BOOKS BY WILLIAM MACLEOD RAINE Published By HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
THE SHERIFF'S SON. Illustrated. THE YUKON TRAIL. Illustrated. STEVE YEAGER. Illustrated. A MAN FOUR-SQUARE. With colored frontispiece. OH, YOU TEX!
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OH, YOU TEX!
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[Illustration: TEXAS]
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OH, YOU TEX!
By WILLIAM MACLEOD RAINE
Author of "A Man Four-Square," "The Sheriff's Son," "The Yukon Trail," Etc.
Boston and New York HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge 1920
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COPYRIGHT, 1919, by THE STORY-PRESS CORPORATION COPYRIGHT, 1920, by WILLIAM MACLEOD RAINE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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TO SAM F. DUNN OF AMARILLO, TEXAS INSPECTOR OF CATTLE IN THE DAYS OF THE LONGHORN DRIVES TO WHOSE EXPERIENCE AND GENEROUS CRITICISM I AM INDEBTED FOR AID IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS BOOK
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CONTENTS
I. THE LINE-RIDER 3 II. "I'LL BE SEVENTEEN, COMING GRASS" 12 III. TEX TAKES AN INTEREST 18 IV. TEX GRANDSTANDS 26 V. CAPTAIN ELLISON HIRES A HAND 38 VI. CLINT WADLEY'S MESSENGER 44 VII. THE DANCE 54 VIII. RUTHERFORD MAKES A MISTAKE 62 IX. MURDER IN THE CHAPARRAL 69 X. "A DAMNED POOR APOLOGY FOR A MAN" 75 XI. ONE TO FOUR 79 XII. TEX REARRANGES THE SEATING 89 XIII. "ONLY ONE MOB, AIN'T THERE?" 99 XIV. JACK SERVES NOTICE 108 XV. A CLOSE SHAVE 113 XVI. WADLEY GOES HOME IN A BUCKBOARD 122 XVII. OLD-TIMERS 132 XVIII. A SHOT OUT OF THE NIGHT 138 XIX. TRAPPED 146 XX. KIOWAS ON THE WARPATH 155 XXI. TEX TAKES A LONG WALK 166 XXII. THE TEST 174 XXIII. A SHY YOUNG MAN DINES 179 XXIV. TEX BORROWS A BLACKSNAKE 184 XXV. "THEY'RE RUNNIN' ME OUTA TOWN" 191 XXVI. FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 199 XXVII. CLINT FREES HIS MIND 203 XXVIII. ON A COLD TRAIL 211 XXIX. BURNT BRANDS 219 XXX. ROGUES DISAGREE 226 XXXI. A PAIR OF DEUCES 237 XXXII. THE HOLD-UP 245 XXXIII. THE MAN WITH THE YELLOW STREAK 251 XXXIV. RAMONA GOES DUCK-HUNTING 258 XXXV. THE DESERT 266 XXXVI. HOMER DINSMORE ESCORTS RAMONA 272 XXXVII. ON A HOT TRAIL 279 XXXVIII. DINSMORE TO THE RESCUE 287 XXXIX. A CRY OUT OF THE NIGHT 292 XL. GURLEY'S GET-AWAY 296 XLI. HOMING HEARTS 302 XLII. A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION 310 XLIII. TEX RESIGNS 319 XLIV. DINSMORE GIVES INFORMATION 328 XLV. RAMONA DESERTS HER FATHER 332 XLVI. LOOSE THREADS 338
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: Oh, You Tex! by William MacLeod Raine
- 2: CHAPTER ITHE LINE RIDER Day was breaking in the Panhandle
- 3: Picking up drift cattle as he rode
- 4: The easy deduction was that he was a rustler
- 5: If the line rider was dismayed or even surprised
- 6: Jack had never before seen Ramona Wadley
- 7: But Wadley did not release Ramona
- 8: How long have you been riding for Wadley
- 9: But the other was the better boxer
- 10: CHAPTER IVTEX GRANDSTANDS Clint Wadley
- 11: I'll meet you at Tascosa two weeks from to day
- 12: Explained Ramona to her companion
- 13: Above it rose an occasional sharp Yip yip
- 14: With a pang of pain Ramona remembered Arthur Ridley
- 15: Dragging at his goatee fiercely
- 16: You'll have to speak to Wadley about that
- 17: No more than Rutherford Wadley
- 18: Are you Clint Wadley's messenger
- 19: And appeal to Major Ponsford for help
- 20: Presently Arthur Ridley grew drowsy
- 21: I don't reckon he's carryin' any money for Clint
- 22: Young Wadley swung to the ground
- 23: Alviro was master of ceremonies
- 24: Tony will never be a doormat to anybody
- 25: It stopped when Wadley stopped
- 26: By the time Wadley reached the rough country of the cap rock
- 27: They would probably have to divide with young Wadley now
- 28: This time between Pete Dinsmore and Gurley
- 29: The footprints here were sharp and distinct
- 30: But he did not know why Ford Wadley had been shot
- 31: Clint Wadley in anger was dangerous
- 32: And sauntered into the tendejon
- 33: The Ranger recognized him at once as Tony Alviro
- 34: The tone of Alviro was more than skeptical
- 35: There was just time to catch the stage to Tascosa
- 36: What's the kid going to Tascosa for
- 37: Came the cattle drover with orders
- 38: Another violent swing flung Ramona outward
- 39: Ramona put off her request to the last moment
- 40: Where am I most likely to find Wadley
