BY ORDER OF BUCK BRADY

Buck Brady was always whittling. Thin shavings were an obsession with Buck. He would sit for hours, tilted back in a broken chair against the shady side of his little office, knees almost touching his chin, his long, thin face serious over the task of reducing a piece of soft pine to thin shavings.

Buck was the sheriff of Mojave Wells, and Mojave Wells was a heat and sand scoured, false fronted town in Road Runner Valley. The town was invisible from a distance, because even the painted signs on the business houses had been sand blasted until they were unreadable.

It was the end of the roundup in Road Runner Valley, and Buck knew that before night the town would be filled with thirsty cowboys, whose overall pockets were lined with money, and that when whisky met cowboy there might be plenty of work for the sheriff.

The first to arrive was Ben Dolan, a thin faced, gaunt sort of cowboy, astride a weary looking roan. Instead of heading for a saloon, Ben dismounted in front of the sheriff’s office, dropped his reins in the dirt and sat down beside the sheriff.

“Hyah, Buck.”

“Purty good,” drawled Buck squinting at his handiwork. “Whatcha know, Ben?”

“Not much.”

“In kinda early, ain’t you?”

“Yeah.”

Ben made a few marks in the sand with a lean forefinger.

“Had a reason t’ come in early, Buck. Some of the boys said it wouldn’t do no good, but I thought I’d tell you how it was. ’Long about an hour from now Bud Hickman will ride in. He’ll have his gang with him and they’ll imbibe real freely. Mebbe ’long about that same time Pete Asher’ll ride in with his gang. They’ll also imbibe freely, and some of ’em will likely get kinda drunk. The boys are all thirsty, you know. I expect it’ll be kinda wooly around here t’night, Buck.”

“Uh-huh.”

Buck cut a particularly long shaving, looked at it critically and nodded with satisfaction.

“You shore rode in early to explain all this to me,” he said. “If you’re all through, you might tell me the rest.”

“It’s thisaway,” explained Ben seriously. “You know what a feud is, Buck?”

“Yea-a-ah.”

“Well, that’s what she amounts to right now. And it’s all over a danged girl!”

“I’m glad there’s a reason, Ben. Mostly allus them feuds starts over nothin’. Go ahead and tell me the details.”

“Rosie Smith.”

“Huh?”

“That’s what I said. You know how Bud and Pete kinda shined around her a month ago. I don’t guess she knowed which one to pick. Of course, Bud thinks it’s him, and Pete thinks it’s him. And there you are. It’s been kinda achin’ both of ’em, I reckon. Anyway, Chuck Lester makes a remark the other night that he supposed Bud wouldn’t be with us in Mojave Wells at the finish of the roundup, ’cause he’d stop along a picket fence before he reached the main street, and head straight through the gate.

“Pete was there, and I reckon it hit him in a sore spot, cause he chips in with a remark, which didn’t set well with Bud. There wasn’t much said, but it took all of us to take their guns away. We didn’t want no killin’ in camp. Bud was reasonable. He says to Pete, ‘We’ll settle this in Mojave Wells.’”

“Pete was agreeable. He says, ‘That suits me. We’ll make a truce until sundown, both agreein’ to keep away from her. When that sun goes down, all truce is off, and we shoot on sight.’”

Buck sliced another shaving, laid the stick aside and began whetting the blade on the counter of his left boot.

“And one of them damn’ fools is goin’ to get killed,” added Ben.

“It’s kinda hard to git straight grain stuff these days,” said the sheriff seriously. “I ’member when I was runnin’ a tradin’ post down Yuma way, I used to git the best danged boxwood for whittlin’. I don’t suppose it runs so good these days.”

“Ben and Pete are both friends of yours,” said Ben thoughtfully.

“Uh-huh. I like ’em both.”

“A killin’ might start trouble. The boys has kinda took sides.”

“I s’pose.”

“Bud and Pete are both good shots.”

“Yea-a-ah—purty good shots. Awful damn’ fools in lotsa ways, but good shots. Uh-hu-u-uh. Well, I’ve got to write me some signs, Ben. It’s two hours till sundown.”

“I thought you’d like to know about it, Sheriff.”

