thaiff carson ---frontier justice

"no kid! don't do it!" with one hand waving the air , the bartender tried to shout , but it all happened too quickly .

the watch chain jerked suddenly as a primal flash of realization coursed through the older man's veins . his jaw immediately slackened . without thinking , his mouth gasped opened as he sucked cooler air across his teeth .

in a fraction of an instance his heart seemed to grow and expand in his chest and swell until beyond bursting . perspiration across his forehead increased from the sudden flush of heat as a cold fear also shivered through him at the very same time .

bell's eyes grew wider and softened tenderly , as they instinctively grew moist . his vision , blurred with unashamed tears as he , with both hands suddenly drawn back onto the wooden chair's arm rests ,directly above the ivory handled colt --but not desiring to use it --in one great and rapid move-- a man long heartsick -- pushed himself up from the table and mouthed the word 'son' as the kid's "peacemaker" roared --the bullet hitting the boy's rising father dead-on in the middle.


" i shot thaddeus bell" , the boy was heard to almost blithely remark before the judge's heavy revolver barrel smashed across the kid's skull.

"i killed the man who killed you pa " , the boy uttered slowly to no one present ,whining from his dulled haze of confusion on the floor .

the judge's shoe made a heavy scraping sound of metal across wood as it forcefully pushed , the dazed boy's weapon across the wooden floorboards and safely away.

the gambler now standing over the older man looked down to survey his wounds and shook his head .

he dismissed the fallen man's odds of survival with the simple observation , " he's gutshot bad --real bad !--damn shame. you can git the doc , but 5 to 1 --a doc won't do him no good --he'll be gone before you'd get back."

rushing over with a towel to use as a bandage, hoping to help , the bartender was taken aback by the sudden dark lake that greeted him. he looked down at the fallen man's furiously spurting wound, bent to toss him the towel and sadly agreed .

"mister , i gotta be honest --i seen a lotta men cut and shot before --it don't look good at all .you best make your peace. but rest assured ,you'll get a decent burial --and we got laws in this town --this boy will face justice . he'll be tried and hanged for doin' this to you .we all saw it , i'll testify at his trial that you didn't want to fight this kid ."

"then why'd he jump up from his chair like he was gonna go after the boy? " asked the gambler, perhaps having taken personal offense from bell's remark about having shot a "tinhorn with too many aces up his sleeve".

"you're crazy" , spat the bartender , "the kid had no call to shoot him. you can't shoot a man for gettin up out of a chair --especially a man you was holding a gun on."

"the kid holstered his weapon before bell got up ", argued the gambler , "there's some might say it was pretty close to a fair fight."

"wasn't no 'fight' at all", countered the bartender , "kid shot him down like a rabid dog . bell never went for his pistol" .

"will you two ladies shut up and let me do my job", demanded judge foley.

when the only sound in the room was bell's labored breathing , foley continued . "mister , you care to make a last statement - a deposition?" asked the judge. "we don't know nothing about you. where you from ? any next of kin you want us to notify ? you ever been ta kansas before ?"

"the boy's my son--took away from me years ago " , the fallen man whispered back to the others, in his eyes, tears , but also a last bit of determination to announce the truth he now felt certain he knew.

"quite a family reunion..." the gambler couldn't refrain from facetiously quipping.

"i told you shut up" , threatened the judge , " this is official business of the court."

"thaddeus wilson bell-- from reliance, missouri . my sister katie's still there -- the boy was right" , the fallen man continued , "i shot a man and took this watch and chain from him. "

"so the boy wasn't lyin --you kilt his paw ," the gambler interjected , "so now you admitin it?"

"i admit to killin scum who raped and murdered . they violated my wife and daughter before killin em both. they burned our house ,robbed us --left me for dead and stole my little boy."

"lemme see if i got this right , mister you saying this kid that just shot you is your OWN son?" asked the judge, his mouth still hanging open .

"i'm sure he is ."

"i went after the men that killed my wife and little girl--they took my little boy. i trailed em all the way down to texas and into mexico. that's where they took my boy to sell him ."


looking momentarily at the judge , the bartender scratched his head ,and confirmed , "you know, you hear all the time , lots of young kids-- red ,brown ,black, white still get sold to some of them wealthy hacienda owners down there in old mexico--sometimes fetch 2 or 3 hundred in gold --sometimes maybe 5 hundred in gold for a white child --papers back east call it 'the disgrace of both nations' ".

