General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1913 Original Publisher: Grosset and Dunlap Subjects: Western stories Fiction / Literary Fiction / Westerns Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER III AT THE END OF THE ROAD Curly’s wooden face told nothing of what h was thinking. The first article of the creed of the frontier is to be game. Good or bad, the last test of a man is the way he takes his medicine. So now young Flandrau ate his dinner with a hearty appetite, smoked cigarettes impassively, and occasionally chatted with his guards casually and as a matter of course. Deep within him was a terrible feeling of sickness at the disaster that had overwhelmed him, but he did not intend to play the quitter. Dutch and an old fellow named Sweeney relieved the other watchers about noon. The squat puncher came up and looked down angrily at the boy lying on the bunk. I’ll serve notice right now that if you make any breaks I’ll fill your carcass full of lead, he growled. The prisoner knew that he was nursing a grudge for the blow that had floored him. Not to be bluffed, Curly came back with a jeer. Much obliged, my sawed-off and hammered-down friend. But what’s the matter with your face? It looks some lopsided. Did a mule kick you? Sweeney gave his companion the laugh. Betterlet him alone, Dutch. If he lands on you again like he did before your beauty ce'tainly will be spoiled complete. The little puncher’s eyes snapped rage. You’ll get yours pretty soon, Mr. Curly Flandrau. The boys are fixin’ to hang yore hide up to dry.
Does look that way, doesn’t it? the boy agreed quietly. As the day began to wear out it looked so more than ever. Two riders from the Bar Double M r…