The Floating Outfit 53: Master of Triggernometry (A Floating Outfit Western), page 20
Flashing across on the first movement of Keleney’s mouth, as he had deduced what order would be given, Dusty’s hands scooped the Colts from their carefully designed holsters. Such was his completely ambidextrous prowess that, in just over half a second from the commencement of the draw, the four and three-quarter inch barrels had swung outwards at waist level and the weapons roared in unison. The guns of neither Shatterhouse nor Broody had cleared leather and were given no chance to do so. At almost the same instant as the former took a bullet in the throat from the small Texan’s left hand revolver, the latter was hit between the eyes.
Shocked by the display of devastating speed, Keleney hesitated!
It was a fatal error!
Turning as if their muzzles were attracted by a magnetic force, Dusty’s matched brace of Colts—their hammers having been cocked on the recoil—roared again. Caught in the chest by both bullets, the town boss was thrown backwards between the collapsing bodies of Shatterhouse and Broody. He joined them in crashing lifeless on to the floor.
Taken completely unawares by the way in which the affair had developed, none of the town boss’s adherents were capable of responding with their usual alacrity. Not until they saw Keleney, Shatterhouse and Broody going down did any of them offer to rectify the situation.
Starting to bring out his revolver, one of the men on the balcony was prevented by a bullet in the head from the Winchester in the hands of Betty Hardin. [xxvii] Having been positioned by Williams to cope with such a contingency, Walter ‘Trader’ Staines produced the sawed off shotgun he had concealed beneath his jacket and felled a second hard case with a blow to the head from its barrels. Having done so, he swung the weapon ready to quell any further opposition in his immediate vicinity.
Discarding the first aid box in which the weapons had been hidden, the elderly postmaster and Bollinger each put the Colt 1860 Army revolver he was grasping to action.
Showing he still possessed much of the skill acquired while serving with the Texas Light Cavalry, the blacksmith raised his revolver in both hands. Sighting swiftly and firing, he made Bernie his mark. The .44 caliber round soft lead ball was driven into the stomach of the bartender, twirling him from the counter. Although his shotgun bellowed as he went, its potentially lethal charge passed harmlessly over the heads of the crowd and nowhere near the target for which it had been intended.
Knowing something of Duffy’s ambitions, Williams had kept him under surveillance. Discovering his misgivings were correct, the postmaster experienced a well justified sense of satisfaction as he directed a bullet which—by accident rather than design—broke the right elbow of his treacherous assistant and removed the threat to his life.
‘The name’s Dusty Fog!’ announced the small Texan, in the silence which descended after the thunder of shots had come to an end. ‘I’ve killed Bull Keleney and I’m ready to face anybody who wants to take it up for him!’
There was no reply!
Studying the deliverer of the challenge, who had ceased to appear small in stature and insignificant, nobody doubted he was the famous man he had claimed to be. Nor did anybody consider he would be unwilling, or unable, to back his play if his bet should be called.
Standing with the smoke still rising lazily from the barrels of the cocked Colts in his hands, Dusty threw a glance around. Various members of the population, including some who would have been at least tacit supporters of Keleney under different circumstances, were covering and ensuring there would be no further intervention by the surviving members of the saloon’s staff. At the front doors, Betty Hardin was still cradling the Winchester at her shoulder and, aided by Staines, was keeping the hard-cases on the balcony under control. In the ring, tucking the Army Colt into his waistband, Bollinger was crossing to where his wife stood over her unconscious opponent, using the ropes to keep her on her feet. Williams did not follow, but was conducting a survey similar to that of the small Texan.
‘Looks like we’ve got our town back, Cap’n Fog,’ the elderly postmaster asserted, gazing over the ropes at the conclusion of his scrutiny, being satisfied there would be no further hostility.
‘That’s how it is, Sam,’ Dusty agreed. ‘You’ll be needing a new schoolteacher, though. Cousin Betty and I have to be getting back to the OD Connected now it’s over.’
‘We’ll be right sorry to see you go, grown-ups and kids alike,’ Williams declared. ‘And finding somebody’ them young cusses’ll get on so well with won’t be easy.’
‘Why won’t it?’ Dusty objected. ‘Hell, Sam, I’m not a schoolteacher.’
‘Maybe not,’ Williams answered, then glanced at the three lifeless bodies sprawled in front of the small Texan. ‘But there’s nobody’s can say right truthful’s you aren’t a master of “triggemometry”.’
