Classic Westerns
7 total works
"It was time then for action, and Lefty Joe prepared for the descent into the home of the enemy. Let it not be thought that he approached this moment with a fallen heart, and with a cringing, snaky feeling as a man might be expected to feel when he approached to murder a sleeping foeman. For that was not Lefty's emotion at all. Rather he was overcome by a tremendous happiness. He could have sung with joy at the thought that he was about to rid himself of this pest."
With gusts of wind fanning it roughly, the flame rose fast. Harrigan made other journeys to the rotten stump and wrenched away great chunks of bark and wood. He came back and piled them on the fire. It towered high, the upper tongues twisting among the branches of the tree. They laid Kate Malone between the windbreak and the fire. In a short time her trembling ceased; she turned her face to the blaze and slept.
The Great West, prior to the century's turn, abounded in legend. Stories were told of fabled gunmen whose bullets always magically found their mark, of mighty stallions whose tireless gallop rivaled the speed of the wind, of glorious women whose beauty stunned mind and heart. But nowhere in the vast spread of the mountain-desert country was there a greater legend told than the story of Red Pierre and the phantom gunfighter, McGurk. These two men of the wilderness, so unalike, of widely-differing backgrounds, had in common a single trait: each was unbeatable. Fate brought them clashing together, thunder to thunder, lightning to lightning. They were destined to meet at the crossroads of a long, long trail ... a trail which began in the northern wastes of Canada and led, finally, to a deadly confrontation in the mountains of the Far West.
In the black darkness of night, Ronicky Doone overhears the plans of Jack Moon's ruthless gang of cutthroats to kill someone named Hugh Dawn for deserting the gang. While Ronicky doesn't know Hugh Dawn or Jack Moon, he is always ready for adventure. With the aid of his trusty, well-trained horse, Lou, he outraces Moon's gang and successfully warns Hugh Dawn of his danger. Hugh and his gentle daughter, Jerry, accept Ronicky's help and flee with him after Ronicky prophetically says, "I'm one of them with nothing on my hands but a considerable lot of time and an itch for action. Seems to me that there may be some more action before this game's done and over."
The Seventh Man by Max Brand, tells part of the story of the larger-than-life western character, Dan Barry, known as "Whistling Dan," and his alter-ego companions, Black Bart, the wolf-dog, and Satan, the indomitable black stallion. It's also the story of Kate Cumberland and the incredible five-year-old daughter of Kate and Dan, Joan. We first see Dan as a gentle, caring man with a deep sense of fairness. But then, after six years of a peaceful life in their mountain cabin Dan, more feral than human, sets out to revenge an injustice by killing seven men. Ultimately, it is his devotion to his daughter and Kate's love for the child that brings about the climax of the tale. Warning: don't look for a typical cowboy story here - it's far deeper and stronger than that.
