Gunsmith #361 : The Letter of the Law (9781101553657) Read Free

strong enough.”
    â€œThat’s right. You like that really strong trail goop that you make.”
    â€œI make good coffee.”
    â€œYeah,” Dixon said, “if you want to get the paint off a building.”
    â€œShut up and eat your steak.”
    Â 
    Over the meal they caught up with each other. Dixon, while younger than Clint, had become weary of the life of a scout, a life in the saddle, which was why he’d decided to become a rancher, and then a postmaster.
    â€œDid you say you were at the hotel?” Dixon asked.
    â€œYes, the Stetson.”
    â€œWhy don’t you come back to the ranch with me and stay there? It’ll save you some money.”
    â€œHave you got a wife?”
    â€œWhat? A wife? No, no wife. Just me and some ranch hands.”
    â€œIn the morning you’ll have to come back here to the post office, right?”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œWell, no offense, but I think I’d rather be in town so I can find something to do.”
    â€œYeah,” Dixon said, “I can see where you’d want that. You gonna stay long?”
    â€œI’ve ridden a long way, so I thought I’d let my horse rest a few days.”
    â€œGood,” Dixon said. “We still have time to catch up.”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œMaybe play some poker.”
    â€œYou got a game going?”
    â€œNothing regular, but I’m sure there are games in the saloons.”
    â€œHow many saloons?”
    â€œThree that have gaming,” Dixon said, “a couple just for drinkin’. A whorehouse, too, but you still don’t use those, do you?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œNever understood that myself, but then you’ve never had a shortage of women, have you?”
    â€œI guess not,” Clint said.
    â€œHow’s that work?”
    Clint shrugged. “Women like me.”
    â€œThat’s obvious,” Dixon said. “They don’t like me much.”
    â€œWhy do you think that is?”
    â€œI don’t know how to talk to them,” Dixon said. “Even when a woman comes into the post office, I get nervous. So whores are good enough for me. You don’t have to talk to them.”
    â€œI suppose that’d be a plus in your situation,” Clint said.
    â€œHow is it you know what to say to ’em?” Dixon asked.
    Clint shrugged and answered, “I just say what comes into my head.”
    â€œAnd it’s the right thing?”
    â€œUsually.”
    â€œYou’re lucky, then.”
    Clint decided to change the subject from women.
    â€œI dropped in on your sheriff.”
    â€œGarver?” Dixon said with a look of distaste. “He’s not much of a lawman. In fact, I think he’s downright crooked.”
    â€œCan you prove it?”
    â€œI don’t want to,” Dixon said. “It’s not my job.”
    â€œYou can live in a town where you know the law is crooked?”
    â€œLong as I don’t have to deal with him,” Dixon said. “Look, I stay at my ranch, or I stay in the post office. I don’t go lookin’ for trouble.”
    â€œI suppose I can understand that,” Clint said. “You’ve had your share over the years.”
    â€œAnd most of the time I went lookin’ for it,” Dixon said. “Like scoutin’ for the Army. That’s just always lookin’ for trouble.”
    â€œAnd hunting buffalo?”
    â€œNow that was the life,” Dixon said. “As long as you weren’t greedy and left enough for the Indians, but men like you, me, and Bat Masterson were the only ones who wasn’t greedy. And now the buffalo are gone.”
    â€œI know,” Clint said, shaking his head, “it’s a damn shame.”
    Dixon nodded his agreement, and they ordered pie.

FIVE
    They left the café, and Dixon took Clint to one of the saloons that didn’t have gaming. They wanted a quiet place to have a beer and continue