About the Author
J. T. Edson was a former British Army dog-handler who wrote more than 130 Western novels, accounting for some 27 million sales in paperback. Edson’s works - produced on a word processor in an Edwardian semi at Melton Mowbray - contain clear, crisp action in the traditions of B-movies and Western television series. What they lack in psychological depth is made up for by at least twelve good fights per volume. Each portrays a vivid, idealized “West That Never Was”, at a pace that rarely slackens.
The Floating Outfit Series by J. T. Edson
The Ysabel Kid
.44 Caliber Man
A Horse Called Mogollon
Goodnight’s Dream
From Hide and Horn
Set Texas Back on Her Feet
The Hide and Tallow Men
The Hooded Riders
Quiet Town
Trail Boss
Wagons to Backsight
Troubled Range
Sidewinder
Rangeland Hercules
McGraw’s Inheritance
The Half-Breed
White Indians
Texas Kidnappers
The Wildcats
The Bad Bunch
The Fast Gun
Cuchilo
A Town Called Yellowdog
Trigger Fast
The Trouble Busters
The Making of a Lawman
Decision for Dusty Fog
Cards and Colts
The Code of Dusty Fog
The Gentle Giant
Set-A-Foot
The Making of a Lawman
The Peacemakers
To Arms! To Arms! In Dixie!
Hell in the Palo Duro
Go Back to Hell
The South Will Rise Again
The Quest for Bowie’s Blade
Beguinage
Beguinage Is Dead
The Rushers
Buffalo Are Coming!
The Fortune Hunters
Rio Guns
Gun Wizard
The Texas
Mark Counter’s Kin
Old Moccasins on the Trail
The Rio Hondo Kid
Waco’s Debt
Ole Devil’s Hands and Feet
The Hard Riders
Master of Triggernometry
... And more to come every month!
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[i] ‘Mason-Dixon’ line: sometimes erroneously called the ‘Mason-Dixie’ line. The boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland, as surveyed in 1763-67 by the Englishmen, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, which came to be regarded as the dividing line separating the Southern 4Slave’ and Northern ‘Free’ States of America.
[ii] ‘New England’: the North-East section of the United States of America, including New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, which was first settled primarily by people from the British Isles.
[iii] The ‘American quarter horse’, sometimes known as ‘steeldust’, ‘Billies’, or ‘Shilohs’, is the oldest of the breeds developed in what was to become the United States. The strain was commenced, during the early part of the Seventeenth Century, by breeders in Virginia and the Carolinas crossing imported English animals with Arabs, Barbs and Turks brought to the ‘New World’ by the Spaniards. The purpose behind this careful selective breeding was to produce mounts suitable for competition in the popular ‘Colonial’ sports of match racing; short sprints which usually took place over distances not exceeding a quarter of a mile and so could frequently be run on the street of a village. In addition to its ability as a racer, the quarter horse later proved an excellent worker with cattle. We would like to thank our friend, Nelson C. Nye, of Tucson, Arizona—one of the leading authorities on the breed, as well as being the author of numerous excellent action-escapism-adventure Western stories—for kindly supplying us with much useful information on the subject.
[iv] ‘Bay rum’: an aromatic liquid, originally made by distilling rum with the leaves of the bayberry tree, Pimenta racemosa, but now consisting mainly of alcohol, water and essential oils. It was and still is used in medicines and cosmetics, but not intended for general beverage purposes.
[v] Riders competing in polo games, or show jumping, etc., require different styles of saddles and ‘seats’, but descriptions of these do not come within the province of this volume.
[vi] Although many Americans use the word ‘cinch’ for the broad, short band made from coarsely woven horsehair, canvas or cordage which is terminated at each end with a metal ring which—together with the latigo—is used to fasten the saddle on a horse’s back, because of its Spanish connotations, Texans employ the term ‘girth’ and pronounce it as ‘girt’.
[vii]
1 See: Author’s Note, Paragraph Two.
[viii] ‘Clip point’; where, as is the case on all traditional ‘bowie’ knives, the last few inches of the otherwise unsharpened back of the blade joins and becomes an extension of the cutting edge in a concave arc. A ‘spear’ point is formed by both sides coming together in symmetrical curves.