"i searched south of the border , but couldn't find em --trail was cold" ,the wounded man continued, "just when i was about to give up , a priest told me he had seen em headin north , back towards texas...said the boy was real sick with fever --cholera he thought it probably was--said the boy had it real bad --said he thought the boy was dying. i picked up the trail back in texas but they had split up by then .

caught one of em outside of laredo . b'fore he died i beat it outta him --and burned him alive after he told me--all their names , descriptions , where they was from ,all the places they been and where they was most likely headed .

followed em through texas, indian territory in oklahoma,arkansas, missouri ,kansas --up and down the plains all these years. but one by one i found em .

that man in kansas the boy was talkin about , was the last one .caught him gettin ready to go into town to get a drink .he still had the watch and chain my wife had had especially made for me --more than 20 years ago-- her wedding present to me--he was wearin it."

'kansas' was the last one. he told me my son died from the cholera--i believed him ...but then this kid here, shows up ...lookin to kill me--of all people --ain't... that... a ... "

bell , having lost so much blood was now too weak to finish his sentence ... his head drifting slowly down towards the floor .

"can you MEN at least try an stop the bleedin while i go to fetch the doc--maybe it ain't too late " , pleaded the saloongirl .

"maybe the preacher--if there was time ", the saloonkeeper looked at her sadly , but there ain't " , he said firmly ,his eyes communicating to her the reality before them and she grew tearful and quiet .

"black blood-- looks like the bullet got his liver" ,the gambler tried to explain, "when the blood's that dark and coming out that fast...the doc can't get here in time...no doc can ...hell , even if he could--can't stop the bleeding --bullet got his liver..."

as the boy began to gradually come to his senses , the judge took a large basin of dirty water from the bar used for washing glasses and emptied it on the kid's swollen head.

the boy kicked and squirmed weakly at first as the shock of the dirty water brought him somewhat back to reality with a head-splitting pain from the swollen lump on his skull.

"boy, you had cholera as a young child ?" the judge asked.

"eat shit bastard"

the judge leaned down and loudly wacked the boy across the other side of his head with the empty basin.

the boy cried out , "awwww my head! old man, what the hell wrong with you? --you saw him go for his gun--why you hittin me ? --it was self defense."

"i'm gone ask your ignorant ass one more time and then i'm gonna take my pistol barrel to your thick skull some more."

"yeah ,paw said i had the cholera --i guess when i was around three or four" ,the boy sitting up now still half-dazed --cold and sweating at the same time . his head screaming ,legs wobbly as a newborn calf , his ears ringing , he continued . "my paw told me he took me to oklahoma territory and all the way to mexico for a cure --some indians give me the remedies-- some roots and poltices from a med'cine man worked. it fixed me up . saved me ."

"too bad couldn't fix your brain yah dullard , we got laws in this town against public dueling" ,the bartender added.

"my paw taught me one thing --if somebody wrongs you --you git em for it--any way you can . that man killed my paw . he got my paw's watch and chain in his shirt pocket .my paw told me that watch and chain was specially made . ain't no other like it . the number three on the watchface is engraved in gold . my paw kept a picture of my maw inside that watch. what more do i have to do to prove i'm tellin truth to you dumb shitheels ?"

the boy scrambled on hands and knees across the floor before the judge's dented metal basin could again respond and snatched the fallen man's shirt pocket open removing the chain and watch. the fallen man lay helpless clutching at his wound as both of his hands and the drenched towel could not prevent the dark life from steadily flowing outward .

when the boy opened the watch to show the judge and bartender the engraved number three and the picture of the woman that he had had to be told was his mother , the timepiece slipped from his still awkward fingers and rolled on the floor near the gambler's scuffed shoes.

when the gambler retrieved the watch , the picture fell from its enclosure . as the gambler picked up the round photograph of the well dressed, stocky , dark haired woman , his eyes noticed on the back , in time faded ink , scrawled clearly the words, " my beloved husband thaddeus , all my love , ellie ".

"this your maw , boy ?" he asked .

"who the hell you think would be in my paw's watch , yah idjeeit ?"

