E-text prepared by Kevin Handy, Dave Maddock, Josephine Paolucci, and the
Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
And Other Stories
By REX BEACH
"Rainbow's End," "Heart of the Sunset," "The Spoilers," Etc.
1917
[Illustration: "LIKE ME?" HE ASKED. PONATAH TURNED AWAY BLINDLY]
Mr. William Hyde was discharged from Deer Lodge Penitentiary a changedman. That was quite in line with the accepted theory of criminaljurisprudence, the warden's discipline, and the chaplain's prayers.Yes, Mr. Hyde was changed, and the change had bitten deep; hishumorous contempt for the law had turned to abiding hatred; hissunburned cheeks were pallid, his lungs were weak, and he coughedconsiderably. Balanced against these results, to be sure, were thebenefits accruing from three years of corrective discipline at theState's expense; the knack of conversing through stone walls, whichMr. Hyde had mastered, and the plaiting of wonderful horsehairbridles, which he had learned. Otherwise he was the same "LaughingBill" his friends had known, neither more nor less regenerate.
Since the name of Montana promised to associate itself with unpleasantmemories, Mr. Hyde determined at once to bury his past and begin lifeanew in a climate more suited to weak lungs. To that end he stuck up apeaceful citizen of Butte who was hurrying homeward with an armful ofbundles, and in the warm dusk of a pleasant evening relieved himof eighty-three dollars, a Swiss watch with an elk's-tooth fob, apearl-handled penknife, a key-ring, and a bottle of digestive tablets.
Three wasted years of industry had not robbed Mr. Hyde of thetechnique of his trade, hence there was nothing amateurish oruproarious about the procedure. He merely back-heeled the pedestrianagainst a bill-board, held him erect and speechless by placing hisleft hand upon his victim's shoulder and pressing his left forearmfirmly across the gentleman's apple, the while with his own dexterousright mit he placed the eighty-three dollars in circulation. Duringthe transaction he laughed constantly. An hour later he was en routefor the sunny South, there being good and sufficient reasons why hepreferred that direction to any other.
Arizona helped Mr. Hyde's lungs, for the random town which he selectedwas high and dry, but, unfortunately, so was Laughing Bill soon afterhis arrival, and in consequence he was forced to engage promptly ina new business enterprise. This time he raised a pay-roll. It was aneasy task, for the custodian of the pay-roll was a small man with akindly and unsuspicious nature. As a result of this operation Bill wasenabled to maintain himself, for some six weeks, in a luxury to whichof late he had been unaccustomed. At the end of this time the originalbearer of the payroll tottered forth from the hospital and, chancingto overhear Mr. Hyde in altercation with a faro dealer, he was struckby some haunting note in the former's laughter, and lost no time inshuffling his painful way to the sheriff's office.
Seeing the man go, Laughing Bill realized that his health againdemanded a change of climate, and since it lacked nearly an hour oftrain time he was forced to leave on horseback. Luckily for him hefound a horse convenient. It was a wild horse, with nothing whateverto indicate that it belonged to any one, except the fact that itcarried a silver-mounted saddle and bridle, the reins of which werefastened to a post in front of a saloon.
Mr. Hyde enjoyed the rid