- 41: In his heart Wadley was not sure he had not been worse
- 42: The face of the cattleman twitched
- 43: Gurley added a word of explanation
- 44: Soon the affairs of Tony Alviro would reach a crisis
- 45: In that smile was life for Alviro
- 46: Edged toward Wadley and his group
- 47: Caught Ramona round the shoulders with one arm
- 48: Or the Dinsmore gang would get them
- 49: Dinsmore sulkily watched Wadley approach
- 50: Asked the white faced stableboy
- 51: Hawss rustler harness a team to that buckboard
- 52: Ridley helped Jumbo carry the cattleman into the house
- 53: My boys are the best shots in Texas
- 54: Beats all how crazy Jim is about those Ranger boys of his
- 55: There was really no occasion for Ramona to linger
- 56: Jack glanced humorously at Wadley
- 57: It will pass very close to Mobeetie
- 58: He returned to Tascosa and made his preparations
- 59: He fell into a bush of catclaw cactus
- 60: The Ranger swung to the saddle
- 61: Was this time at hand for the Panhandle
- 62: It seemed to Ridley that his heart was pumping water
- 63: Already the Kiowas were halfway across the river
- 64: The Kiowas broke under the deadly fire
- 65: Keep yore nerve an' lie low if you hear 'em comin'
- 66: The swift current carried the swimmer downstream rapidly
- 67: Their bodies so close that the Kiowa could not use his rifle
- 68: Beaten by the owner of the Bird Cage
- 69: Ridley posted himself behind a cottonwood
- 70: Across the river came in answer the Yip yip
- 71: Much more so than young Ridley
- 72: You mean that he didn't say he wanted to leave Dinsmore
- 73: Of course Wadley is all broke up about it
- 74: Do you want me to arrest Gurley
- 75: They've got business with Clint Wadley
- 76: Then Overstreet made his choice
- 77: Overstreet could do as he pleased
- 78: Overstreet rose and glared at him
- 79: Buttermilk Brown is a sure enough dentist
- 80: Returned to Shelbyville and married the belle of the town
- 81: Wadley did not ask him to sit down
- 82: Wadley exploded in a sudden fury of passion
- 83: That was what he beat Gurley up for
- 84: I'll take Ridley if you don't mind
- 85: Why do Indians make the best trailers
- 86: Looks kinda like Nature made the desert an' grinned at life
- 87: Ridley lay awake for hours beneath a million stars
- 88: He made the most of the cactus
- 89: Afterward he could return alone and watch the rustlers
- 90: Gurley seemed fairly to ooze malice
- 91: Pete Dinsmore murmured it suavely
- 92: Homer Dinsmore and Overstreet in the rear
- 93: Why does this fellow Ridley claim he's alone
- 94: Pete Dinsmore whirled on Gurley angrily
- 95: Captain Ellison hasn't any proposition to make
- 96: Ridley voiced a doubt in his heart
- 97: And the Dinsmores still operated in the land
- 98: For Tascosa was going to celebrate by starting a school
- 99: The yellow streak in Gurley was to the fore all day
- 100: Overstreet smiled faintly up at him
- 101: Quint Sullivan is going with me
- 102: And Quint very innocently answered the question in her mind
- 103: She saw the boy reach the nearest bronco
- 104: Ramona came to a cleft in the huge boulder
- 105: Ramona knew that the least slip
- 106: The bad ankle complained continuously
- 107: CHAPTER XXXVIHOMER DINSMORE ESCORTS RAMONA I'm lost
- 108: Gurley dropped his sneer instantly
- 109: 'Mona touched Dinsmore on the sleeve
- 110: Didn't he save Clint Wadley's life
- 111: Guadaloupe was ready with his report
- 112: Jack was riding on the other side of Wadley
- 113: He'll do what Quint here did run to save his own hide
- 114: Dinsmore swung round his horse and galloped back
- 115: Lay the great earth rift that made Palo Duro
- 116: Some one was still holding the Apaches at bay
- 117: This Dinsmore had set Gurley to watch
- 118: An hour later Dinsmore called to 'Mona
- 119: He crept forward to the last boulder
- 120: Dinsmore flashed a quick look toward Ramona and back at Jack
- 121: There Clint Wadley found her five minutes later
- 122: He thought he knew what Wadley was driving toward
- 123: Dinsmore stopped an' swung her up behind him
- 124: The Ranger was with him when they drew up beside Ramona
- 125: Four men in the Dinsmore outfit
- 126: The eyes of the Ranger softened
- 127: Yorky had been unanimously chosen jailer
- 128: Yorky scratched his bewildered head
- 129: But Wadley was right when he said it wasn't human
- 130: Seated on the porch between Clint Wadley and Ramona
- 131: Captain Ellison came down the walk
- 132: He was returning from the hotel with Wadley
- 133: The Panhandle cattleman gave a whoop