The doctor sighed. "His son. Wasn't really a bad sort. His father was the bad one. I'm glad his mother's gone. He's in the bar, but there's five of them. You can't go alone, son!"
The man brought the shotgun he was carrying up across his arm. "I can handle it!" he remarked. "Boy!" he snapped, "Are there ladies in the bar that cater to the men?"
"Yes sir!" Toby answered.
"Know any of them?" the man asked. "Would you have any reason to go in and speak to one?"
"Yes sir!" Toby answered. "I speak to Miss Sarah all the time. She often rents a buckboard, goes out hunting, shares the deer or elk with my mother and me."
"Good!" the man snapped. "I want you to go into the bar, tell her to go up to Mr. Copeland and put her hand on his shoulder, stay a few minutes then walk away. If there's any women with him, to get them away from him. Think you could do that?"
"Yes sir!" Toby answered.
"Get goin' boy!" the doctor snapped. "I'm all done. I'd better stay around to patch up those I can."
Toby headed for the bar with the man following him. He noticed he was lame, wearing a brace, so he slowed down a little bit. He got to the bar and the man went to the window. Toby went in and spoke to Sarah. She looked at him strangely, then nodded. Without hesitation she crossed the bar and came up to a big man sitting at the table with several others, and put her hand on his shoulder, bent down and whispered something to him. He smiled and nodded. As she turned to leave she took the hand of the girl that was sitting at the table with the men and led her away. Toby went back outside. The man had taken off his hat and his trail coat. Toby saw the marshall's badge on his inner jacket. The man reached down, unhooked something on his brace and pulled it out, laying it on his jacket. He then snapped the shotgun into the brace, went over to the salloon door and walked in. Toby quickly went to the window to watch.
The man came to the center of the bar where he had a clear view of the men at the table. "Copeland!" he snapped, "U.S. Marshall! You're under arrest!" Copeland looked up. "For what?" he asked.
"Theft of the U.S. mail," the Marshall answered, "the murder of mail carriers. I believe Wells Fargo also has some grievances with you. Stand and deliver, your pistols or your lives!"
All of the men around Copeland reached for their pistols. In a flash the shotgun came up and fired. Four of them went down. The Marshall's pistol came out and fired twice. Copeland and the remaining man went down. Toby heard the doctor mutter "Jesus Christ!" and turned to see him beside him. He hurried inside.
The Marshall broke the shotgun, let it cool for a few moments, reloaded it, and put it back in its brace then took a notebook from the inside of his jacket and began to write. When he was done he motioned to Miss Sarah. "Would you witness this, ma'am?" he asked, "Verify it as a true statement as to what happened?"
Miss Sarah came over, read what the Marshall had written, then signed it. The Marshall asked two of the men to sign it.
"I'm taking their weapons," the Marshall remarked. "The rest of their gear can be divided up among whoever wants it, except for the gray mare in the livery and the brown one I brought in. They go to the boy here. He can rent them out. All the profits are his. Any objections?"
Mr. Wells, the livery owner, came up. "None at all, Marshall!" he snapped. "I'll see to it that the boy is well compensated for the use of the animals. There's always someone coming through that needs a horse for a few days. Most gracious of you!"
The Marshall nodded. The bar owner came up. "It's rather late, Marshall," he remarked, "if you'd like to spend the night the room is on me!"
"Like to," the Marshall answered, "but I'm on another mission. This distracted me. I've got to make a little time to get where I have to be. I'm going to borrow the mare to give my horse a rest. I'll have Wells Fargo bring it back." He took a twenty dollar gold piece from his pocket and gave it to Toby, then went outside. Several people watched as he put his trail gear back on, put his saddle on the mare, and rode out.
"Who in the hell was that?" one of the townspeople asked.
"There's only one person that could be!" the doctor answered, "there's only one man in Texas that's hell like that! That there's William Walker!"
"Glory be to God!" the man remarked. "Hope he doesn't come around here again!"
"I don't know," the doctor answered, "he just got rid of a problem a lot of people around here wanted to be rid of and didn't take too much time doing it!'
Toby nodded. Many times he told the story of that night to his children as the years passed, the night a legend had come to town. It was a story they wanted hear over and over again.

 

 

 

 

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