"according to the writin on this picture , somebody pledgin all her love to her husband named thaddeus" , the gambler retorted dryly.

"gimme that!" the kid lunged from the floor but still groggy , his legs would not support him .

the man closed the picture back in the watch casing and gently tossed it to the judge as the boy tried to stop the gambler by grabbing at his legs in an attempt to pull himself up.

using the palm of his hand in the kid's face , the man in the paisley vest easily pushed the kid away to the floor-- more like a drunken nuisance than a gunfighting killer.

with his spectacles , the judge examined the photograph and the watch itself , pursed his lips as he deliberated a moment and then announced his verdict.

"boy , your adoptive 'paw' musta never allow you to look too closely at 'his' watch eh?"

"i seen it from time to time" , defended the kid-- his head aching too much to fully understand what the judge was driving at.

"he must not have , because if he had , you mighta see'd the initials 't.w.b.' engraved inside the watch case underneath the picture of yer maw--looks like ole thaddeus here mighta been tellin the truth-- the man he killed in kansas raped and killed yer sister and yer maw and then kidnapped you as a little boy just outta diapers to sell to some rich family in mexico-- you may-uh just shot yer real paw."

the wounded man --the engraved colt in its holster --lay there in a widening puddle of what his life had become--staring up from the floor at what was now just an unfocussed haze --but seeing clearly his loving wife and daughter finally welcoming him home from the second and much longer "god-awful war" .

the judge tossed the watch back to the paisley vest who then handed it to the stunned , kid --now so confused he felt as if he were drowning .

the boy's jaw dropped slack as an even sharper pain than in his badly lumped skull made him moan outloud. his hands trembled uncontrollably and he looked as if he wished he could cry --yet tears seemed too shocked to escape.

"too bad boy --like the man said , these shitheels got laws in this town against public dueling--but i guarantee yah a fair trial when i return in a few weeks , after i make rounds on my circuit--i'll even buy yah a whiskey before your sentencin'."

late that night , sitting on the strange and uncomfortable bunk, locked in a hot , tiny jailcell , the boy sat with his head buried within his hands . even if his roaring headache would subside , he faced the first of very sleepless nights to come.

frontier justice continued

"what about it mister , you kill the boy's paw ?" the gambler curiously interjected into the sudden quiet.

annoyed , but still calm , the man in question , in measured tones, replied , "i fought in the war . i guarded a few stages riding for 'overland and medford'. was a peace officer for a little while under johnny slaughter down in texas. had a few 'disputes' of a serious nature with a scoundrel or two in my time --hell , i've even shot a dumb tin-horn in a card game with too many aces up his sleeve --but i don't know what this pup's yappin about."

"oh you damn well know what i'm talkin about" , the kid retorted , "shot my paw, robbed him and leff'em for dead . he lived long enough to gimmeah description of you and that roan mare you was riding "

"you sure it was him kid?" the bartender asked , no longer certain which one of the two to believe.

after a slight pause and more thoughtful thaiff added ,"yeah, i'm sure...paw waddn't even close to being what he used to be no more-- from all his hard livin-- but his eyesight was clear , his mind was still sharp and i know for a fact he hadn't drunk nothin at all that day when i found him-- bleedin to death --the day he died he was sober as a judge-- well ,he was as sober as a judge is spoze ta be--anyway " ,answered the kid pointedly.

then as if from momentarily far away ,what must have been a long-aching grief bubbled forth , "he was the only family i had-- no maw-she died before i could remember .no brothers and sisters . no aunts an uncles . no cousins . now it's just me", the boy said quietly.

the unexpected dryness in the gambler's throat momentarily forced him to look downward at his scuffed shoes. the inside corners of the woman's eyes began to moisten as she remembered her estrangement from her own family that her 'career' had cost, while other normally tough faces there that day softened a bit , as none seemed quite able to know what to say that might bring some comfort for the boy .

"real sorry to hear that kid" , the bartender , at a loss, tried awkwardly to fill the silence that had seemed to make the room too small . his resolve to point the shotgun had begun to slowly wither towards the floor.

