, but holding closely
to the trail.

The man lounged in the saddle, his strong, well-knit body swaying
gracefully, his eyes, shaded by the brim of his hat, narrowed with
slight mockery and interest as he gazed steadily at the town that lay
before him.

"I reckon that must be Dry Bottom," he said finally, mentally taking in
its dimensions. "If that's so, I've only got twenty miles to go."

Half way down the slope, and still a mile and a half from the town, the
rider drew the pony to a halt. He dropped the reins over the high
pommel of the saddle, drew out his two guns, one after the other,
rolled the cylinders, and returned the guns to their holsters. He had
heard something of Dry Bottom's reputation and in examining his pistols
he was merely preparing himself for an emergency. For a moment after
he had replaced the weapons he sat quietly in the saddle. Then he
shook out the reins, spoke to the pony, and the little animal set
forward at a slow lope.

An ironic traveler, passing through Dry Bottom in its younger days,
before civic spirit had definitely centered its efforts upon things
nomenclatural, had hinted that the town should be known as "dry"
because of the fact that while it boasted seven buildings, four were
saloons; and that "bottom" might well be used as a suffix, because, in
the nature of things, a town of seven buildings, four of which were
saloons, might reasonably expect to descend to the very depths of moral
iniquity.

The ironic traveler had spoken with prophetic wisdom. Dry Bottom was
trying as best it knew how to wallow in the depths of sin. Unlovely,
soiled, desolate of verdure, dumped down upon a flat of sand in a
treeless waste, amid cactus, crabbed yucca, scorpions, horned toads,
and rattlesnakes. Dry Bottom had forgotten its morals, subverted its
principles, and neglected its God.

As the rider approached to within a few hundred yards of the edge of
town he became aware of a sudden commotion. He reined in his pony,
allowing it to advance at a walk, while with alert eyes he endeavored
to search out the cause of the excitement. He did not have long to
watch for the explanation.

A man had stepped out of the door of one of the saloons, slowly walking
twenty feet away from it toward the center of the street. Immediately
other men had followed. But these came only to a point just outside
the door. For some reason which was not apparent to the rider, they
were giving the first man p