The No-Gun Man by L. Ron Hubbard

Author:L. Ron Hubbard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Western
Publisher: Galaxy Press
Published: 2014-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

It cleared and the Henry blazed. Hans, struck squarely between the eyes, stood up straight and slumped down on his back, his body rolling gently into view.

Monte turned around, aware now that no shots had come from behind him. He saw the dead roan and then, inexplicably, the earth canted over and hit him wickedly in the face. He lay still.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Quality of Justice

Half an hour later, just as a buzzard was settling on the roan, a horseman catapulted into the canyon below, started up the slope and then pulled in.

Jeb Grayson, hastily signaled down by Dick to follow Monte, just in case, had found the case. Behind him rode Little Pete who, as soon as he saw Jeb pull rein, jumped off and cradled his rifle in his arm crook.

Jeb saw he had Pete covering him, and he went up warily. He glanced at the roan and then to the right where Monte lay. Fifty yards and blood divided the man from his horse.

Peering into the boulders beyond Monte, Jeb saw Hans Spiegel’s body and took it in with a practiced glance. Spiegel was dead. Jeb knew there would be others in this and he moved shiftily, ears tuned for the tiniest click which would tell him of further ambush.

He carefully pieced together the possible details and concluded it must be from three sides. He ranged up to the rocks to the left, peered and stood up on them. He snorted.

Leading his horse now, Jeb went up to look at the trail and here he stopped again, looked down, cocking his eye in appraisal. He saw three horses tethered well down the trail and he turned to give Little Pete a sign.

“Come on up here!” he bawled.

Pete mounted and spurred up the slope. Jeb pointed down. Claus was lying across his gun, twisted sideways so that you could see the bullet hole where his eye should have been.

“Look over there,” said Jeb.

Little Pete rode to the right and found Dirk Spiegel, curled up in a wedge of rock; the top of his head was missing.

“Over there now!” said Jeb.

Pete saw Hans then.

“How many shots you hear?” said Jeb.

“Hard to tell in these hills but about five heavy Sharps and three light ones.”

“Three light ones!” said Jeb. “And I’ll bet you that that’s just how many he fired. A fine fighter was lost.”

“Wait a minute,” said Little Pete. “He’s still breathing!”

“Hans?”

“Shucks, no! Hans got himself a third eye. Monte here’s breathing!”

“He’s bleeding, too! Well, kick me for a fool. I thought he was a corpse, for sure. Well, don’t stand there looking like an ape. Bind him up while he’s got something inside him besides lead!”

Little Pete straightened Monte out and began to strip away his clothes with a knife. “Ain’t no arteries struck. Hmmm. Thought that was a bullet hole. Look, Jeb. Here’s what fooled you. That’s a splinter from his rifle stock sticking in his face.” He worked it for a moment so that he would leave nothing in and then whipped it out.

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