"ain't people in aprons spoze to curtsy 'fore speakin?" the kid rudely spat back-- his whiskey cauldron , again boiling hot.


returning his rage to its original target the kid went on ,"all the family i ever had in this world was my paw --an you took that away from me --mr. thaddeus greybeard

--- now i got nothin left. you miserable , cocksucking bastard --debt demands satisfaction ."



trying but failing to remain as evenhanded as possible , the accused man responded "boy i don't even know you . ain't never seen you ...you , or your skirt-wearin pappy -- but you'll sure enough meet him in hell --you keep pointin that hardware my way ."

the judge,insulted but unembarrassed by the boy's "sobriety" remark , and no longer willing to have his position overlooked , attempted again to intervene ,"exackly when and where this crime take place kid--any witnesses ? "

"bout a month an a half ago , back on our spread near oxbend , kansas --right by the 'calloradah' border--he shot my paw . --stole from him and burned our place."

his voice rising in volume and no longer with any evidence of a quiver --eyes no longer wildly crazed , but now more focussed and direct , the boy continued his attempts at provocation, " thaddeus bell --you have wronged me-- you mongrel's cur . and you have wronged my family . you took a life . now a life must be paid. you owe me."

your offense demands satisfaction of this debt--i am here to seek proper ree-dress of grievance ."

"i see my daddy's watch chain settin in your filthy pocket-- the chain to the watch that held the only picture of my dear maw-- the watch that held the picture my paw cried over at night--and it's in your pocket--you theiving scalleywag--the sight of you provokes me to no ends."

adroitly spinning his weapon back into his holster , yet at the same time oddly grinning amiably again , the kid with crouched legs, held his hands slightly extended from his sides and issued his final challenge.



"pull that ole 'wild bill' hog leg whennever you ready --mr. thaddeus deadman."

thaiff carson --cont.

"thaiff , this ain't your kansas cow town . we pride ourselves on law and order around here. we handle things legal and proper . lemme see that wanted poster , boy. " this time without a drink before him , 13th territorial circuit judge foley had managed to clear his throat and speak.

the kid pulled the folded wanted notice from his shirt pocket and tossed it on the bar . the judge putting on tiny spectacles , unfolded and examined the notice --carefully eyeing the drawing ,then looking across to the saloon table comparing against the living , breathing man , the flat lifeless version that the kid hoped the man to be .

from too many previous "legal" experiences ,the trembling girl and the frightened gambler, each showing empty hands to the kid , slowly stood up and cautiously removed themselves nearer to the piano--away from the possible lines of fire .


almost simultaneously -- unnoticed by the kid's eyes --eyes preoccupied by the motion of the gambler and the saloon girl's retreat --the barkeep silently had eased himself the short distance over to where his sawed-off shotgun was kept from sight --on the shelf beneath the bar . the bartender had with one hand and an almost undiscernable dip of his knees retrieved the weapon , holding it at the ready-- slightly below view .

after a studious moment of silence , the judge mumbled and then clearing his throat opined , " jeezus kid , there is quite a resemblance around the nose and eyes and they got the same forehead and close to the same chin , but i can see from here there ain't no little half-moon scar over this feller's left eye like the poster says. an he ain't tall enough --poster says carter hayes is a bigger man , closer ta six feet --closer ta 200 pounds than this man is. this feller here's too thin and too small-- ain't no more than five eight --five ten at the most--no taller than you .

besides boy, up in emerytown last week, i heered news that the pinkertons almost bagged ole hayes -- kilt two of his boys deader than doorknobs and pretty sure they wounded hayes --tryin to make off with the strongbox on the tylerville stage. it's plain this man ain't been shot recent. i'm pretty sure this man here ain't carter lee hayes and i can't authorize you takin him in , ta claim the ree-ward ."

the kid-- eyes fixed upon the watch chain man-- tightened his grip on the colt , clenched his jaw and replied tersely " -- don't need your 'authorization' -- drunk old man--you're likkered up --cain't see straight"

"you miserable little wretch, i'll authorize my foot to kick some respect up your raggedyass" ,the judge growled .


"do i see a fool pointin a gun ,or a gun pointin a fool ?" the watch chain man rhetorically asked.

"shut up , graybeard ! point is --all you gonna see is the pit of hell" ,responded the kid.


"this man's a wanted outlaw--that paper says so --i'm takin him in-- dead--if he still thinks he's a man-- or alive--if the sonnuva 2-penny-whore ain't got no fight left in him--either way i ain't leavin without him tied to a horse ."


