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P1: OSO/OVY P2: OSO/OVY QC: OSO/OVY T1: OSO
MHBK011-FM MHBK011-Taylor December 30, 2009 13:24
Key Debates in
Health Care
i

ii

Key Debates in
Health Care
Gary Taylor and Helen Hawley
Open University Press
iii

Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
Shoppenhangers Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
SL6 2QL
email: enquiries@openup.co.uk
world wide web: www.openup.co.uk
and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2289, USA
First published 2010
Copyright C
Gary Taylor and Helen Hawley 2010
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency
Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained
from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street,
London, EC1N 8TS.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN13: 9780335223947 (pb) 9780335223930 (hb)
ISBN10: 033522394X (pb) 0335223931 (hb)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
CIP data has been applied for
Fictitous names of companies, products, people, characters and/or data that
may be used herein (in case studies or in examples) are not intended to
represent any real individual, company, product, or event.
Typeset by Aptara Inc., India
Printed in the UK by Bell and Bain Ltd., Glasgow.
iv

Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
1 Health and health policy 7
PART 1 THE POLITICS OF PROVISION
2 The state 23
3 The private sector 45
4 The voluntary sector 67
PART 2 SETTING PRIORITIES
5 Health inequalities 85
6 Health promotion 103
7 Rationing 119
PART 3 PATIENTS AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
8 Patients’ rights 135
9 Professionalism 150
10 Conclusion 160
Bibliography 166
Index 187
v

vi

Acknowledgements
Without the support and encouragement from friends, colleagues and our
families this book would have been impossible to complete. Our thanks go in
particular to Mike McManus for showing us the way to make the politics of
health accessible and relevant to students training to be health professionals.
Alison McCamley has been supportive throughout and we benefit daily from
her friendship. We would also like to thank Rachel Crookes at Open University
Press for staying with us throughout the process of writing the book and for
her sound advice, guidance and good humour. Our reviewers also made a
significant contribution to the final shape of this book and we thank them
for their comments. Some of the material contained in the book we have
previously had published as journal articles. We would like to thank the editor
of Social Policy Journal for permission to draw upon material from Taylor, G. and
Hawley, H. (2004) ‘The construction of arguments on the rationing of health
care: perspectives from the British broadsheets’, Social Policy Journal, Volume 3,
Number 3, pp. 45–62. Material from Taylor, G. and Hawley, H. (2006) ‘Health
promotion and the freedom of the individual’, Health Care Analysis, Volume
14, Number 1, pp. 15–24 has been used with kind permission from Springer
Science and Business Media.
Personal thanks and dedications
My thanks go to Karen for discussing many of the issues, commenting upon
the draft chapters and for keeping our children happy and well. I would like to
dedicate my work in this book to my old family GP Dr Cranston of Kingshurst
Birmingham, who stayed up with me night after night in the winter of 1963
and kept me safe.
Gary Taylor
My thanks go to Gavin for his support and understanding during my many
hours at the computer and also my parents for their constant faith in my
abilities. Thanks also to the Public Health department of NHS Rotherham for
giving me a good grounding and frontline experience of a holistic approach
to health.
Helen Hawley
vii

viii

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MHBK011-Intro MHBK011-Taylor December 30, 2009 13:25
Introduction
Chapter Contents
Key questions
The structure of the book
The structure of the chapters
Conclusion
This book is concerned primarily with exploring key debates on the role of the
state in the direction and provision of health care and how these debates are
reflected in the framing of health policy in a variety of countries. Although
its main focus is on the development of health policy in Britain and in the
United States, the book also taps into a broader range of international exam-
ples. In approaching these debates, we have attempted to capture the flavour
of at least some of the conflict and controversy over health care issues. Rather
than concentrate upon statistical material on the needs of the various popu-
lations or the extent of health care provision in different countries, we have
chosen to view the debates in a political context in the belief that recording
conflicting views over the aims and processes of health care will help readers to
locate themselves in political terms and to think their way through alternative
approaches to health care. When we talk about politics, however, we mean it
in the broadest of senses. We are interested in capturing and illustrating the
importance of different world views. Although political parties and influential
politicians will sometimes express these views, they are fortunately not the
only source of political insight. Each of us has within our very core something
that could be described as political. Consider, for example, the views that we
have of each other. Can we trust each other to do what is right? Should the
government help those who are unable to help themselves or should every
person be responsible for their own welfare? These are political questions. In
order to answer these questions, it is not necessary to have a detailed knowl-
edge of political parties or the latest government initiative. Far more important
is that we see ourselves in relation to others, as members of the community
and as citizens with a range of rights and responsibilities.
Key questions
So what kind of questions should we concern ourselves with? The answer to
this depends upon who are the main participants, stakeholders or actors. If
1

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2 KEY DEBATES IN HEALTH CARE
we were interested in the internal workings of the National Health Service
(NHS) then we would need to identify where power resides in the service,
which groups make the decisions and how these decisions are implemented.
We have chosen, however, to look in the opposite direction. Rather than look-
ing inwards at an organization like the NHS, we have chosen to look at society.
The questions we ask are framed so that we can explore ways to understand,
manage and improve the health of each of us. In this book, we will be looking
at such questions as:
r Who is responsible for the health of the nation?
r Does this responsibility lie with each individual or is health a social
condition for which governments should assume some responsibility?
r Should the state play a major role in the direction and provision of
health care or should we rely rather more upon the private sector and
upon the increasingly influential voluntary sector?
r Is there a fair way to ration health care?
r To what extent should the state tackle health inequalities?
r Is prevention better than cure?
r What kind of rights should patients have?
r What is the impact of professionalism upon the relationships between
different sections of the health care system?
These key questions will provide us with a series of windows into the politics
of health policy.
The structure of the book
This book is intended not as a history of health care but as an exploration
of ideas and policies on key problems facing modern health care systems. It
begins with an examination of different models of health and then moves on
to consider eight main debates on issues ranging from the role of the state in
the provision of health care to the rights of patients. These debates have been
selected in the hope that they will be of some relevance to people training for
work in health care. Rather than go into detail on some of the issues that might
concern health care managers (such as the mechanisms used to audit quality
of provision) we have concentrated on those issues that might resonate more
with front-line health care workers. These debates in turn are divided into the
three main parts of the book:
r the politics of provision;
r setting priorities;
r patients and health professionals.

