Joe whirled quickly. Kelsey had half-drawn his gun. It was a foolish move on Kelsey’s part; he should have covered Joe, if he wanted to hold him badly enough to resort to a gun-play. Joe did not hesitate. His right hand jerked upward and he fired from his waist.
Kelsey’s gun was out of the holster, but his hand flipped open and the gun fell to the sidewalk. He staggered backward, clutching his right forearm, while Joe swung into his saddle and rode swiftly out of town, heading south.
The revolver shot attracted plenty of attention, and it also served to sober the Heavenly Triplets. Kelsey swore bitterly as he clawed away his shirt sleeve. The heavy bullet had ploughed its way through the muscles of his forearm, but did not touch the bone. The shock of it had caused Kelsey’s hand to jerk open, releasing his gun.
Folks were crowding in from every direction, trying to find out what it was all about.
“You better pack that arm to the doctor,” advised Lonnie.
Kelsey nodded and bit off more profanity. Ed Merrick came through the crowd and quickly got the story of what happened.
“Go and get it dressed, Kelsey,” he said, after examining the wound. “No bones broke. Is Jack at the office?”
“Here,” said Ralston, shoving his way through.
“Better get on Joe’s trail, Jack,” said Merrick quickly. “He—you don’t need a warrant. Bring him back!”
Ralston ran down the street, while the crowd demanded that Merrick tell them what it was all about. But Merrick merely shut his lips and went to the court-house, followed by Angus McLaren who was as much at sea as any of the crowd.