Front matter
Reading edition
“There’s a great big God––just such a God as you and I have knelt to when we were bits of kiddies.”
The
One-Way Trail
A STORY OF THE CATTLE COUNTRY
By
RIDGWELL CULLUM
Author of “The Watchers of the Plains,” “The Sheriff of Dyke Hole,” “The Trail of the Axe,” etc.
“... And the One-Way Trail is just the trail of Life. It’s chock full of pitfalls and stumbling blocks that make us cuss like mad. But it’s good for us to walk over it. There are no turnings or bye-paths, and no turning back. And maybe when we get to the end something will have been achieved in His scheme of things that our silly brains can’t grasp....”
PHILADELPHIA
GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1911, by George W. Jacobs and Company
CONTENTS
I. A Gentleman Ranker 7
II. A Shooting Match 18
III. In Barnriff 28
IV. Jim Proposes 36
V. To the Red, Dancing Devil 53
VI. Eve and Will 71
VII. The Chicken-killing 78
VIII. The “Boys” of the Village 86
IX. A Woman’s Care 101
X. An Evil Night 113
XI. A Wedding-day in Barnriff 119
XII. The Quest of Peter Blunt 135
XIII. After One Year 146
XIV. The Breaking Point 153
XV. A “Party Call” 161
XVI. Devil Driven 173
XVII. The Working of the Public Mind 187
XVIII. A Woman’s Instinct 195
XIX. Branded 206
XX. Approaching the Tribunal 221
XXI. Inspiration 226
XXII. The Vigilance Committee 238
XXIII. Terror 252
XXIV. For a Woman 265
XXV. The Trail of the Rustlers 275
XXVI. On the Little Bluff River 286
XXVII. Annie 303
XXVIII. Will 312
XXIX. Jim 324
XXX. Will Henderson Reaches the End 333
XXXI. The Discomfiture of Smallbones 345
XXXII. The Triumph of Smallbones 355
XXXIII. After the Verdict 364
XXXIV. The Truth 369
XXXV. In the Shadow of the Gallows Tree 383
XXXVI. The Passing of Elia 393
XXXVII. Gold 401
XXXVIII. On, Over the One-Way Trail 406
ILLUSTRATIONS
“There’s a great big God––just such a God as you and I have knelt to when we were bits of kiddies.” Frontispiece
He sat glaring at the table, the smoke of his pipe clouding the still air of the neat kitchen. 156
Also he was gripping a heavy revolver in his hand. 288
“We’ve just come over to say that we, too, are going to hit the trail.” 410