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INTRODUCTION 3
In effect, we will be asking who should provide health care, how priorities
should be set and in what ways a balance can be achieved between the rights
of patients and the interests of the health professions. These key questions
represent the spine for the book, upon which the key debates are hung. We
will say something about each section by way of introduction.
Part 1 of this study looks at some of the ways in which health care is
provided. The key question is, who should provide health care? We will be
looking at some of the options open to people when making decisions about
their own health care. The main alternatives are dealt with in Chapters 2–4.
These alternatives are:
r the state (Chapter 2);
r the private sector (Chapter 3);
r the voluntary sector (Chapter 4).
It will be noted how the balance between these various providers differs con-
siderably across the globe. While some countries have a well-developed system
of state health care, others rely to a far greater extent upon the private sector
or upon the voluntary sector. We will see, however, that most countries allow
for a mix of provision. Even the most committed to state health care, post-war
Britain and Sweden for example, allowed some room for the private sector.
The opposite also applies. Countries that rely more upon private provision,
the United States for example, will still also allow for some state or federal
provision to cover those who are unable to attend to their own health care
needs.
In Part 2 of the book, we ask how priorities should be set in health care.
In the process of researching for this book, we have often come across the
assertion that resources for health care are limited and that hard decisions
have to be made about where to concentrate investment. While recognizing
that the level of this resource can be changed in accordance with the aims and
preferences of different governments, we have to acknowledge that there is a
multitude of demands upon a health budget and that increasing investment
in one thing will often lead to cuts in provision in another area of health care.
Instead of trying to take account of all the variables, we have chosen to look
at three areas of debate:
r health inequalities (Chapter 5);
r health promotion (Chapter 6);
r rationing (Chapter 7).
These are effectively debates about the allocation of resources within the health
system and within state health care in particular. We ask to what extent the
state should attempt to alleviate health inequalities, provide health promotion

P1: OSO
or ration health care. As the previous section shows, the state is not the only
provider of health care. The same questions could be asked of the private
and voluntary sectors but these questions lie outside the remit of the current
volume. Instead, we attempt to understand the priorities set on a theoretical
and practical level and to discuss some of the implications for health care
professionals.
Part 3 moves away from how priorities are set to questions concerning
the rights and obligations of both health care professionals and the patients
they serve and we ask to what extent professionalism and patient rights are
compatible. This final section contains two chapters:
r patients’ rights (Chapter 8);
r professionalism (Chapter 9).
These chapters take us away from the agendas set by governments and allow
us to view the relationships between patients and those who work in health
care. As with other debates we cover, we are interested in outlining different
perspectives on these issues rather than in defending and promoting a single
perspective. Conflicting ideas are indeed the lifeblood of this book.
The structure of the chapters
Given the broad scope of the book, we felt that benefits could be gained from
adopting a similar format for each of the chapters. Rather than include chap-
ters that vary greatly in the extent to which they use historical examples,
contemporary observations, practical illustrations or theoretical insights, we
chose to use four main ways to grapple with the issues we cover and to include
each of these layers in the chapters included herein. These layers are as follows:
r theoretical perspectives;
r policy developments;
r perspectives of health care professionals;
r health care scenarios.
We argue that each of these will help the reader to appreciate both the broad
features of the debates and perhaps some of the subtleties and practical impli-
cations of the debates we cover. Let us take a look at each of these in turn.
The first layer deals with theoretical perspectives and will include ideas
developed by political theorists, politicians and by some academic commen-
tators. By taking a look at these perspectives, we have an opportunity to ex-
amine an issue in the abstract without being pinned down too much to deal
with specific policy developments. These ideas are included so as to give the

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INTRODUCTION 5
reader an insight into the broad arguments made for and against a particular
direction in policy. By taking note of these ideas, it is hoped that readers will
be able to locate themselves, even if only provisionally, in terms of some of
the alternatives on offer.
In the second layer of the book, we will use examples of policy develop-
ments in Britain, the United States and in an assortment of countries. While
this is not a book on comparative health policy, comparisons will be made
in the hope of illustrating the similarities and differences between the poli-
cies developed and implemented in various countries. Although preference
will be given to discussing policy developments in English speaking countries
like Canada, New Zealand and Australia, comparisons will also be made with
parts of the European Union. Once again, we have had to be selective so pol-
icy developments in Western Europe (France, Germany, Spain and so on) will
tend to feature more than examples from Eastern Europe (for example, Poland,
Hungary and Russia). The rationale for this is partly linguistic and partly prac-
tical. Access to good quality translations of health policy documents is reason-
ably limited and we make the assumption (correct or not) that the majority
of those who are trained in Britain or the United States will choose to practise
either in those countries or in other English speaking nations.
The third layer of the book takes into account the experience and opin-
ions of health care professionals. While there is a wealth of material on policy
developments, there is rather less on the opinions and perspectives of profes-
sional groups. Professional journals do, however, provide some insight into
the views of health care professionals. We have therefore taken a look at a
range of journals and concentrated on the views of such groups as nurses, oc-
cupational therapists, physiotherapists, doctors and consultants. Although we
have not attempted to provide a history or definitive account of these groups
and their contribution to key debates in health policy, their views have been
included to illustrate the responses of those on the front line of health care
delivery and, it is hoped, to reduce some of the distance between those train-
ing in health care and the theoretical and policy developments that will shape
their working lives. This third layer will be scattered through the book and will
feature in some of the boxes we have included. We hope that this will enable
the reader to recognize the insight of those actively engaged in the provision
of health care as they proceed through the material on theoretical and policy
developments.
We have also included a fourth layer that could be defined as health care
scenarios. These scenarios are designed to ask the reader to place him or herself
into the role of a health care professional and to consider the implications of
the debates we cover for those who provide health care. It is by no means our
intention to prescribe what health care professionals should do in a certain
situation, but to ask the reader to engage in an imaginative exercise. These ex-
ercises say in effect that you are a health care professional faced with a certain

P1: OSO
issue or problem and ask you to consider what you could do in response. It is
intended that the reader will take note of the theoretical or policy material in-
cluded in the book and use these ideas or insights to think their way through
the issues and to devise practical solutions. Please be aware that these solu-
tions do not necessarily have to be right or wrong. The scenarios have been
included to facilitate understanding of a range of alternatives and to illustrate
in a practical way how theoretical and policy developments can be used to
inform your own practice.
Conclusion
In writing this book, we have been concerned with finding ways to capture
some of the flavour of key theoretical debates on health and health care and
to show how these debates can be illuminated with the use of practical ex-
amples. It is contended that these debates are relevant to those training to be
health professionals and to those attempting to understand the development
of policies in different countries. We explore theoretical arguments and policy
initiatives in the hope of making a contribution to social and political debates
on health care and drawing out the relevance of these debates for health care
professionals. While there is a limit to what can be achieved in a single volume,
it is hoped that the debates selected will help readers discover for themselves
some new ways to understand and appreciate the politics of health care.

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MHBK011-01 MHBK011-Taylor December 30, 2009 13:15
1 Health and health policy
Chapter Contents
Health
Health and social functions
Gauging levels of health and illness
Shifts over time
The negative view of health
The positive view of health
The bio-medical model of health
The social model of health
The bio-medical model of disability
The social model of disability
Health policy
The importance of partnerships
Implementing health policy
Conclusion
Tempting as it might be to launch into the key debates, it would seem pru-
dent to pause for a while to consider what we mean by health and health policy.
These terms are used throughout the book and are viewed in broadly social and
theoretical contexts. What do we mean by this? When we talk about health
in its social context we are drawing attention to the myriad of economic,
social and cultural factors that influence the way we live and the health we
experience. These factors influence who we are and the way we relate to each
other. Let us not think of ourselves as having a single social identity, stamped
on us for all time. Our identities change throughout our lives, along with our
lifestyles and experiences of health. Consider, for example, the elderly couple
whose diet is now restricted because of limited income and whose health is
fading. Their understanding of health (their own and others) is transformed
as a result of their own experiences. They do not need to be categorized. They
need to be understood. So what do we mean by a theoretical context? Rather
than focus upon the details of empirical research, we are seeking to uncover
different approaches to health care. Health policies are consequently seen as
illustrating different philosophies of life rather than as dry policy documents.
It is contended throughout this volume that our views on the provision of
health care often rest upon how we understand the nature of health and upon
the way we regard the rights and responsibilities of the individual and the state.
Health
Let us start by taking a look at the nature of health in the broadest of senses. We
should begin by recognizing that each one of us will no doubt have a different
7

