Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{The man was no stranger to rough-and-tumble. And no single rap in the teeth was going to make him quit. Before Longarm was fully inside the wagon the railroader was responding with flying fists and elbows.}

_{Longarm smothered the force of the blows by throwing himself on top of his adversary, wrestling the man off the woman and onto the floor of the wagon.}

_{The two tussled there, neither able to get off any telling punches at such close quarters. Longarm was more or less on top of the railroader. Deliberately he drew back a little and got his legs under him while he waited for the powerfully built railroad boss to bull his way forward.}

_{The railroader grunted and chopped, but at that range was doing nothing except to wear himself out. Longarm stayed close and waited.}

_{As he expected, the railroader hadn’t much patience and was used to having things all his own way. The man tried to dominate the situation by placing himself on top of the struggle.}

_{Which was just what Longarm was wanting.}

_{As soon as the railroader clawed himself nearly upright, Longarm launched himself at the man, driving with all his leg strength and using his forearms as battering rams. He}

_{caught the railroader low in the chest, coming up at the man from a low angle and driving through him.}

_{The railroader flew backward. He hit the rim of the wagon box and was pushed over and beyond it, toppling out of the rig to fall heavily onto the hard gravel five feet below.}

_{Longarm leaped after him, vaulting the side of the wagon and dropping knees first onto the railroader’s gut.}

_{The breath was driven out of the railroader, and he went pale. Longarm straddled the stricken man with one hand locked at the fellow’s throat and his other fist upraised.}

_{“I think,” he gritted through clenched teeth, “you owe the lady an apology.”}

_{The railroader gave Longarm a look that was venomous. But he nodded meekly enough.}

_{“Sorry I... bumped into you,” Longarm said. He stood and helped the railroad boss to his feet, even turned the man around and helped brush off his backside. “Now,” Longarm said. “I believe there was somethin’ you were gonna say t’ the lady?”}

_{The railroad man scowled and looked like he was willing to seek a second opinion, then for some reason thought better of it. He cleared his throat, bowed in the direction of the wagon where the veiled woman was watching, and made a stiffly awkward apology that sounded every bit as insincere as it no doubt was. Still, insincere or not, it satisfied the proprieties.}