[ix] We realize that the fate of Orville Webster and the nature of the contest recorded in this Chapter differ from those which were given in: Part One, ‘The Schoolteacher’, THE HARD RIDERS. This is because we have been supplied with the correct facts—which were not available to us when we produced the book in 1962—by Dusty’s grandson, for whom we also have the honor of being official biographer. See the various volumes of the Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog series.
[x] Although the post of sheriff—granting jurisdiction throughout the whole of Dale County—was ostensibly more important than that of town marshal, whose authority was restricted to the city limits of Grattan, we will continue to refer to Hawley Grenville in the latter capacity for purposes of clarity.
[xi] ‘Old Yellow boy’: the nickname given to the Winchester Model of 1866 rifle on account of its brass frame.
[xii] Forty-four-forty: a cartridge with a bullet of .44 caliber and a charge of forty grains of powder.
[xiii] Although, as we recorded in A TOWN CALLED YELLOWDOG, Texas Rangers sometimes acted upon reports from private individuals, they were only supposed to participate in an investigation if invited by the local peace officers involved. However, as is told in the Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog series—Case Three, The Deadly Ghost’, ALVIN FOG, TEXAS RANGER, being an example—this stricture did not apply where members of the special Company ‘Z’ felt intervention was called for.
[xiv] ‘Right bower’: a colloquialism for a second in command, derived from the name given to the second highest trump in the game of euchre.
[xv] Details of the careers and special qualifications of Mark Counter, the Ysabel Kid—who stars in some of the volumes of the Civil War series—Charles William Henry ‘Red’ Blaze and Waco—who also ‘stars’ in his own series—respectively can be found in the Floating Outfit series.
[xvi] Told in: McGRAW’S INHERITANCE.
[xvii]
One occasion when Betty Hardin found need to assert herself is described in: Part Two, ‘The Quartet’, THE HALF BREED.
[xviii] How Charles William Henry ‘Red' Blaze came to meet and marry Sue Ortega is told in: WAGONS TO BACKSIGHT. Our recent researches have suggested the events took place somewhat later than we were led to assume when preparing the manuscript for publication in 1964. However, to avoid confusion, we are leaving this volume in its present position on the list of titles in chronological order.
[xix] The events upon which Dusty Fog based his summation are told in: THE TROUBLE BUSTERS. However, the wrestling bout described in Part Four, ‘May’s Try’, THE TOWN TAMERS, occurred later in his career than the episode being recorded in this volume.
[xx] Another occasion when Dustine Edward Marsden ‘Dusty’ Fog made use of the concealability offered by the Webley Royal Irish Constabulary revolver and shoulder holster is recorded in: Part One, ‘Small Man From Polveroso City, Texas’, OLE DEVIL’S HANDS AND FEET.
[xxi] A description of one such delivery is recorded in: TRAIL BOSS.
[xxii] The tunic of the uniform worn by Captain Dustine Edward Marsden ‘Dusty’ Fog was in a style made popular by Lieutenant Mark Counter, who became his close friend in later years. As it did not have the proscribed ‘skirt extending halfway between hip and knee’, it did not conform with the Manual of Dress Regulations of the Army of the Confederate States. How Dusty attained his promotion to captain at seventeen years of age is told in: YOU’RE IN COMMAND NOW, MR. FOG.
[xxiii] The incident is recorded in: Part One, the Floating Outfit series (Dusty Fog) in The Joke, J.T.’S HUNDREDTH.
[xxiv] Just how dangerous a failure to take the precaution could be is described in: THE FAST GUN.
[xxv] How General Jackson Baines ‘Ole Devil’ Hardin sustained the injury which confined him to a wheelchair is told in the ‘The Paint’ episode of THE FASTEST GUN IN TEXAS.
[xxvi] Anxious to save himself from prosecution, Ezekiel Barnsley declared that Daniel ‘Bull’ Keleney was not illiterate. An examination of his business documents established it was he who wrote the messages received by Dusty Fog and Samuel Williams.
[xxvii] Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog has explained why there was no reference to the participation of Betty Hardin in the source upon which our original record of the events herein was based. The omission came about as a result of the earlier generation of the Hardin, Fog and Blaze clan being disinclined to admit that, even though the circumstances were completely justifiable in each case, she had twice been compelled to take the life of another human being.
J. T. Edson, The Floating Outfit 53: Master of Triggernometry (A Floating Outfit Western)