P1: OSO
view of health, partly because we will have different expectations of our own
minds and bodies. Somebody who is actively involved in sports will surely
have a different view of their health than somebody who is physically frail.
The energy levels expected by young people will tend to be very different from
those expected by many senior citizens. Parents with young children will often
cope for many years with disturbed sleep and might have to make significant
adjustments to their lifestyles to reduce the risks of chronic illness. It would
seem, moreover, that our views on our own health will change as we move
through the various stages of our lives. Because of this, the way we view the
possession or absence of good health will probably change over time. There is,
in short, a subjective element to the way we conceptualize and experience
both health and illness.
Health and social functions
Health could be seen in terms of the ability of the individual to perform their
social functions. Different people will have different functions. These might
include raising a family, going to work, and tending to our own needs as well
as the needs of others. The more our lives connect with the lives of others,
the more expectations will be placed upon us. Viewed in one way, our health
could be seen in terms of the ability we have or seem to have to fit in and
live in accordance with the expectations placed upon us by other members
of society. It should be appreciated that health and illness have serious social
consequences. Good levels of health help the economic and social system to
function effectively, while illness is dysfunctional for both the individual and
for society. In order to minimize this dysfunction, the so-called ‘sick role’ al-
lows people to be sick temporarily. The sick person is exempt from work and
many other social obligations but also has a responsibility to seek help and to
improve their health (see Aggleton 1990: 9; Daykin 2000: 115). The sick role
provides individuals and society with a safety valve. It allows individuals to
opt out of social obligations on a temporary basis without in any way mini-
mizing the importance of these obligations. A person might, for example, be
suffering from stress as a result of an increased workload. The sick role allows
the individual to say ‘enough is enough’ and to withdraw their labour until
they are healthy enough to work.
Scenario 1 Health, social circumstances and the sick role
Kyle is a 20-year-old student from a working-class and ethnic minority background.
He is suffering from chronic migraines on a daily basis and is finding it difficult to
keep up with his studies and to hold down his job in a local supermarket. He is
expected to attend lectures and seminars four days a week and to work in the

P1: OSO
HEALTH AND HEALTH POLICY 9
supermarket two evenings a week and every weekend. Although his parents give
him a small allowance, there are limits to what they can afford. Kyle is considering
leaving university and his job. He is the only one of his peer group who has gone
to university and he believes that they have an easier life claiming unemployment
benefits. Kyle is aware, however, that this could have a devastating impact upon
his career prospects and that his parents would be disappointed if he chose to
abandon his studies.
Questions
You are a health professional working in a university health centre.
1 What kind of advice would you give to Kyle?
2 How do you think his health is being influenced by his social circumstances?
3 To what extent does Kyle need to change his circumstances in order to improve
his health?
4 To what extent and in what ways could the ‘sick role’ help Kyle to deal with
the multitude of expectations placed upon him?
Gauging levels of health and illness
Without wishing to make us sound like machines, many people use terms
like ‘worn out’ or ‘drained’ to describe being in a state of poor health. These
terms conjure up an image of a person who for some reason is depleted of
energy and is finding it difficult to cope. Blaxter (1990) has used the term
‘reserve’ to describe the energy we have at our disposal. While this reserve
is depleted by health damaging behaviour (like smoking or excessive alcohol
consumption) it can be increased through health affirming behaviour (such
as exercise or a good diet). Aggleton (1990) has noted that members of the
general public, those without any specific bio-medical training, tend to view
health in terms of ‘the wholeness or the integrity of the person, their inner
strength, and their ability to cope’ (Aggleton 1990: 13). Health can be seen in
fairly functional terms in which we are deemed to be healthy if we can cope
in our various roles. This does, however, differ between ages. Older people
are far more likely to view their health in terms of their ability to cope and
get around, while young people tend to see it more in terms of their general
level of fitness (Jones 1994: 3). There are also differences between classes in
the way they view health. For example, it has been shown that middle-class
women tend to view health in terms of physical fitness and the exercise they
take, while working-class women see it as the absence of illness and the ability
to ‘get through the day’ (Aggleton 1990: 14). It is clear that what is seen as
healthy for one person is not necessarily the same for another. Anybody who

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deals with the health of other people needs to be aware of this. The way we
describe our own health is unavoidably influenced by the expectations we
have of ourselves.
Shifts over time
In addition to there being vast differences in the way that individuals view
their own health, the way that health is regarded within our culture will
change dramatically over time. The way we see health has changed signif-
icantly over the centuries. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries, various social commentators argued that poor health stemmed from
a poor match between the individual and the environment. Lamenting the de-
cline of a rural past, commentators warned about the corrupting influence of
modern city living (Davey et al. 1995: 4–6). Poor health was also regarded as
quite stylish among some sections of the artistic elite of the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries. It became almost fashionable to be thin and pale,
to look delicate and ill. The so-called ‘tubercular look’ (associated with TB)
was thought to show distinction and breeding. According to Susan Sontag
(1978), the cult of thinness found in women’s fashion in the twentieth cen-
tury (and now beyond) is ‘the last stronghold of the metaphors associated with
the romanticising of TB in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries’
(Sontag 1978: 34). Byron and the Romantic poets and scholars tended to be-
lieve that illness made a person interesting and distinctive. Poor physical and
mental health gave the impression that the sufferer was sensitive to the core.
Those who suffered from TB and had the money to travel became tragic sym-
bols in the work of the Romantics. These people were freed from their daily
routines and encouraged to search for meaning. Sontag claims that it allowed
the Romantics to retire from the world. Indeed, the Romantics ‘invented in-
validism as a pretext for leisure, and for dismissing bourgeois obligations in
order to live only for one’s art’ (Sontag 1978: 36). According to this line of
thought, illness can have its cultural benefits.
The negative view of health
Health can be viewed negatively (in terms of the absence of something) or pos-
itively (as possessing something). If health consists in the absence of disease,
people could be seen as being healthy if they do not have a disease. This would
be irrespective of how they feel and whether they considered themselves to
be healthy. The problem with this view of health is that it assumes that there
is a norm for all bodies. It also tends to rely upon a diagnosis being made,
most probably by a member of the medical profession. If we are unaware that
we have a disease or if this disease has not been diagnosed, does it mean that
we are healthy? (see Aggleton 1990: 5–6). Health can also be regarded as the

