Bluffer's luck

Fog and rain, with the spluttering arclights shining like moons out of the drizzle and a mist; the rattle of wheels on cobbles, soughing of fog horns down on San Francisco Bay;...

“Just like I said,” he declared plaintively, “nothin’ ever happens in Lobo Wells. Punch cows twenty-nine days in the month for enough to have a few drinks and try to make two da...

The trip from San Francisco to Lobo Wells had seemed interminably long to Nan Whitlock, but her nerve almost failed her when she heard the brakeman calling: “Lo-o-o-bo Wells, ne...

Len Ayres went across the street to the Oasis Saloon from where he watched Amos Baggs take Nan to the hotel. When the lawyer went back to his office, Len crossed the street and...

“Nossir! Not now nor never! Why, listen, Len--aw, that’s onreasonable. No danged female could run a cow ranch. I tell yuh, I won’t stand for it. Me and Sailor has talked it over...

That night Charley Prentice got as drunk as the proverbial boiled owl. For several years Prentice had totally abstained from all liquor, but this night he drank himself blind dr...

Nan’s first week at the Box S was so interesting that she forgot to be lonesome. Len found a gentle horse for her to ride, and bought her a pair of overalls, shirt and wide hat...

Manzanita County was not heavily populated, nor were there many towns, which possibly accounted for the fact that Lobo Wells was the county seat. Lobo Wells was really the head...

By this time Nan had become accustomed to the saddle, and was really enjoying the riding. Len had never had much to say to her about himself or his past, and most of his convers...

One “Hashknife” Hartley, newcomer, sitting on the wooden sidewalk in front of the Lobo Wells Hotel, lazily turned his head and looked at little Larry Ayres, half hidden by a hug...

As quick as a flash Hashknife swung his billiard cue in a short arc, struck Prentice’s right wrist a sharp blow, knocking the gun out of his hand. But the force of the blow also...

The next few days were quiet ones in Lobo Wells. Hashknife and Sleepy met Silver Jim Prescott of the JP ranch, but he had no jobs open. It was the same with Oscar Knight, the li...

The three cowboys rode to Lobo Wells, where Len made his few purchases, while Hashknife and Sleepy stabled their horses, and they met again at the Oasis. Johnny Harris and Archi...

Lobo Wells was just a little shocked over the killing of Charley Prentice. They did not call it murder, although it was obvious that Prentice had been murdered. Tongues did not...

The inquest frightened little Larry. He didn’t know what it was all about, but he managed to tell the same story he had told Hashknife and Breezy. Minnie’s story was the same. T...

The following morning Sailor Jones came to Lobo Wells after the mail. It was seldom that Sailor took a drink, but when he did, he hated to stop. Such was the case this morning....

It was from Horace Baker, elderly clerk of the court, that Hashknife learned some of the facts about Len Ayres’s trial. Baker had been clerk of the court for ten years, being el...

A short time after Hashknife had been ordered from Baggs’s office and had talked with the sheriff, he ran across Johnny Harris of the JP outfit, who imparted the information tha...

Sleepy and Breezy were playing pool at the Oasis, when the proprietor of the livery-stable came in. He wended his way to Sleepy and informed him that Hashknife’s gray horse had...

Nan’s ankle was pretty sore the next morning, but she insisted on dressing, and Len carried her out to breakfast. Sailor had already eaten his breakfast, and was down at the sta...

Hashknife, with seven stitches in his scalp, and bandaged like a turbaned Moslem, was around town, minus his hat. Questions came thick and fast, but he told everybody that it wa...

Sunday was not a busy day in Lobo Wells. Hashknife and Sleepy were at the livery stable, taking care of their own horses, while the stable-keeper was looking after the rest of t...

Hashknife picked up Sleepy at the livery stable, and they rode out to the Box S. Sleepy didn’t know what it was all about, but he went willingly. They found Len and Larry on the...

“Well, I ain’t goin’ to git off. Harmony Singer told me that this was my home, didn’t he? No danged weasel-faced lawyer is goin’ to hoodle me out of my home. My work is sat’sfac...

“That’s a sweet job to give anybody! Whatsa matter with yuh, Ben? Them two old jiggers wouldn’t hurt anybody. I suppose old Baggs asked yuh to detail me to dry-nurse ’em, eh?”

Things were not going so smoothly at the Oasis. Sailor Jones had arrived at the point where he was becoming unmanageable. He stood alone at the end of the bar and dared anybody...