"look kid" ,the judge straightened up to his full height , "this is a place of law , order and justice . as the representative of justice , i'm tellin you fer the last time --let it go--you got the wrong man--you can't just pin an outlaw's name on a man and then kill him for the ree-ward money--not even round this godawful place-- that dog don't hunt --that mule don't plow. now holster that weapon 'fore i have your raggedyass thrown in a cell."

" 'thrown in a cell?' --huuh! i don't see no sheriff...i don't see no deputy" --the kid sneered, " --oldtimer , that whiskey got you feelin stoked up enough to where you wanna try ?"

the instantly recognizable clicking sounds of both barrels of a sawed-off shotgun being primed to fire in his direction , froze the kid in his tracks .

"inside these four walls , kid i'm the sheriff , the deputy and old jupiter himself" ,interjected the bartender , "now holster that colt before these lightnin bolts cut your ass in two ."

"damm... i was bettin you kept that 'cannon' a little closer to the door ,barkeep " , angrily responded the kid .

"the best laid plans of mice and flies oftimes foul up and goes awry..." remarked bell , sardonically.

"you shut yer damm mouth" , demanded the kid .

"sometimes life's a crapshoot ,you win some --lose some --can't take it too serious ,kid ", philosophically offered the gambler .

"go-da-hell ,mister", the kid retorted .

"c'mon kid ,put that gun away an come on over here an talk to me ," soothed the saloon girl, " you said your name's thaiff ? you're gonna ruin the party , thaiff . why don't just you an me have a little drink together ? there's better ways to have some fun than ... "

"drink snake piss , whore--you speak when spoken to --and don't put my name in your filthy ,cocksucker mouth again ." the boy interrupted.

thwarted in his first murderous plan ,whiskey unleashing his rage , the drifter now seethed with anger .with his teeth clenched , fangs bared and froth churning up in the corners of his mouth he was no longer able to pretend . he had dropped the useless mask of amiability . with complete scorn for all present ,he then made his intent that day plain.

"you got a bent nail in the shoe of the left rear hoof of that roan mare you been riding--mr thaddeus wilson bell--

i know cause it leaves a distinctive mark--easy to follow .real easy to follow. one thing my paw taught me is horses. worked horses all my life .my earliest memories is being on a horse. i know about that horse uh-yorn cause i trailed you here all the way from kansas -after you shot an killed my paw --you murderin' sunnavabitch !"

'frontier justice' -cont.

'frontier justice' -cont.


"it means i'm about ta make my fortune", he replied coldly , drawing back the colt's hammer with his thumb --his gunhand moving towards the direction of the watch chain man and the engraved , ivory handled "wild bill" revolver.

" your honor", whiskey loosening his tongue, the kid began his explanation --his voice rising as if in imitation of an attorney making his final courtroom summation , "you see here before you sir , one carter lee hays --outlaw."

their jovial mood gone, the stunned judge , bartender , gambler and saloongirl --all listened --frozen in their skins . the watch chain man was unshaken , but stopped chewing and stared hard into the 'hayseed's' eyes .

"in my pocket , your honor , i present to the court one wanted poster --says there's a $500 ree-ward offered by wells fargo--this bird's wanted dead , or alive in the state-uh-kansas for robbery an murder . and i sure as hell aim to collect ."

"boy , my name's thaddeus wilson bell , you must be drunk--holster that pistol before you cause trouble where there wuhh-din't none. "

the older man , his irritation beginning to show , had tried to remain calm while speaking-- the extended part of his watch chain barely glittering from his shirt pocket .

already he was, from long years of habit--habits grown from having survived much wilder, tougher places --evaluating his options --estimating whether suddenly throwing the expertly crafted knife concealed in his boot , or up-ending the table as a diversion for pulling the engraved , ivory handled colt ,or some combination of the two would result in killing the kid quicker--if he had to.

at the same time , the decades of increasing weariness constantly tugging at his soul made him hope he wouldn't have to kill this fool kid--at this point in his life ,there was more than enough blood already on his hands --"blood of more dangerous men than this likkered-up shit-kicker ever could dream to be."