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HEALTH AND HEALTH POLICY 11
absence of illness. Illness is experienced and consists in the unpleasant feelings
that often accompany a disease. The problem with this view of health is that
it relies exclusively upon subjective experience (see Aggleton 1990: 7–8). We
should also note that illness differs from sickness. Sickness is often calculated
according to the number of people seeking medical help and perhaps absence
from work. Illness, on the other hand, is about how we feel. We might put
up with feeling ill and thus not reach the statistics of those who are deemed
to be sick (Jones 1994: 9). While not seeking to minimize the importance of
disease, illness and sickness, these notions do not in themselves capture the
nature of health. Indeed, these notions do little more than signify the absence
of health.
The positive view of health
Health need not only be viewed as the absence of something. Positive views
of health emphasize the value of things we possess. In the 1946 constitution
of the World Health Organisation, for example, it was declared that health
should be seen as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being
and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO 1946: 1). Although
this is an extremely broad definition of health, it does capture the ‘positive’
dimension of health and alerts us to the need to take into account social as
well as individual factors (see also Aggleton 1990: 8 and Jones 1994: 6). This
positive view of health also encourages us to find ways to improve or promote
good health rather than always think in terms of responding to illness or dis-
ease. For those who hold a positive view of health, health is often viewed in
a holistic way. Ewles and Simnett (1985), for example, claimed that it is im-
portant to acknowledge and give due weight to the emotional, spiritual and
societal factors that influence health (Ewles and Simnett 1985: 9). We might
of course wish to extend this list to include numerous other things like envi-
ronmental or psychological factors. Even if the lists provided are incomplete,
they do show the importance of looking beyond our ailments to understand
the nature of our health.
The view that health consists in something we possess is gaining promi-
nence in policy documents in Britain and elsewhere. The Black Report of 1980
recognized that we need to consider factors other than freedom from pain or
discomfort and that we should give due credence to the importance of vigour,
well-being and engagement with our communities (Black 1980). Policy docu-
ments often recognize that health is not simply the absence of disease but also
the presence of physical, mental and emotional well-being (see for example
NHS Scotland 2000: 16). It is argued that improving these dimensions of health
can enhance quality of life (Scottish Office 1999). Health policy documents in
the United States and in New Zealand have stated that good health should be
seen in terms of increasing life expectancy and quality of life (US Department

P1: OSO
of Health and Human Services 2000; Ministry of Health 2006). Policy makers
have started to recognize that helping people to come to grips with the nature
and importance of well-being can improve levels of health. Rather than see
health in terms of the absence of illness, it can be viewed as a dynamic force
that can be influenced by circumstances, lifestyle choices, beliefs, culture and
environment. It has been argued that quality of life depends upon having the
opportunity to make choices and to gain satisfaction from living. Health can
indeed be seen as a resource that gives people the ability to manage or change
their lives (Health and Welfare Canada 1986). Viewed in this way, the pursuit
of good health becomes an aspiration. This is a far cry from the negative view
of health with its emphasis upon the problems we experience rather than the
potential we have.
The bio-medical model of health
There are two main models that we can use to discuss issues of health. These
are known as the bio-medical and the social models of health. The bio-medical
model of health gained prominence during the nineteenth century and still
holds considerable power. It looks for ways to identify the cause of an illness
and seems to assume that illnesses can be classified and treated in an objective
way. The individual is indeed objectified and individual health is recorded in
case histories. The bio-medical model of health is anchored in provable facts,
derived from rigorous procedures. It is concerned with the internal workings
of the body and it presumes that our state of health is a biological fact. The
model rests upon the belief that it is possible to diagnose a person’s health
by taking note of the symptoms and that experts are needed to define and
manage our health (Armstrong 1986: 47; Gillespie and Gerhardt 1995: 82–3;
Senior and Viveash 1998: 10). The bio-medical model of health tends to view
health in terms of freedom from a clinically ascertainable disease (Black 1980).
One of the main problems with this approach is that it can lead to prioritiz-
ing the treatment of short-term acute illnesses rather than long-term chronic
conditions. It can likewise serve to funnel resources into expensive cures for
diseases while virtually ignoring relatively inexpensive health promotion pro-
grammes (US Department of Health and Human Services 2003). As the bio-
medical model of health deals with identifiable illnesses, it is felt that it is
possible to identify and gauge the results of medical intervention.
There are a number of problems associated with the bio-medical view of
health. In particular, it rests upon a limited view of knowledge and it subjects
too many aspects of life to medical measurements. The bio-medical model
assumes that medical knowledge is scientific and objective. This knowledge is
thought to enable those who possess it to understand the human body, the
causes of an illness and the benefits of intervention. What this fails to take into
account is that this form of medical knowledge has been created by a small

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Title: The Coming of Cassidy—And the Others
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Suddenly a rope ... yanked him from the saddle Page
342
The
Coming of Cassidy—
And the Others
BY
CLARENCE E. MULFORD
Author of
Hopalong Cassidy, Bar-20 Days, etc.
Illustrations by
Maynard Dixon
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG CO.
1913

Copyright 1908 by The Red Book Corporation
Copyright 1911 by Field and Stream Publishing Co.
Copyright 1912 by The Pearson Publishing Co.
Copyright 1913 by The Pearson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT
A. C. McCLURG CO.
1913
Published, October, 1913
Copyrighted in Great Britain
PRESS OF
THE VAIL-BALLOU Co.
BINGHAMTON, N. Y.
PREFACE
It was on one of my annual visits to the ranch that Red, whose
welcome always seemed a little warmer than that of the others,
finally took me back to the beginning. My friendship with the outfit
did not begin until some years after the fight at Buckskin, and, while
I was familiar with that affair and with the history of the outfit from
that time on, I had never seemed to make much headway back of
that encounter. And I must confess that if I had depended upon the

rest of the outfit for enlightenment I should have learned very little
of its earlier exploits. A more secretive and bashful crowd, when it
came to their own achievements, would be hard to find. But Red,
the big, smiling, under-foreman, at last completely thawed and
during the last few weeks of my stay, told me story after story about
the earlier days of the ranch and the parts played by each member
of the outfit. Names that I had heard mentioned casually now meant
something to me; the characters stepped out of the obscurity of the
past to act their parts again. To my mind's eye came Jimmy Price,
even more mischievous than Johnny Nelson; Butch Lynch and
Charley James, who erred in judgment; the coming and going of
Sammy Porter, and why You-Bet Somes never arrived; and others
who did their best, or worst, and went their way. The tales will
follow, as closely as possible, in chronological order. Between some
of them the interval is short; between others, long; the less
interesting stories that should fill those gaps may well be omitted.
It was in the '70s, when the buffalo were fast disappearing from
the state, and the hunters were beginning to turn to other ways of
earning a living, that Buck Peters stopped his wagon on the banks of
Snake Creek and built himself a sod dugout in the heart of a country
forbidding and full of perils. It was said that he was only the agent
for an eastern syndicate that, carried away by the prospects of the
cattle industry, bought a ranch, which later was found to be
entirely strange to cattle. As a matter of fact there were no cows
within three hundred miles of it, and there never had been.
Somehow the syndicate got in touch with Buck and sent him out to
look things over and make a report to them. This he did, and in his
report he stated that the ranch was split in two parts by about

forty square miles of public land, which he recommended that he be
allowed to buy according to his judgment. When everything was
settled the syndicate found that they owned the west, and best,
bank of an unfailing river and both banks of an unfailing creek for a
distance of about thirty miles. The strip was not very wide then, but
it did not need to be, for it cut off the back-lying range from water
and rendered it useless to anyone but his employers. Westward
there was no water to amount to anything for one hundred miles.
When this had been digested thoroughly by the syndicate it caused
Buck's next pay check to be twice the size of the first.
He managed to live through the winter, and the following spring
a herd of about two thousand or more poor cattle was delivered to
him, and he noticed at once that fully half of them were unbranded;
but mavericks were cows, and in those days it was not questionable
to brand them. Persuading two members of the drive outfit to work
for him he settled down to face the work and perils of ranching in a
wild country. One of these two men, George Travis, did not work
long; the other was the man who told me these tales. Red went
back with the drive outfit, but in Buck's wagon, to return in four
weeks with it heaped full of necessities, and to find that troubles
already had begun. Buck's trust was not misplaced. It was during
Red's absence that Bill Cassidy, later to be known by a more
descriptive name, appeared upon the scene and played his cards.
C. E. M.
CONTENTS

