XIV + 

“Easy!” I cautioned Milk River, and stood up. But I didn’t raise my hands. + 

“The excitement’s over,” I called. “Come on down.” + 

Ten minutes passed. Peery rode into the light. His square-jawed face was grime-streaked and grim. His horse was muddy lather all over. His guns were in his hands. + 

Behind him rode Dunne⁠—as dirty, as grim, as ready with his firearms. + 

Nobody followed Dunne. The others were spread around us in the darkness, then. + 

Peery leaned over his pony’s head to look at Big ’Nacio, who was lying breathlessly still on the ground. + 

“Dead?” + 

“No⁠—a slug through hand and leg. I’ve got some of his friends under lock and key indoors.” + 

Mad red rims showed around Peery’s eyes in the firelight. + 

“You can keep the others,” he said harshly. “This hombre will do us.” + 

I didn’t misunderstand him. + 

“I’m keeping all of them.” + 

“I ain’t got a damned bit of confidence in you,” Peery growled down at me. “You ain’t done nothing since you been here, and it ain’t likely you ever will. I’m making sure that this Big ’Nacio’s riding stops right here. I’m taking care of him myself.” + 

“Nothing stirring!” + 

“How you figuring on keeping me from taking him?” he laughed viciously at me. “You don’t think me and Irish are alone, do you? If you don’t believe you’re corralled, make a play!” + 

I believed him, but⁠— + 

“That doesn’t make any difference. If I were a grub-line rider, or a desert rat, or any lone guy with no connections, you’d rub me out quick enough. But I’m not, and you know I’m not. I’m counting on that. You’ve got to kill me to take ’Nacio. That’s flat! I don’t think you want him bad enough to go that far. Right or wrong, I’m playing it that way.” + 

He stared at me for a while. Then his knees urged his horse toward the Mexican, ’Nacio sat up and began pleading with me to save him. + 

Slowly I raised my right hand to my shoulder-holstered gun. + 

“Drop it!” Peery ordered, both his guns close to my head. + 

I grinned at him, took my gun out slowly, slowly turned it until it was level between his two. + 

We held that pose long enough to work up a good sweat apiece. It wasn’t restful! + 

A queer light flickered in his red-rimmed eyes. + 

I didn’t guess what was coming until too late. + 

His left-hand gun swung away from me⁠—exploded. + 

A hole opened in the top of Big ’Nacio’s head. He pitched over on his side. + 

The grinning Milk River shot Peery out of the saddle. + 

I was under Peery’s right-hand gun when it went off. I was scrambling under his rearing horse’s feet. + 

Dunne’s revolvers coughed. + 

“Inside!” I yelled to Milk River, and put two bullets into Dunne’s pony. + 

Rifle bullets sang every which way across, around, under, over us. + 

Inside the lighted doorway Milk River hugged the floor, spouting fire and lead from both hands. + 

Dunne’s horse was down. Dunne got up⁠—caught both hands to his face⁠—went down beside his horse. + 

Milk River turned off the fireworks long enough for me to dash over him into the house. + 

While I smashed the lamp chimney, blew out the flame, he slammed the door. + 

Bullets made music on door and wall. + 

“Did I do right, shooting that jigger?” Milk River asked. + 

“Good work!” I lied. + 

There was no use bellyaching over what was done, but I hadn’t wanted Peery dead. Dunne’s death was unnecessary, too. The proper place for guns is after talk has failed, and I hadn’t run out of words by any means when this brown-skinned lad had gone into action. + 

The bullets stopped punching holes in our door. + 

“The boys have got their heads together,” Milk River guessed. “They can’t have a hell of a lot of caps left if they’ve been snapping them at ’Nacio since early morning.” + 

I found a white handkerchief in my pocket and began stuffing one corner in a rifle muzzle. + 

“What’s for that?” Milk River asked. + 

“Talk.” I moved to the door. “And you’re to hold your hand until I’m through.” + 

“I never seen such a hombre for making talk,” he complained. + 

I opened the door a cautious crack. Nothing happened. I eased the rifle through the crack and waved it in the light of the still burning fire. Nothing happened. I opened the door and stepped out. + 

“Send somebody down to talk!” I yelled at the outer darkness. + 

A voice I didn’t recognize cursed bitterly, and began a threat: + 

“We’ll give yuh⁠—” + 

It broke off in silence. + 

Metal glinted off to one side. + 

Buck Small, his bulging eyes dark-circled, a smear of blood on one cheek, came into the light. + 

“What are you people figuring on doing?” I asked. + 

He looked sullenly at me. + 

“We’re figurin’ on gettin’ that Milk River party. We ain’t got nothin’ against you. You’re doin’ what you’re paid to do. But Milk River hadn’t ought of killed Peery!” + 

Milk River bounced stiff-legged out of the door. + 

“Any time you want any part of me, you pop-eyed this-and-that, all you got to do is name it!” + 

Small’s hands curved toward his holstered guns. + 

“Cut it!” I growled at Milk River, getting in front of him, pushing him back to the door. “I’ve got work to do. I can’t waste time watching you boys cut up. This is no time to be bragging about what a desperate guy you are!” + 

I finally got rid of him, and faced Small again. + 

“You boys want to take a tumble to yourselves, Buck. The wild and woolly days are over. You’re in the clear so far. ’Nacio jumped you, and you did what was right when you massacred his riders all over the desert. But you’ve got no right to fool with my prisoners. Peery wouldn’t understand that. And if we hadn’t shot him, he’d have swung later! + 

“For Milk River’s end of it: he doesn’t owe you anything. He dropped Peery under your guns⁠—dropped him with less than an even break! You people had the cards stacked against us. Milk River took a chance you or I wouldn’t have taken. You’ve got nothing to howl about. + 

“I’ve got ten prisoners in there, and I’ve got a lot of guns, and stuff to put in ’em. If you make me do it, I’m going to deal out the guns to my prisoners and let ’em fight. I’d rather lose every damned one of them that way than let you take one of ’em away from me! + 

“All that you boys can get out of fighting us is a lot of grief⁠—whether you win or lose. This end of Orilla County has been left to itself longer than most of the Southwest. But those days are over. Outside money has come into it; outside people are coming. You can’t buck it! Men tried that in the old days, and failed. Will you talk it over with the others?” + 

“Yeah,” and he went away in the darkness. + 

I went indoors. + 

“I think they’ll be sensible,” I told Milk River, “but you can’t tell. So maybe you better hunt around and see if you can find a way through the floor to our basement hoosgow, because I meant what I said about giving guns to our captives.” + 

Twenty minutes later Buck Small was back. + 

“You win,” he said. “We want to take Peery and Dunne with us.” + 