before walking to the saloon. That way, he figured there was half a chance a couple of drinks on a full stomach wouldn’t hit them too hard. “How about you?” Conner asked Hawk. “You wanna go have a drink, too?”

“Reckon not,” Hawk replied. Thinking of the usual results that followed the release of a group of soldiers to the temptations of a saloon, he decided it might be best to have a few sober men left to keep an eye on things.

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