I The Coming of Cassidy
II The Weasel
III Jimmy Price
IV Jimmy Visits Sharpsville
V The Luck of Fools
VI Hopalong's Hop
VII Dealing the Odd
VIII The Norther
IX The Drive
X The Hold-Up
XI Sammy Finds a Friend
XII Sammy Knows the Game
XIII His Code
XIV Sammy Hunts a Job
XV When Johnny Sloped
ILLUSTRATIONS
Suddenly a rope ... yanked him from the saddle . . . Frontispiece
There was a sharp report
It's Injuns, close after us
Crawford's Colt tore loose from his fingers and dropped near the
wheel of the wagon
Yo're a liar! rang out the vibrant voice of the cowman

THE COMING OF CASSIDY
AND THE OTHERS
I
THE COMING OF CASSIDY
The trail boss shook his fist after the departing puncher and swore
softly. He hated to lose a man at this time and he had been a little
reckless in threatening to fire him; but in a gun-fighting outfit
there was no room for a hothead. Cimarron was boss of the outfit
that was driving a large herd of cattle to California, a feat that had
been accomplished before, but that no man cared to attempt the
second time. Had his soul been enriched by the gift of prophecy he
would have turned back. As it was he returned to the work ahead of
him. Aw, let him go, he growled. He 's wuss off 'n I am, an' he 'll
find it out quick. I never did see nobody what got crazy mad so
quick as him.
Bill Cassidy, not yet of age, but a man in stature and strength,
rode north because it promised him civilization quicker than any
other way except the back trail, and he was tired of the coast range.
He had forgotten the trail-boss during the last three days of his
solitary journeying and the fact that he was in the center of an
uninhabited country nearly as large as a good-sized state gave him

no concern; he was equipped for two weeks, and fortified by youth's
confidence.
All day long he rode, around mesas and through draws,
detouring to avoid canyons and bearing steadily northward with a
certainty that was a heritage. Gradually the great bulk of mesas
swung off to the west, and to the east the range grew steadily more
level as it swept toward the peaceful river lying in the distant valley
like a carelessly flung rope of silver. The forest vegetation, so
luxuriant along the rivers and draws a day or two before, was now
rarely seen, while chaparrals and stunted mesquite became more
common.
He was more than twenty-five hundred feet above the ocean,
on a great plateau broken by mesas that stretched away for miles in
a vast sea of grass. There was just enough tang in the dry April air
to make riding a pleasure and he did not mind the dryness of the
season. Twice that day he detoured to ride around prairie-dog towns
and the sight of buffalo skeletons lying in groups was not rare. Alert
and contemptuous gray wolves gave him a passing glance, but the
coyotes, slinking a little farther off, watched him with more interest.
Occasionally he had a shot at antelope and once was successful.
Warned by the gathering dusk he was casting about for the
most favorable spot for his blanket and fire when a horseman swung
into sight out of a draw and reined in quickly. Bill's hand fell
carelessly to his side while he regarded the stranger, who spoke first,
and with a restrained welcoming gladness in his voice. Howd'y,
Stranger! You plumb surprised me.
Bill's examination told him that the other was stocky, compactly
built, with a pleasing face and a good eye. His age was about

thirty and the surface indications were very favorable. Some
surprised myself, he replied. Ridin' my way?
Far's th' house, smiled the other. Better join us. Couple of
buffalo hunters dropped in awhile back.
They 'll go a long way before they 'll find buffalo, Bill
responded, suspiciously. Glancing around he readily picked out the
rectangular blot in the valley, though it was no easy feat. Huntin' or
ranchin'? he inquired in tones devoid of curiosity.
Ranchin', smiled the other. Hefty proposition, up here, I
reckon. Th' wolves 'll walk in under yore nose. But I ain't seen no
Injuns.
You will, was the calm reply. You 'll see a couple, first; an'
then th' whole cussed tribe. They ain't got no buffalo no more,
neither.
Buck glanced at him sharply and thought of the hunters, but he
nodded. Yes. But if that couple don't go back? he asked, referring
to the Indians.
Then you 'll save a little time.
Well, let 'em come. I 'm here to stay, one way or th' other. But,
anyhow, I ain't got no border ruffians like they have over in th'
Panhandle. They 're worse 'n Injuns.
Yes, agreed Bill. Th' war ain't ended yet for some of them
fellers. Ex-guerrillas, lots of 'em.
When they reached the house the buffalo hunters were arguing
about their next day's ride and the elder, looking up, appealed to Bill.
Howd'y, Stranger. Ain't come 'cross no buffaler signs, hev ye?
Bill smiled. Bones an' old chips. But th' gray wolves was headin'
southwest.

What 'd I tell you? triumphantly exclaimed the younger hunter.
Well, they ain't much dif'rence, is they? growled his
companion.
Bill missed nothing the hunters said or did and during the silent
meal had a good chance to study their faces. When the pipes were
going and the supper wreck cleaned away, Buck leaned against the
wall and looked across the room at the latest arrival. Don't want a
job, do you? he asked.
Bill shook his head slowly, wondering why the hunters had
frowned at a job being offered on another man's ranch. I 'm
headed north. But I 'll give you a hand for a week if you need me,
he offered.
Buck smiled. Much obliged, friend; but it 'll leave me worse off
than before. My other puncher 'll be back in a few weeks with th'
supplies, but I need four men all year 'round. I got a thousand head
to brand yet.
The elder hunter looked up. Drive 'em back to cow-country an'
sell 'em, or locate there, he suggested.
Buck's glance was as sharp as his reply, for he could n't believe
that the hunter had so soon forgotten what he had been told
regarding the ownership of the cattle. I don't own 'em. This range
is bought an' paid for. I won't lay down.
I done forgot they ain't yourn, hastily replied the hunter,
smiling to himself. Stolen cattle cannot go back.
If they was I 'd stay, crisply retorted Buck. I ain't quittin'
nothin' I starts.
How many 'll you have nex' spring? grinned the younger
hunter. He was surprised by the sharpness of the response. More 'n

