DEDICATED TO
EVERETT E. HARASZTHY
Contents
| [ARIZONA] | |
| I. | [SUNDOWN IN ANTELOPE] |
| II. | [THE JOKE] |
| III. | [THIRTY MILES TO THE CONCHO] |
| IV. | [PIE; AND SEPTEMBER MORN] |
| V. | [ON THE CAÑON TRAIL] |
| VI. | [THE BROTHERS] |
| VII. | [FADEAWAY'S HAND] |
| VIII. | [AT "THE LAST CHANCE"] |
| IX. | [SUNDOWN'S FRIEND] |
| X. | [THE STORM] |
| XI. | [CHANCE—CONQUEROR] |
| XII. | [A GIFT] |
| XIII. | [SUNDOWN, VAQUERO] |
| XIV. | [ON THE TRAIL TO THE BLUE] |
| XV. | [THEY KILLED THE BOSS!] |
| XVI. | [SUNDOWN ADVENTURES] |
| XVII. | [THE STRANGER] |
| XVIII. | [THE SHERIFF—AND OTHERS] |
| XIX. | [THE ESCAPE] |
| XX. | [THE WALKING MAN] |
| XXI. | [ON THE MESA] |
| XXII. | [WAIT!] |
| XXIII. | [THE PEACEMAKER] |
| XXIV. | [AN UNEXPECTED VISIT] |
| XXV. | [VAMOSE, EH?] |
| XXVI. | [THE INVADERS] |
| XXVII. | ["JUST ME AND HER"] |
| XXVIII. | [IMPROVEMENTS] |
| XXIX. | [A MAN'S COUNTRY] |
List of Illustrations
[ "You!" she exclaimed. "You!" … Frontispiece ]
[ "God A'mighty, sech things is wrong." ]
Arizona
Across the wide, sun-swept mesas the steel trail of the railroad runs east and west, diminishing at either end to a shimmering blur of silver. South of the railroad these level immensities, rich in their season with ripe bunch-grass and grama-grass roll up to the barrier of the far blue hills of spruce and pine. The red, ragged shoulders of buttes blot the sky-line here and there; wind-worn and grotesque silhouettes of gigantic fortifications, castles and villages wrought by some volcanic Cyclops who grew tired of his labors, abandoning his unfinished task to the weird ravages of wind and weather.
In the southern hills the swart Apache hunts along historic trails o'er which red cavalcades once swept to the plundering of Sonora's herds. His sires and their flashing pintos have vanished to other hunting-grounds, and he rides the boundaries of his scant heritage, wrapped in sullen imaginings.