“Yeah, I do. Thank you kindly.”

“You’re welcome.”

Ben took his horse and headed for a saloon, while more cowboys came racing in, their horses covered with lather and dust. The sheriff watched the first contingent arrive. It was Bud Hickman and his gang from the Tumbling K. Bud was a likable looking cowboy, about twenty-five years of age, tall, lithe, swarthy as an Indian, with curling black hair and a white toothed smile. His crew was a wild riding lot of hard bitted punchers, ready for fun or fight at a moment’s notice.

They noted that Pete Asher and the J88 boys had not arrived yet; so they all headed for the Desert Well Saloon, the biggest place of its kind in Mojave Wells. The sheriff stood on the edge of the sidewalk for a while, cogitating deeply. He had been sheriff of that particular county for nearly two terms, which meant that Buck Brady was pretty much of a man. Finally he went into his little office, and after a search he found an old paint brush and a few ounces of almost dried paint in a battered can. He kicked the ends out of a soap box, drew out the nails and sat down at his desk.

Pete Asher and his crew rode in from the J88, tied their horses farther up the street and entered the Prospect Saloon. Asher was a heavily built, hard faced cowboy, about the same age as Bud Hickman. His hair was almost a neutral shade, his eyes deep set and blue. There was little to choose between his gang and the one which came in with Bud Hickman, and in numbers they were about equal.

There were more outfits to come, but they were not connected with the feud. Rud and his men were at the bar when the sheriff came in, and they greeted him noisily. He was carrying a box end and a hammer, and without any leave from the proprietor he proceeded to nail his sign to one of the walls. It read:

Some of the men laughed: some swore. Bud Hickman strode over to the sheriff and glared at him belligerently.

“You tryin’ to kid somebody, Buck?” he asked.

The sheriff looked steadily at Bud for several moments.

“I ain’t in the habit of kiddin’ anybody, am I?”

Bud flushed quickly, but he recognized the fact that Buck Brady would back up his sign. That was why Buck was their sheriff.

“Kinda sudden, ain’tcha?” asked Bud.

“No-o-o. I’ve been thinkin’ this out quite a while, Bud.”

“Is this the idea?” queried Bud. “We all turn our guns over to you, and you turn ’em back when we’re ready to leave town?”

“That’s what the sign says, Bud; and I wrote the sign.”

Bud laughed and turned to his men.

“It’s all right, boys. Shuck your guns. I reckon we can stand it, if the others can.” And then to the sheriff, “You might have a little trouble with Pete and his gang.”

“I hope they’ll be reasonable.”

The men put their guns on a poker table, and the sheriff picked them up, putting some in his pockets, some inside the waistband of his overalls.

“You’ll have to remember your own guns, boys,” he said.

“I reckon I can spot mine,” said Bud. “I made them handles.”

The sheriff thanked them kindly and went back to his office, where he locked the guns in his desk. Then he went over to the Prospect Saloon, where he nailed up his other notice. Asher and his men didn’t take so kindly to the idea. Some of them were openly belligerent, and it seemed for a few moments that the sheriff had a tough job, but Asher took the matter out of their hands.

“I suppose this thing only applies to me and my men, eh?”

“You’re supposin’ wrong, Pete; I’ve already collected from the Tumblin’ K.”

“You’ve collected from Bud Hickman?”

“Why not?”

“Oh, I jist wondered. But suppose we don’t give you our guns?”

The sheriff considered Pete calmly. Then:

“I’ve allus liked you, Asher. You’ve been a damn’ fool in lotsa ways, but you’re jist human like the rest of us. I’ve posted my notice, and I wrote it myself.”

“But jist suppose we refuse to give up our guns?”

“That,” said the sheriff calmly, “would be jist too damn’ bad.”

“Oh—” softly—“and if I should happen to want to leave town, you’d give me back my gun?”

“Jist like the sign says, Pete.”

“All right; here’s mine. Take ’em off, boys. We don’t need ’em—now.”

The sheriff looked over the guns as he deposited them about his person; he walked out, swinging the hammer in his hand.

“Don’t that beat hell?” laughed Pete.

“I’ll betcha somebody told him somethin’,” said a cowboy.