I 've got now, in spite of h—!
Bill nodded approval. He felt a sudden, warm liking for this
rugged man who would not quit in the face of such handicaps. He
liked game men, better if they were square, and he believed this
foreman was as square as he was game. By th' Lord! he
ejaculated. For a plugged peso I 'd stay with you!
Buck smiled warmly. Would good money do? But don't you stay
if you oughtn't, son.
When the light was out Bill lay awake for a long time, his mind
busy with his evening's observations, and they pleased him so little
that he did not close his eyes until assured by the breathing of the
hunters that they were asleep. His Colt, which should have been
hanging in its holster on the wall where he had left it, lay
unsheathed close to his thigh and he awakened frequently during
the night so keyed was he for the slightest sound. Up first in the
morning, he replaced the gun in its scabbard before the others
opened their eyes, and it was not until the hunters had ridden out of
sight into the southwest that he entirely relaxed his vigilance. Saying
good-by to the two cowmen was not without regrets, but he shook
hands heartily with them and swung decisively northward.
He had been riding perhaps two hours, thinking about the little
ranch and the hunters, when he stopped suddenly on the very brink
of a sheer drop of two hundred feet. In his abstraction he had ridden
up the sloping southern face of the mesa without noticing it. Bet
there ain't another like this for a hundred miles, he laughed, and
then ceased abruptly and started with unbelieving eyes at the mouth
of a draw not far away. A trotting line of gray wolves was emerging
from it and swinging toward the south-west ten abreast. He had

never heard of such a thing before and watched them in
amazement. Well, I'm—! he exclaimed, and his Colt flashed rapidly
at the pack. Two or three dropped, but the trotting line only swerved
a little without pause or a change of pace and soon was lost in
another draw. Why, they 're single hunters, he muttered. Huh! I
won't never tell this. I can't hardly believe it myself. How 'bout you,
Ring-Bone? he asked the horse.
Turning, he rode around a rugged pinnacle of rock and stopped
again, gazing steadily along the back trail. Far away in a valley two
black dots were crawling over a patch of sand and he knew them to
be horsemen. His face slowly reddened with anger at the espionage,
for he had not thought the cowmen could doubt his good will and
honesty. Then suddenly he swore and spurred forward to cover
those miles as speedily as possible. Come on, ol' Hammer-Head!
he cried. We're goin' back!
The hunters had finally decided they would ride into the
southwest and had ridden off in that direction. But they had
detoured and swung north to see him pass and be sure he was not
in their way. Now, satisfied upon that point, they were going back to
that herd of cattle, easily turned from skinning buffalo to cattle, and
on a large scale. To do this they would have to kill two men and
then, waiting for the absent puncher to return with the wagon, kill
him and load down the vehicle with skins. Like h—l they will! he
gritted. Three or none, you piruts. Come on, White-Eye! Don't sleep
all th' time; an' don't light often'r once every ten yards, you saddle-
galled, barrel-bellied runt!
Into hollows, out again; shooting down steep-banked draws and
avoiding cacti and chaparral with cat-like agility, the much-described

little pony butted the wind in front and left a low-lying cloud of dust
swirling behind as it whirred at top speed with choppy, tied-in stride
in a winding circle for the humble sod hut on Snake Creek. The rider
growled at the evident speed of the two men ahead, for he had not
gained upon them despite his efforts. If I 'm too late to stop it, I 'll
clean th' slate, anyhow, he snapped. Even if I has to ambush! Will
you run? he demanded, and the wild-eyed little bundle of
whalebone and steel found a little more speed in its flashing legs.
The rider now began to accept what cover he could find and
when he neared the hut left the shelter of the last, low hill for that
afforded by a draw leading to within a hundred yards of the dugout's
rear wall. Dismounting, he ran lightly forward on foot, alert and with
every sense strained for a warning.
Reaching the wall he peered around the corner and stifled an
exclamation. Buck's puncher, a knife in his back, lay head down the
sloping path. Placing his ear to the wall he listened intently for some
moments and then suddenly caught sight of a shadow slowly
creeping past his toes. Quickly as he sprang aside he barely missed
the flashing knife and the bulk of the man behind it, whose hand,
outflung to save his balance, accidentally knocked the Colt from Bill's
grasp and sent it spinning twenty feet away.
Without a word they leaped together, fighting silently, both
trying to gain the gun in the hunter's holster and trying to keep the
other from it. Bill, forcing the fighting in hopes that his youth would
stand a hot pace better than the other's years, pushed his enemy
back against the low roof of the dugout; but as the hunter tripped
over it and fell backward, he pulled Bill with him. Fighting
desperately they rolled across the roof and dropped to the sloping

earth at the doorway, so tightly locked in each other's arms that the
jar did not separate them. The hunter, falling underneath, got the
worst of the fall but kept on fighting. Crashing into the door head
first, they sent it swinging back against the wall and followed it,
bumping down the two steps still locked together.
Bill possessed strength remarkable for his years and build and
he was hard as iron; but he had met a man who had the sinewy
strength of the plainsman, whose greater age was offset by greater
weight and the youth was constantly so close to defeat that a single
false move would have been fatal. But luck favored him, for as they
surged around the room they crashed into the heavy table and fell
with it on top of them. The hunter got its full weight and the gash in
his forehead filled his eyes with blood. By a desperate effort he
pinned Bill's arm under his knee and with his left hand secured a
throat grip, but the under man wriggled furiously and bridged so
suddenly as to throw the hunter off him and Bill's freed hand,
crashing full into the other's stomach, flashed back to release the
weakened throat grip and jam the tensed fingers between his teeth,
holding them there with all the power of his jaws. The dazed and
gasping hunter, bending forward instinctively, felt his own throat
seized and was dragged underneath his furious opponent.
In his Berserker rage Bill had forgotten about the gun, his fury
sweeping everything from him but the primal desire to kill with his
hands, to rend and crush like an animal. He was brought to his
senses very sharply by the jarring, crashing roar of the six-shooter,
the powder blowing away part of his shirt and burning his side.
Twisting sideways he grasped the weapon with one hand, the wrist
with the other and bent the gun slowly back, forcing its muzzle

farther and farther from him. The hunter, at last managing to free
his left hand from the other's teeth, found it useless when he tried
to release the younger man's grip of the gun; and the Colt, roaring
again, dropped from its owner's hand as he relaxed.
The victor leaned against the wall, his breath coming in great,
sobbing gulps, his knees sagging and his head near bursting. He
reeled across the wrecked room, gulped down a drink of whisky
from the bottle on the shelf and, stumbling, groped his way to the
outer air where he flung himself down on the ground, dazed and
dizzy. When he opened his eyes the air seemed to be filled with
flashes of fire and huge, black fantastic blots that changed form with
great swiftness and the hut danced and shifted like a thing of life.
Hot bands seemed to encircle his throat and the throbbing in his
temples was like blows of a hammer. While he writhed and fought
for breath a faint gunshot reached his ears and found him apathetic.
But the second, following closely upon the first, seemed clearer and
brought him to himself long enough to make him arise and stumble
to his horse, and claw his way into the saddle. The animal,
maddened by the steady thrust of the spurs, pitched viciously and
bolted; but the rider had learned his art in the sternest school in the
world, the busting corrals of the great Southwest, and he not only
stuck to the saddle, but guided the fighting animal through a
barranca almost choked with obstructions.
Stretched full length in a crevice near the top of a mesa lay the
other hunter, his rifle trained on a small bowlder several hundred
yards down and across the draw. His first shot had been an
inexcusable blunder for a marksman like himself and now he had a
desperate man and a very capable shot opposing him. If Buck could

