.44 Caliber Man by J.T. Edson

had been puzzling him since hearing Jeanie mention
it.
    ‘ What does it mean when you say somebody is a forty-four
caliber man?’
    ‘ It started back around the early ’40s,’ Dusty explained.
‘Colonel Colt’s new revolvers started coming into Texas about then.
His first guns were only .36 caliber, and the new gun was a
forty-four. Which same was a whole heap of gun, too much for some
folks. The Texas Rangers got the first of the new guns, and the
Rangers were all picked men. So folks started saying they were
forty-four caliber men, something special. As time went on, more of
the Colts came on the market. The name got to mean a feller who was
all man and could be relied on from hell to high water. Any man who
gets called it earns the name.’
    ‘ Miss Schell’s father was a forty-four caliber man?’
    ‘ All the way and back again.’
    By that time
they had passed alongside the last building and stood at the edge
of the main street. Carefully Dusty studied the surrounding range,
then turned his eyes to the street. The body had been removed and
only a few people walked the street.
    ‘ Let’s go,’ Dusty said. ‘Take it easy and keep your eyes
open.’
    Knowing that
Mark and the Kid were covering them did not cause Dusty to relax or
become careless. All the time he and Colin walked, he kept his eyes
constantly flickering from side to side. On the sidewalks, men and
women paused to look at them as they advanced along the center of
the street. No westerner needed to ask what such behavior meant and
there was a sudden scattering as the people headed for cover.
    As they passed
the livery barn, Colin saw Mark standing up in the hayloft. The
blond giant gave the Scot a cheery grin, but did not speak or lower
his rifle. Walking from the barn towards the Black Bear Saloon,
Colin tried to locate the Kid. At first he failed, then saw the
black-dressed youngster crouching behind the long name-board
fastened to the railings of the balcony.
    Suddenly hooves
drummed on the street behind them and four riders tore into view
from around the end of a building. Instantly the Kid rose from his
place of concealment. His left hand tossed the carbine down to
Dusty and his right started to raise the rifle shoulder-wards.
Catching the carbine, Dusty swiveled around. Colin turned almost as
fast, snapping the Sharps to his shoulder.
    ‘ Don’t shoot!’ Mark bellowed, appearing at the loft’s loading
door. The riders wore U.S. cavalry uniforms and forage caps. Nor
was it likely that were members of the Flores gang in disguise, for
all had Anglo-Saxon features. Finding two carbines on the street
aimed their way, the soldiers reined in their horses
hurriedly.
    ‘ What the—!’ the sergeant in the lead began.
    ‘ We thought you were somebody else,’ Colin replied, lowering
his Sharps.
    ‘ Looks that way,’ the non-com admitted dryly, then studied the
Scot from head to toe. ‘Say! You’re the feller who shot Adàn
Flores, ain’t you?’
    ‘ He’s the feller,’ Dusty agreed. ‘We figured Adàn’s kin might
be wanting to try for evens and concluded to give them a
chance.’
    ‘ So that’s why you’re out here,’ the sergeant
breathed.
    ‘ Figured letting them come to us’d be the easiest way to find
them,’ Dusty explained. ‘And when you boys come busting around the
corner—’
    ‘ Yeah,’ the non-com said. ‘We was headed for the saloon to
spend some of our pay afore the post sutler attaches it. If we’d
got shot, it’d’ve riled him. We owe him a double-eagle a
piece.’
    ‘ I’ve got me a thirst worse than afore,’ commented one of the
soldiers.
    ‘ And me,’ admitted the sergeant. ‘We’ll go on, if that’s all
right with you, si—friend.’
    ‘ Go to it,’ Dusty told him. ‘I hope you spend some afore the
sutler finds out you’ve left the post.’
    ‘ We’ll try,’ promised the sergeant. ‘If there’s any shooting,
we’ll come out and lend a hand.’
    ‘ Thanks,’ Dusty said.
    After