of course , there had been the useless carnage of the war between the states --horrific slaughter like the world had never seen before as modern weapons accurate to 200 yards were foolishly combined with outdated lock-step slow-marching tactics from the musket era of the napoleonic days when rifles were only one sixth as accurate .

shortly after the war--with nothing left anymore to keep him at home, he had gone west to the plains where there had only been more fighting . sometimes to the death with leather-tough killers like 'mad tom' beauford -- who at point blank range -- took 4 blasts to the left side of the chest from the ivory handled colt before dying back in 68'

and 'big' mickey leeds , having spurted out enough blood to drench them both in red before he finally died after having his throat cut as they struggled for the bowie knife on the hickory-wood floor of el paso's 'little angel' saloon.

then there was old curley boy lane who was still on his feet and shooting back with a .44 in one hand while holding in his own entrails with the other after a deliberately low shot from an old sharps .50 caliber rifle --scattered pieces of curley boy's genitals all over the prairie.

with no time to reload the single shot buffalo hunter's gun , the engraved ivory-handled colt dispatched old curley with two clean hits --splattering chunks of his wide forehead all over his buckskin shirt .

among the others, there was benny trumbil --the self proclaimed " best rifleman of the staked plains" , who had to be bludgeoned to death with a large rock after benny --from ambush had shot the horse out from under the man calling himself thaddeus wilson bell.

benny's pride in his skills with the long gun kept him from carrying a sidearm--a thing he bragged he never needed . luckily for bell ,trumbill's brand new springfield rifle --as that model would increasingly become known to do--misfired on the next shot --leaving the weapon hopelessly jammed.

with the ivory handled pistol gone from its holster during the horse's fall and bell's rifle pinned under the dead animal --it came down to a fight--man to man. in the battle that included two large skinning knives ,and a jammed springfield rifle held as a club-- the final outcome was eventually settled with a stone .

the years it took to for the faces of the lives he had ended --not to go away, but to at least finally call truce-- made thaddeus bell reluctant to draw bead upon another man again--especially someone as green --and as young-- as this 'hayseed kid' .

wanting to be both alive and able to sleep at night , bell hoped for a peaceful outcome . meanwhile his old habits also strongly urged him to attempt to gauge the depths of the boy's volatility .

momentarily holding back his more vicious and reactive impulses , the older man decided to briefly wait before making his move ,clearly endangered but still patient-- like a treed cougar sizing up an escape path through the crazed hounds before the hunter could arrive-- studying what he could sense of the boy's weakness--weaknesses besides of course , the 6 shots of whiskey the boy had drunk .

as much as his rage made him want to kill the gun-pointing fool --his reason also struggled within --struggled to hold bell's anger in check , in hopes the old judge and the others could persuade the kid to stand down .

'frontier justice' continued

the boy threw back his own drink in replication of the older man and then answered . "Well , the hell if i know !" the kid smirked , "maybe i was just yearning to see the world ."

the old man sucked his teeth in annoyance , the barkeep snorted and chuckled , the gambler shook his head exhaling sharply in disbelief. the watch chain man , his initial uneasiness dissipating ,shrugged dismissively at the "hayseed" , while the woman had to roll her eyes and smile at the fool-absurdity of the kid's reply.

the boy reached into his pocket retrieved a larger even heavier coin , amibly slapped it on the bar and requested , "barkeep give everybody a drink ."


while the proprietor poured ,the oldtimer seemed to have perked up at the sight , sound and aroma of 'refreshments' and now appeared wide awake .


"buyin all these drinks boy , you musta struck it rich -- not that i'm complainin' " ,probed the oldtimer.

"hell ,when it comes to a free whiskey his name might as well be priam " , snickered the gambler.

"pry-who?" asked the puzzled girl.

"priam , king of troy ? replied the paisley vest .

the saloongirl tilted her head slightly downwards looking directly at the gambler , widening her eyes as if asking for more .


"ulysses and the trojan horse ?" offered the gambler.


the girl shrugged.


"---old king priam didn't look no gift horse in the mouth --just like old foley here ain't NEVER gonna complain about a free drinka whiskey !" , jabbed the gambler in frustration.

"that's 'judge foley' to riff-raff like you... an better gimme my proper respects ,or i'll declare ya in contempt --fine ya for the meager contents of that piss poor moneybelt ah-yorn and then toss yore-ass in jail for vagrancy" , the oldman said gruffly to the gambler --then slightly turned his head and winked to the kid .

