Longarm and the Shoshoni silver

As Longarm introduced himself and his local associates to the apparent mountain men of an earlier era, the fat one owned up to being a congressman called Granger, serving on some congressional committee, while the skinny one was a Senator Rumford, the nominal head of the outfit. Granger, who seemed most likely to kiss babies and chew the fat, said they'd been worried sick about Longarm long before they'd lost those other two Indian experts.

When Longarm smiled uncertainly and allowed he'd been told they had at least one real Indian as well as Indian experts along, the more morose Senator Rumford explained, 'The B.I.A. loaned us a couple of Paiute, in the beginning. They quit soon after we told them they might meet Bannock up at Fort Hall."

Longarm nodded. "They do say Bannock used to ride down

Paiute just for practice. Lord knows few wandering diggers have a thing worth taking, save for their scalps. But I reckon us cruel white folks ain't the only ones who bully the weak without all that much reason, the way dogs chase cats. You say you're missing some white scouts as well?"

Senator Rumford made a wry face and replied, "We're still working on whether they deserted or whether Indians got them. They had us dig in, down the other side of Club Creek, while they scouted on ahead."

"That's the last we ever saw of them," the portly Granger said, waving his claro like a smoldering baton. "It was over forty-eight hours ago and we knew we were within running distance of this safer settlement. Pearly and The Kid smd they'd seen something else ahead, bless their cautious hearts, and—"

"Hold her right there!" Longarm thundered as Bishop Reynolds and his country coroner exchanged startled looks. Longarm demanded, "Could we be talking about a husky cuss in his mid-twenties, sporting pearl-handled Schofields, and a younger cuss armed less dramatically?"

It was the turn of Granger and Rumford to exchange startled glances indeed as Longarm filled them in on Pearly and The Kid as soon as they'd confirmed his descriptions.

When Senator Rumford half rose from the table, ashen-faced, to accuse Longarm of having made a terrible mistake, the still-standing Longarm shook his head firmly and replied, "It was them who made the terrible mistake. Senator. They never took me for any Indian when they opened up on me in the open, and after that, I heard 'em jawing back and forth about me personally. They knew it was me, and somebody they called Pappy had sent them after me with murderous intent!"

Bishop Reynolds volunteered, 'The one with the pearl-handled .45-55s was not registered here as a guest last night. Deputy Long here was. His room number would have been in the unguarded register behind the deserted desk

for anyone to read at that hour."

Longaim cocked an eyebrow at the older lawman and said, "I do admire a peace officer who plays his own cards as close to his vest. Need I add it was Pearly, not me, who flung a door open and blew the liver and lights out of a bed he had every reason to expect me to be bedded down in?"

The crusty old Saint smiled thinly and replied, "You need not, and I've a fair notion which room you came out of instead. But let's stick to pure and simple gunplay."

Longarm did, and soon established, with the help of Granger and Rumford, that the reason Longarm had gotten so far ahead of the other government men had been the two scouts' constant talk of Indians, with them getting everyone else to dig in, over and over, while they scouted ahead.

"For me," Longarm decided modestly enough as soon as he'd had time to consider other options. Lest anyone there think he had too high an opinion of himself, he explained, "You gents had been told I'd be joining up with your expedition. Somebody must not have been too keen about that. By bogging you down at least every few miles, they got to scout out all around in hopes of heading me off, as they finally did in their own half-ass way."

Senator Rumford started to ask a dumb question, then proved he wasn't so dumb, despite his New England twang, by declairing, "I see it now. Anyone can say they're only scouting out ahead. They did take their own sweet time, time enough to scout our back trail as well as the trail ahead."

"Why ahead at all?" asked the portly Granger.

To which Longarm could only modestly reply, "They figured there was a chance I'd head you off. They figured right. At the rate you gents were moving, no offense, I could have headed you off afoot."

Senator Rumford didn't sound offended as he explained, "We felt we had to move with caution in such wild country. We're carrying a modest fortune in freshly coined silver dollars, you know."

Bishop Reynolds demanded to know who'd told them the Mormon Delta was such wild country. Longarm shut him off with a soothing smile and said, "Never mind all that. Tell us what you'd call a modest fortune in silver, Senator."