hold out until nightfall he could slip away in the darkness and do
some stalking on his own account.
For half an hour they had lain thus, neither daring to take sight.
Buck could not leave the shelter of the bowlder because the high
ground behind him offered no cover; but the hunter, tiring of the
fruitless wait, wriggled back into the crevice, arose and slipped away,
intending to crawl to the edge of the mesa further down and get in a
shot from a new angle before his enemy learned of the shift; and
this shot would not be a blunder. He had just lowered himself down
a steep wall when the noise of rolling pebbles caused him to look
around, expecting to see his friend. Bill was just turning the corner
of the wall and their eyes met at the same instant.
'Nds up! snapped the youth, his Colt glinting as it swung up.
The hunter, gripping the rifle firmly, looked into the angry eyes of
the other, and slowly obeyed. Bill, watching the rifle intently,
forthwith learned a lesson he never forgot: never to watch a gun,
but the eyes of the man who has it. The left hand of the hunter
seemed to melt into smoke, and Bill, firing at the same instant,
blundered into a hit when his surprise and carelessness should have
cost him dearly. His bullet, missing its intended mark by inches,
struck the still moving Colt of the other, knocking it into the air and
numbing the hand that held it. A searing pain in his shoulder told
him of the closeness of the call and set his lips into a thin, white
line. The hunter, needing no words to interpret the look in the
youth's eyes, swiftly raised his hands, holding the rifle high above his
head, but neglected to take his finger from the trigger.
Bill was not overlooking anything now and he noticed the
crooked finger. Stick th' muzzle up, an' pull that trigger, he

commanded, sharply. Now! he grated. The report came crashing
back from half a dozen points as he nodded. Drop it, an' turn
'round. As the other obeyed he stepped cautiously forward, jammed
his Colt into the hunter's back and took possession of a skinning
knife. A few moments later the hunter, trussed securely by a forty-
foot lariat, lay cursing at the foot of the rock wall.
Bill, collecting the weapons, went off to cache them and then
peered over the mesa's edge to look into the draw. A leaden splotch
appeared on the rock almost under his nose and launched a
crescendo scream into the sky to whine into silence. He ducked and
leaped back, grinning foolishly as he realized Buck's error. Turning to
approach the edge from another point he felt his sombrero jerk at
his head as another bullet, screaming plaintively, followed the first.
He dropped like a shot, and commented caustically upon his paucity
of brains as he gravely examined the hole in his head gear. Huh!
he grunted. I had a fool's luck three times in twenty minutes,—d—d
if I 'm goin' to risk th' next turn. Three of 'em, he repeated. I 'm a'
Injun from now on. An' that foreman shore can shoot!
He wriggled to the edge and called out, careful not to let any of
his anatomy show above the sky-line. Hey, Buck! I ain't no buffalo
hunter! This is Cassidy, who you wanted to punch for you. Savvy?
He listened, and grinned at the eloquent silence. You talk too
rapid, he laughed. Repeating his statements he listened again, with
the same success. Now I wonder is he stalkin' me? Hey, Buck! he
shouted.
Stick yore hands up an' foller 'em with yore face, said Buck's
voice from below. Bill raised his arms and slowly stood up. Now
what 'n blazes do you want? demanded the foreman, belligerently.

Nothin'. Just got them hunters, one of 'em alive. I reckoned
mebby you 'd sorta like to know it. He paused, cogitating. Reckon
we better turn him loose when we gets back to th' hut, he
suggested. I'll keep his guns, he added, grinning.
The foreman stuck his head out in sight. Well, I'm d—d! he
exclaimed, and sank weakly back against the bowlder. Can you give
me a hand? he muttered.
The words did not carry to the youth on the skyline, but he saw,
understood, and, slipping and bumping down the steep wall with
more speed than sense, dashed across the draw and up the other
side. He nodded sagely as he examined the wound and bound it
carefully with the sleeve of his own shirt. 'T ain't much—loss of
blood, mostly. Yo 're better off than Travis.
Travis dead? whispered Buck. In th' back! Pore feller, pore
feller; didn't have no show. Tell me about it. At the end of the story
he nodded. Yo 're all right, Cassidy; yo 're a white man. He 'd 'a'
stood a good chance of gettin' me, 'cept for you. A frown clouded
his face and he looked weakly about him as if for an answer to the
question that bothered him. Now what am I goin' to do up here
with all these cows? he muttered.
Bill rolled the wounded man a cigarette and lit it for him, after
which he fell to tossing pebbles at a rock further down the hill.
I reckon it will be sorta tough, he replied, slowly. But I sorta
reckoned me an' you, an' that other feller, can make a big ranch out
of yore little one. Anyhow, I 'll bet we can have a mighty big time
tryin'. A mighty fine time. What you think?
Buck smiled weakly and shoved out his hand with a visible
effort. We can! Shake, Bill! he said, contentedly.

II
THE WEASEL
The winter that followed the coming of Bill Cassidy to the Bar-20
ranch was none too mild to suit the little outfit in the cabin on Snake
Creek, but it was not severe enough to cause complaint and they
weathered it without trouble to speak of. Down on the big ranges
lying closer to the Gulf the winter was so mild as to seem but a brief
interruption of summer. It was on this warm, southern range that
Skinny Thompson, one bright day of early spring, loped along the
trail to Scoria, where he hoped to find his friend, Lanky Smith, and
where he determined to put an end to certain rumors that had
filtered down to him on the range and filled his days with anger.
He was within sight of the little cow-town when he met Frank
Lewis, but recently returned from a cattle drive. Exchanging gossip
of a harmless nature, Skinny mildly scored his missing friend and
complained about his flea-like ability to get scarce. Lewis, laughing,
told him that Lanky had left town two days before bound north.
Skinny gravely explained that he always had to look after his missing
friend, who was childish, irresponsible and helpless when alone.
Lewis laughed heartily as he pictured the absent puncher, and he
laughed harder as he pictured the two together. Both lean as bean
poles, Skinny stood six feet four, while Lanky was fortunate if he
topped five feet by many inches. Also they were inseparable, which
made Lewis ask a question. But how does it come you ain't with
him?

Well, we was punchin' down south an' has a li'l run-in. When I
rid in that night I found he had flitted. What I want to know is what
business has he got, siftin' out like that an' makin' me chase after
him?
I dunno, replied Lewis, amused. You 're sort of gardjean to
him, hey?
Well, he gets sort of homesick if I ain't with him, anyhow,
replied Skinny, grinning broadly. An' who 's goin' to look after him
when I ain't around?
That puts me up a tree, replied Lewis. I shore can't guess.
But you two should ought to 'a' been stuck together, like them other
twins was. But if he 'd do a thing like that I 'd think you would n't
waste no time on him.
Well, he is too ornery an' downright cussed for any human
bein' to worry about very much, or 'sociate with steady an' reg'lar.
Why, lookit him gettin' sore on me, an' for nothin'! But I 'm so used
to bein' abused I get sort of lost when he ain't around.
Well, smiled Lewis, he's went up north to punch for Buck
Peters on his li'l ranch on Snake Creek. If you want to go after him,
this is th' way I told him to go, and he gave instructions hopelessly
inadequate to anyone not a plainsman. Skinny nodded, irritated by
what he regarded as the other's painful and unnecessary details and
wheeled to ride on. He had started for town when Lewis stopped
him with a word.
Hey, he called. Skinny drew rein and looked around.
Better ride in cautious like, Lewis remarked, casually.
Somebody was in town when I left—he shore was thirsty. He ain't
drinkin' a drop, which has riled him considerable. So-long.

