In the meantime, there was no lack of amus.e.m.e.nt, for from the four corners, blown by the four winds, men rode out of the mountain-desert and drifted into Rickett to seek for a place on that posse. Twenty men, that was the goal the sheriff had set. Twenty men trained to a hair.
Beside the courthouse was a shooting gallery not overmuch used except during the two annual seasons of prosperity and reckless spending, and Pete Gla.s.s secured this place to test out applicants. After, they pa.s.sed this trial they were mustered into his presence, and he gave them an examination for himself. Just what he asked them or what he could never be known, but some men came from his presence very red, and others extremely pale, and some men bl.u.s.tered, and some men swore, and some men rode hastily out of town and spoke not a word, but few, very few, were those who came out wearing a little badge on their vest with the pride of a Knight of the Garter. At first the hordes rode in, young and old, youths keen for a taste of adventure, rusty fellows who had once been noted warriors; but these early levies soon discovered that courage and willingness was not so much valued as accuracy, and the old-timers learned, also, that accuracy must be accompanied by speed; and even when a man possessed both these qualities of hand and eye the gentle, inscrutable little man in his office might still reject them for reasons they could not guess.
This one thing was certain: the next time Pete Gla.s.s ran for office he would be beaten even by a greaser. He made enemies at the rate of a hundred a day during that period of selection.
Still the twenty was not recruited to the full. Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen were gathered into the fold, but still five men were lacking to complete the toll. Most men would have started their man-hunt with that formidable force, but Pete Gla.s.s was methodical. In his own heart of hearts he would have given his hope of heaven to meet Barry face to face and hand to hand, and see which was the better man, but Pete Gla.s.s owed a duty to his state before he owed a duty to himself. He stuck by his first plan. And every day the inhabitants of Rickett gathered at the shooting gallery to watch the tests and wonder at the successes and smile at the failures.
It was a very hard test which the sheriff had imposed. A man stood to one side of the iron-plate back wall which served as the target. He stood entirely out of sight and through an aperture in the side wall, at a signal, he tossed a round ball of clay, painted white. The marksman stood a good ten paces off, and he must strike that clay ball as it pa.s.sed across the target. The b.a.l.l.s were so small that even to strike them when they were stationary was a difficult task, and to hit them in motion was enough to task the quickest eye and the cunningest hand.
It was old Pop Giersberg who stood with his ancient forty-five behind the counter, with his feet braced, on this bright morning, and behind him half of Rickett was gathered.
"D"you give me warnin", son?" he inquired of the man at the counter.
"Nary a warnin"," grinned the other, who was one of the chosen fifteen.
He wished Pop well. So did they all, but they had seen every man fail for two days at that target and one and all they had their doubts. Pop had been a formidable man in his day, but now his hand was stiff and his hair gray. He was at least twenty years older than he felt.
He had hardly finished asking his question when a white ball was tossed across the target. Up came the gun of Pop Giersberg, exploded, and the bullet clanged on the iron; the white ball floated idly on across the wall and disappeared on the other side.
"Gimme another chance!" pleaded Pop, with a quaver in his voice. "That was just a try to get my eye in shape."
"Sure," chuckled the deputy. "Everybody gets three tries. It ain"t hardly nacheral to hit that ball the first crack. Leastways, n.o.body ain"t done it yet. You jest keep your eye peeled, Pop, and that ball will come out ag"in."
And Pop literally kept his eye peeled.
He had double reason to pray for success, for his "old woman" had smiled and shook her head when he allowed that he would try out for a place on that posse. All his nerves grew taut and keen. He waited.
Once more the white streak appeared and surely he who threw the ball had every wish to see Pop succeed, for he tossed it high and easily. Again the gun barked from Giersberg"s hand, and again the ball dropped almost slowly out of sight.
"It"s a trick!" gasped Pop. "It"s something d.a.m.ned queer."
"They"s a considerable pile of gents, that think the same way you do,"
admitted the deputy sheriff, dryly.
Pop glared at him and gritted his teeth.
"Lead the d.a.m.n thing on ag"in," he said, and muttered the rest of his sentence to himself. He jerked his hat lower over his eyes, spread his feet a little more, and got ready for the last desperate chance.
But fate was against Pop. Twenty years before he might have struck that mark if he had been in top condition, but today, though he put his very soul into the effort, and though the ball for the third time was lobbed with the utmost gentleness through the air, his bullet banged vainly against the sheet of iron and the white, inoffensive ball continued on its way.
Words came in the throat of Pop, reached his opened mouth, and died there. He thrust the gun back into its holster, and turned slowly toward the crowd. There was no smile to meet his challenging eye, for Pop was a known man, and though he might have failed to strike this elusive mark that was no sign that he would fail to hit something six feet in height by a couple in breadth. When he found that no mockery awaited him, a sheepish smile began at his eyes and wandered dimly to his lips.
"Well, gents," he muttered, "I guess I ain"t as young as I was once.
S"long!"
He shouldered his way to the door and was gone.
"That"s about all, friends," said the deputy crisply. "I guess there ain"t any more clamorin"s for a place today?"
He swept the crowd with a complacent eye.
"If you got no objection," murmured a newcomer, who had just slipped into the room, "I"d sort of like to take a shot at that."
Chapter XXVII. The Sixth Man
It caused a quick turning of heads.
"I don"t want to put you out none," said the applicant gently. His voice was extremely gentle, and there was about him all the shrinking aloofness of the naturally timid. The deputy looked him over with quiet amus.e.m.e.nt--slender fellow with the gentlest brown eyes--and then with a quick side glance invited the crowd to get in on the joke.
"You ain"t puttin" me out," he a.s.sured the other. "Not if you pay for your own ammunition."
"Oh, yes," answered the would-be man-hunter, "I reckon I could afford that."
He was so serious about it that the crowd murmured its amus.e.m.e.nt instead of bursting into loud laughter. If the man was a fool, at least he was not aggressive in his folly. They gave way and he walked slowly towards the counter and stepped into the little open s.p.a.ce beside the master of ceremonies. Very obviously he was ill at ease to find himself the center of so much attention.
"I s"pose you been practicin" up on tin-cans?" suggested the deputy, leaning on the counter.
"Sometimes I hit things and sometimes I don"t," answered the stranger.
"Well," and this was put more crisply as the deputy brought out a large pad of paper, "jest gimme your name, partner."
"Joe c.u.mber." He grew still more ill at ease. "I hear that even if you hit the mark you got to talk to the sheriff himself afterwards?"
"Yep."
The applicant sighed.
"Why d"you ask?"
"I ain"t much on words."
"But h.e.l.l with your gun, eh?" The deputy sheriff grinned again, but when the other turned his head toward him, his smile went out, suddenly while the wrinkle of mirth still lay in his cheek. The deputy stroked his chin and looked thoughtful.
"Get your gun ready," he ordered.
The other slipped his hand down to his gun-b.u.t.t and moved his weapon to make sure that it was perfectly loose in the leather.
"Ain"t you goin" to take your gun out?" queried the deputy.
"Can I do that?"
"I reckon not," said the deputy, and looked the stranger straight in the eyes.
His change to deadly earnestness put a hush over the crowd.
Across the target, not tossed easily as it had been for Pop Giersberg, but literally thrown, darted the line of white, while the gun flipped out of its holster as if it possessed life of its own and spoke. The white line ended half way to the farther side of the target, and the revolver slid again into hiding.