“I don’t like the idea of a moth eaten old sidewinder takin’ my gun away,” complained a cowboy who was new to the country. “We’d ’a’ had some fun, if we’d refused.”

“You’ve got a sweet idea of fun,” growled Pete. “That moth eaten old sidewinder is jist thirty-two years old, and if we hadn’t turned them guns over to him he’d jist about ruined the whole gang of us with his pet Winchester. When you see ‘By order of Buck Brady,’ you better read the upper part of it and act accordingly.”

All the cowboys went back to their drinking, and the sheriff was forgotten, but both Bud and Pete kept track of the sun. The sheriff, humped in his chair, still whittling, saw Pete come out, saunter to the hitching rack, where he could view the sun. It was still an hour high.

Ben Dolan, fairly well filled with liquor, came over again and squatted on his heels beside the sheriff. Ben was as hard bitted as the rest of the cowboys, but he liked both Bud and Pete so well that he hated to see either of them wounded or killed. And Ben was wise enough to understand that both men would claim their guns at sundown.

They saw Bud leave the Desert Well Saloon, walk halfway across the street, as if heading for a store, stop and look toward the west. He too was keeping cases on the sun. Then he turned and went back to the saloon. Ben made meaningless marks in the sand with a forefinger, while the sheriff whittled thoughtfully.

“You shore collected a lot of guns, Sheriff.”

“Yea-a-ah.”

“Almost sundown.”

The sheriff shut one eye and considered Ben. Then he looked toward both saloons, and went on whittling.

“The boys are gettin’ nervous,” said Ben.

“I notice.”

Several cowboys were standing in front of the Prospect Saloon now, and one of them essayed a clog dance. His boots sounded loud on the old wooden sidewalk. Another beat time on a porch post with the end of a quirt. It was like the beating of a tomtom, and he kept it up for a time after the dancer had stopped. The beater was swarthy, with high cheek bones.

Some of Bud’s gang came from the Desert Well and stood around in front of the building. One of them, a little drunker than the rest, started across the street toward the sheriff’s office, but the others stopped him and, after an argument, persuaded him to desist.

“It’s kinda sultry,” said Ben, rubbing his forehead.

The sheriff nodded and looked at the sun, only half of which was visible now. He blinked from the strong light and cut several shavings, which did not suit him at all. A couple of dogs met in the middle of the street; town dogs, fat and with a friendship of long standing. But now they growled ominously at each other, as they circled, looking for an opening.

“Sic ’em!” hissed a cowboy from in front of the Desert Well.

“Take him, Tige! Shake his fleas loose. Four bits on the yaller one.”

“You’ve done made a bet, cowboy. Choose him, Ponto.”

But the dogs only circled and growled, and finally separated.

“Mebbe they’re waitin’ for the sun to go down,” whispered Ben.

The sheriff shook his head.

“Got more sense than men have.”

The sun was down. Only the tip was visible, and the crests of the broken hills showed a golden highlight. It was very still in Mojave Wells. The shadows were gone now and the street glowed with a yellow light, which would not last long. Twilight was unknown in Mojave Wells. Sundown, a streak of gold, would quickly fade to blue, and then darkness.

Bud Hickman came from the Desert Well and went straight to the hitch rack, where he untied his horse and swung into the saddle. Simultaneously with Bud’s move, Pete Asher came riding from the rack beside the Prospect. It was not a casual move. They intended to deceive nobody, not even the sheriff of Mojave Wells. The cowboys of both outfits were in the street, watching intently.

Bud came straight to the sheriff, and fifty feet behind him was Pete. Bud’s face was grim, his mouth set in a thin line.

“I’m pullin’ out, Buck,” he said softly. “Would you mind handin’ me my gun?”

The sheriff stopped whittling, tilted forward in his chair and got slowly to his feet. He looked closely at Bud, but said nothing, as he turned and went into the office. Pete moved in closer, but he and Bud ignored each other. Ben sighed and leaned against the wall.

The sheriff came out, carrying a gun in each hand. For several moments he looked at the two men rather sorrowfully.

“I reckon you’re pullin’ out, too, ain’tcha, Pete?”