"yes your honor , my deepest most sincere apologies to your highly esteemed personage", snickered the gambler.

"so you really a judge ?" the kid asked , as the bartender returned to his station from the tables after distributing the kid's generosity among the grateful customers glasses .

.

"dammright i'ma judge", shot back the oldman. " boy , before you stands the honorable mac arthur t. foley acting 13th circuit court judge of the colorado territories--territories soon ta be the 38th glorious member in these united states " added the old man in part from patriotism and excitement at pending statehood , and also as if awaiting his deserved adulation as he partially raised himself from his usual slouch --standing almost a little taller than before .

"well hellsbells" the kid exclaimed his brow arched ,and then with his buckteeth grinning , "this muss be my lucky day" - a new plan beginning to solidify in his brain .

"bartender give this distinguished gentleman another whiskey --make it another double" , requested the kid , "and i'll have another m'self "

in less than a few moments an old satisfied "ahhhh" signaled the kid's latest donation of another coin for the saloonkeeper's apron --producing now a slight jingle when he walked to refill the circuit judge's fast emptying glass.

"boy you musta struck it rich some where " the old man insisted , his eyes visibly twinkling ,as again , he less-than-subtly probed .

"well sir" , grinned the kid coyly , "i ain't never seen no ocean , but you might can say my ship's about ta come in ."

"hell does zat mean ?" asked the oldman .

all eyes were curiously upon the kid as , still grinning warmly, he casually turned like a king of the barflies about to survey his kingdom .

the kid pretended as if to characteristically lean back --in a typical cowboy saloon relaxing pose and rest the heel of one boot on the bar's railing near the floor and prop his elbows upon the bar.

instead , slowly he tilted his hat far back on his head with one hand to distract attention while with the other hand rapidly pulling from its holster the fast-draw colt .

frontier justice cont.

from the saloon door ,the observant young drifter couldn't help but notice the watch chain man's holstered 1851 colt navy revolver .

a mainstay of both sides during the civil war , at only .36 caliber and more than 20 years old , it was the same ivory handled , silver finished , beautifully engraved weapon favored by the legendary wild bill hickok --who according to the stories , carried two of them in his belt-- butts facing forward --for his infamously deadly "cross-draw".

with the navy colt's 8 inch barrel and at 13 inches overall , the kid instantly knew his own more compact , more modern 1873 "peacemaker"--.45 caliber colt offered him a considerable speed and power advantage against the older man's weapon .

respectfully , the kid touched the brim of his hat with his extended index finger , and then tilted it outwards in deferrence towards the turned derby hat slouched next to him at the bar .

"name's thaiff carson from outta miz-zoor-ah , lemme buy you a drink oldtimer."

he presented a buck-toothed , but engaging smile cheerfully at the grizzled oldman while noticing the massive 14 inch le mat confederate calvary pistol strapped to his side .

at .41 caliber , with a nine shot cylinder and a smaller underbarrel for firing slugs or buckshot at close range , the oldtimer carried awesome firepower .

from thaiff's brief yet meticulous survey at the saloon door he had also spied the sharp's 'pepperbox' derringer carried by the gambler in his vest pocket and assumed the girl's garters probably held a smaller remington derringer or knife .

it was common knowledge that bar keeps preferred to stash a sawed off and a billy club behind the bar as well as sometimes keep a derringer or small pocket revolver on them to maintain order in their establishments .

the bartender puffed dust from a fresh glass as he brought it and a bottle over to the patrons .he measured out four shots of the establishment's best rot-gut for the two gentlemen's drinking pleasure . out of habit he carefully rubbed the drifter's coin in his hand and then held it up to the light inspecting for authenticity before dropping it into his apron pocket .

the old derby man dumped the liquor down , his throat making an audible "gulp" as he swallowed and then sighed a loud "ahhhhhhhhh" for punctuation.

"thanks for the drink boy, " said the grizzled old man ," my throat was a bit dry ."

the cheap whiskey seemed to animate the oldtimer . making him more sociable , enlivening his sense of humor , "you a long way from home . what brings you out from the land of 'miz-zoor-ah' and into this neck of the devil's outhouse" ?