Huh! grunted Skinny. Much obliged. That's one of th' reasons
I 'm goin' to town, and he started forward again, tight-lipped and
grim.
He rode slowly into Scoria, alert, watching windows, doors and
corners, and dismounted before Quiggs' saloon, which was the really
high-toned thirst parlor in the town. He noticed that the proprietor
had put black shades to the windows and door and then, glancing
quickly around, entered. He made straight for the partition in the
rear of the building, but the proprietor's voice checked him. You
needn't bother, Skinny—there ain't nobody in there; an' I locked th'
back door an hour ago. He glanced around the room and added,
with studied carelessness: You don't want to get any reckless
today. He mopped the bar slowly and coughed apologetically. Don't
get careless.
I won't—it's me that's doin' th' hunting today, Skinny replied,
meaningly. Him a-hunting for me yesterday, when he shore knowed
I was n't in town, when he knowed he could n't find me! I was
getting good an' tired of him, an' so when Walt rode over to see me
last night an' told me what th' coyote was doing yesterday, an' what
he was yelling around, I just natchurly had to straddle leather an'
come in. I can't let him put that onto me. Nobody can call me a card
cheat an' a coward an' a few other choice things like he did without
seeing me, an' seeing me quick. An' I shore hope he 's sober. Are
both of 'em in town, Larry?
No; only Dick. But he's making noise enough for two. He shore
raised th' devil yesterday.
Well, I 'm goin' North trailin' Lanky, but before I leave I 'm
shore goin' to sweeten things around here. If I go away without

getting him he 'll say he scared me out, so I 'll have to do it when I
come back, anyhow. You see, it might just as well be today. But th'
next time I sit in a game with fellers that can't drop fifty dollars
without saying they was cheated I 'll be a blamed sight bigger fool
than I am right now. I should n't 'a' taken cards with 'em after what
has passed. Why didn't they say they was cheated, then an' there,
an' not wait till three days after I left town? All that's bothering me is
Sam: if I get his brother when he ain't around, an' then goes North,
he 'll say I had to jump th' town to get away from him. But I 'll stop
that by giving him his chance at me when I get back.
Say, why don't you wait a day an' get 'em both before you go?
asked Quigg hopefully.
Can't: Lanky 's got two days' start on me an' I want to catch
him soon as I can.
I can't get it through my head, nohow, Quigg remarked.
Everybody knows you play square. I reckon they're hard losers.
Skinny laughed shortly: Why, can't you see it? Last year I beat
Dick Bradley out with a woman over in Ballard. Then his fool brother
tried to cut in an' beat me out. Cards? H—l! he snorted, walking
towards the door. You an' everybody else knows— he stopped
suddenly and jerked his gun loose as a shadow fell across the
doorsill. Then he laughed and slapped the newcomer on the
shoulder: Hullo, Ace, my boy! You had a narrow squeak then. You
want to make more noise when you turn corners, unless somebody
's looking for you with a gun. How are you, anyhow? An' how's yore
dad? I 've been going over to see him regular, right along, but I 've
been so busy I kept putting it off.

Dad's better, Skinny; an' I'm feeling too good to be true. What
'll you have?
Reckon it's my treat; you wet last th' other time. Ain't that
right, Quigg? Shore, I knowed it was.
All right, here's luck, Ace smiled. Quigg, that's better stock;
an' would you look at th' style—real curtains!
Quigg grinned. Got to have 'em. I 'm on th' sunny side of th'
street.
I hear yo 're goin' North, Ace remarked.
Yes, I am; but how 'd you know about it?
Why, it ain't no secret, is it? asked Ace in surprise. If it is, you
must 'a' told a woman. I heard of it from th' crowd—everybody
seems to know about it. Yo 're going up alone, too, ain't you?
Well, no, it ain't no secret; an' I am going alone, slowly replied
Skinny. Here, have another.
All right—this is on me. Here's more luck.
Where is th' crowd?
Keeping under cover for a while to give you plenty of elbow
room, Ace replied. He's sober as a judge, Skinny, an' mad as a
rattler. Swears he 'll kill you on sight. An' his brother ain't with him; if
he does come in too soon I 'll see he don't make it two to one. Good
luck, an' so-long, he said quickly, shaking hands and walking
towards the door. He put one hand out first and waved it, slowly
stepping to the street and then walking rapidly out of sight.
Skinny looked after him and smiled. Larry, there 's a blamed
fine youngster, he remarked, reflectively. Well, he ought to be—he
had th' best mother God ever put breath into. He thought for a
moment and then went slowly towards the door. I 've heard so

much about Bradley's gun-play that I 'm some curious. Reckon I 'll
see if it's all true— and he had leaped through the doorway, gun in
hand. There was no shot, no sign of his enemy. A group of men
lounged in the door of the hash house farther down the street, all
friends of his, and he nodded to them. One of them turned quickly
and looked down the intersecting street, saying something that
made his companions turn and look with him. The man who had
been standing quietly by the corner saloon had disappeared. Skinny
smiling knowingly, moved closer to Quigg's shack so as to be better
able to see around the indicated corner, and half drew the Colt which
he had just replaced in the holster. As he drew even with the corner
of the building he heard Quigg's warning shout and dropped
instantly, a bullet singing over him and into a window of a near-by
store. He rolled around the corner, scrambled to his feet and dashed
around the rear of the saloon and the corral behind it, crossed the
street in four bounds and began to work up behind the buildings on
his enemy's side of the street, cold with anger.
Pot shooting, hey! he gritted, savagely.
Says I 'm a-scared to face him, an' then tries that. There, d—n
you! His Colt exploded and a piece of wood sprang from the corner
board of Wright's store. Missed! he swore. Anyhow, I 've notified
you, you coyote.
He sprang forward, turned the corner of the store and followed
it to the street. When he came to the street end of the wall he
leaped past it, his Colt preceding him. Finding no one to dispute with
him he moved cautiously towards the other corner and stopped.
Giving a quick glance around, he smiled suddenly, for the glass in
Quigg's half-open door, with the black curtain behind it, made a fair

mirror. He could see the reflection of Wright's corral and Ace leaning
against it, ready to handle the brother if he should appear as a
belligerent; and he could see along the other side of the store,
where Dick Bradley, crouched, was half-way to the street and
coming nearer at each slow step.
Skinny, remembering the shot which he had so narrowly
escaped, resolved that he would n't take chances with a man who
would pot-shoot. He wheeled, slipped back along his side of the
building, turned the rear corner and then, spurting, sprang out
beyond the other wall, crying: Here!
Bradley, startled, fired under his arm as he leaped aside.
Turning while in the air, his half-raised Colt described a swift, short
arc and roared as he alighted. As the bullet sang past his enemy's
ear he staggered and fell,—and Skinny's smoking gun chocked into
its holster.
There, you coyote! muttered the victor. Yore brother is next if
he wants to take it up.
* * * * *
As night fell Skinny rode into a small grove and prepared to camp
there. Picketing his horse, he removed the saddle and dropped it
where he would sleep, for a saddle makes a fair pillow. He threw his
blanket after it and then started a quick, hot fire for his coffee-
making. While gathering fuel for it he came across a large log and
determined to use it for his night fire, and for that purpose carried it
back to camp with him. It was not long before he had reduced the
provisions in his saddle-bags and leaned back against a tree to enjoy

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