Pete nodded quickly and held out his hand for the gun. They had been friends, these two, until a woman had come between them. Bud holstered his gun, swung his horse around and rode slowly down the street, looking straight ahead. Pete accepted his gun, glanced at it to see that it was fully loaded, snapped it down in his holster and swung his horse around, riding back to the center of the street.

Ben swore softly under his breath. Both of these men were good revolver shots.

“Goin’ to be a funeral around here—mebbe two,” he muttered. “Why don’tcha stop it, Buck? Gawd A’mighty, this ain’t right! Look at Bud—he’s turnin’!”

“You didn’t expect he’d run away, didja?”

The contestants in this desert town drama were two hundred feet apart, facing each other, both horses moving slowly. They had both played a square game. There was no advantage now. Two hundred feet is a long shot. Both men had drawn their guns. Bud’s horse was dancing a little, and he spurred it viciously.

Pete waited.

Ben’s hands were gripping the wall beside him. He had seen gun fights before, but they had all been unpremeditated affairs. This one was too much like an execution. The groups of cowboys were as immobile as dummy figures. Even the horses at the hitch racks had ceased moving.

Bud and Pete were closing the gap between them, closing it slowly, each waiting for the other to make the first move with a gun. They were only a hundred feet apart now. It was close enough. But neither of them made a move to lift his gun.

Ninety feet; thirty yards. Either of them could hit a tomato can at that distance. Eighty feet! Horses walking slowly, Seventy feet; sixty feet. Twenty yards now. They were almost in front of the sheriff’s office. Ben laughed foolishly. It would be a double funeral. He had seen Bud shoot the head from a prairie dog at that distance.

“It’s a nice evenin’ for it,” said the sheriff rather inanely.

And then it happened!

Both guns came up at exactly the same instant. Ben’s eyes snapped shut and he turned his head aside.

Came a tiny ping, hardly louder than the mere snapping of a revolver hammer. Another and another. Bud’s eyes jerked open. The two riders were thirty feet apart, leaning forward in their saddles. Not a shot had been fired.

With a swift movement, Bud Hickman swung out the cylinder of his Colt and emptied the cartridges in his hand. Every primer had been dented. There were marks on the bullets, marks made by the jaws of a pair of pliers.

Pete was swearing viciously, as he drew cartridges from his belt and started to stuff them in his gun.

But the sheriff halted him with a sharp word.

“Damn you, you pulled the powder on my shells!” snarled Pete.

“Yeah; and I’ll pull somethin’ else out of you, if you make one more move,” said the sheriff calmly. “C’mere, Bud.”

Bud rode up to him, still holding the empty gun in his hand. Pete had quit trying to load his gun. They looked coldly at each other.

“You boys hadn’t ort to fight,” said the sheriff calmly. “Both of you goin’ off kinda half cocked, as you might say.”

The men from both outfits had moved in close now, trying to understand what it was all about, their enmity all but forgotten in this queer turn of events.

“I pulled them bullets,” admitted the sheriff. “I don’t reckon either of you showed any yaller streak. You played the game square, and I like you both for it. Personally I kinda enjoyed it. It was like lookin’ at a show. I was the only one that knowed how it would turn out.”

“Was it any of your damn’ business how it turned out?” demanded Pete hotly.

“In a way, it was, Pete—” calmly. “Barrin’ my friendship with both of you, and my position as sheriff, it still was my business, in a way. Now, you two boys was aimin’ to kill each other over a woman. Yeah, Ben told me about it. You might thank Ben instead of glarin’ at him.

“He liked both of you, and he didn’t want no killin’ done; so he told me about it. I don’t think for a minute that this Smith girl would care to have you killin’ each other over her. Most girls don’t. Anyway, it was a sucker idea, because there ain’t no Smith girl around here any more; so you was tryin’ to kill each other for nothin’.”

“What do you mean?” blurted Bud.

“The Smiths ain’t moved away,” offered a cowboy.

“If you hadn’t had so much killin’ on your mind, you might have found out that me and the Smith girl was married over a week ago. You boys better go back and have your spree, as soon as you give me back them guns, ’cause I’ve got work to do.”

“Whittlin’?” asked Bud blankly.

“Lookin’ for somethin’ to whittle on.”