Blood Meridian Chapters 22, 23 and Epilogue by Cormac McCarthy narrated by Lori Gomez

Lori Gomez

The final installment of my reading for this audiobook. If you enjoy my readings and would like to support the channel, you can buy me a cup of coffee : https://buymeacoffee.com/lorigomez_apoetrychannel Blood Meridian defies its genre. Cormac McCarthy is a fevered architect drafting a world whose moral compass points directly at the reader while the foundations of civilization as we know it crumble to dust beneath us. Everything is savage here, conspiring to destroy itself- the landscape, the people... there are no real sides... no true adversaries... no one to root for or against... nature's non-duality is revealed... we are all one under a savage sun. Life and death cycle on, irrevocably intertwined... nature stops just long enough to bury its dead, and then moves on... history is the dried blood in a handful of dust... not since Jack London's The Sea Wolf has a book's philosophical implications snuck up and socked my noggin from behind... great stuff.

Transcript

00:00:00Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, Chapter 22

00:00:06Under arrest, the judge pays a call, an arraignment, soldier, priest, magistrate, on his own recognizance.

00:00:17He sees a surgeon, the arrow shaft, removed from his leg, delirium.

00:00:24He journeys to Los Angeles, a public hanging, los ahorcados, looking for the ex-priest, another fool, the scapular, Sacramento,

00:00:39a traveler in the West.

00:00:41He abandons his party. The Penitent Brothers, the Death Guard, another massacre, the Eldriss in the Rocks.

00:00:54Going back through the streets, past the yellow window lights and barking dogs, he encountered a detachment of soldiers, but...

00:01:04They took him for an older man in the dark, and passed on.

00:01:10He entered a tavern, and sat in a darkened corner, watching the groups of men at the tables.

00:01:18No one asked him what he wanted in that place.

00:01:23He seemed to be waiting for someone to come for him, and after a while, four soldiers entered, and arrested

00:01:30him.

00:01:31They didn't even ask his name.

00:01:35In his cell, he began to speak with a strange urgency of things few men have seen in a lifetime,

00:01:41and his jailer said that his mind had come uncolored by the acts of blood in which he had participated.

00:01:49One morning, he woke to find the judge, standing at his cage, hat in hand, smiling down at him.

00:01:57He was dressed in a suit of grey linen, and he wore new polished boots.

00:02:03His coat was unbuttoned, and on his waistcoat, he carried a watch chain and a stick pin,

00:02:10and in his belt, a leather-covered clip that held a small silver-mounted derringer, stocked in rosewood.

00:02:19He looked down the hallway of the crude mud building, and on the hat, and smiled again at the prisoner.

00:02:31Well, he said, how are you?

00:02:35The kid didn't answer.

00:02:37They wanted to know from me if you were always crazy, said the judge.

00:02:44They said it was the country.

00:02:47The country turned them out.

00:02:51Where's Tobin?

00:02:54I told them that the Cretan had been a respectable doctor of divinity from Harvard College as recently as March

00:03:02of this year,

00:03:03that his wits had stood him as far west as the Aquarius Mountains.

00:03:08It was the ensuing country that carried them off, together with his clothes.

00:03:14And Toadvine and Brown?

00:03:16Where are they?

00:03:17In the desert, where you left them, a cruel thing, your companions in arms.

00:03:26The judge shook his head.

00:03:30What do they aim to do with me?

00:03:33I believe it is their intention to hang you.

00:03:38What do you tell them?

00:03:40Told them the truth?

00:03:41That you were the person responsible.

00:03:44Not that we have all the details, but they understand that it was you, and none other,

00:03:51who shaped events along such a calamitous course,

00:03:56eventuating in the massacre at the ford by the savages with whom you conspired.

00:04:01Means and ends are of little moment here.

00:04:05Idle speculations, but even though you carry the draft of your murderous plan with you,

00:04:10to the grave, it will nonetheless be known in all its infamy, to your maker.

00:04:17And as that is so, so shall it be made known to the least of men.

00:04:23All in the fullness of time.

00:04:26Yo, the one that's crazy!

00:04:29Said the kid.

00:04:30The judge smiled.

00:04:33No, he said.

00:04:34It was never me, but why lurk there in the shadows?

00:04:39Come here.

00:04:40Where we can talk.

00:04:42You and me.

00:04:45The kid stood against the far wall.

00:04:48Hardly more than a shadow himself.

00:04:52Come up.

00:04:54Said the judge.

00:04:55Come up, for I've yet more to tell you.

00:04:59He looked down the hallway.

00:05:01Don't be afraid.

00:05:03He said.

00:05:04I'll speak softly.

00:05:06It's not for the world's ears, but for yours only.

00:05:10Let me see you.

00:05:12Don't you know that I'd have loved you like a son?

00:05:16He reached through the bars.

00:05:19Come here.

00:05:20He said.

00:05:21Let me touch you.

00:05:23The kid stood with his back to the wall.

00:05:27Come here if you're not afraid.

00:05:29Whispered the judge.

00:05:30I ain't afraid of you.

00:05:34The judge smiled.

00:05:36He spoke softly into the dim mud cubicle.

00:05:40You came forward, he said, to take part in a work.

00:05:46But you were a witness against yourself.

00:05:49You sat in judgment on your own deeds.

00:05:52You put your own allowances before the judgments of history.

00:05:56And you broke with the body of which you were pledged apart.

00:05:59And poisoned it all in its enterprise.

00:06:03Hear me, man.

00:06:04I spoke in the desert for you and you only.

00:06:09And you turned a deaf ear to me.

00:06:11If war is not holy, man is nothing but antic clay.

00:06:20Even the Cretan acted in good faith according to his parts.

00:06:23But it was required of no man to give more than he possessed.

00:06:28Nor was any man's share compared to another's.

00:06:32Only each was called upon to empty out his heart into the common.

00:06:37And one did not.

00:06:39Can you tell me who that was?

00:06:42It was you, whispered the kid.

00:06:47You were the one.

00:06:50The judge watched him through the bars.

00:06:53He shook his head.

00:06:55What joins men together, he said,

00:06:58is not the sharing of bread,

00:07:01but the sharing of enemies.

00:07:04But if I was your enemy, with whom would you have shared me?

00:07:08With whom, the priest?

00:07:10Where is he now?

00:07:13Look at me.

00:07:14Our animosities were formed and waiting before ever we two met.

00:07:20Yet even so, you could have changed it all.

00:07:25You, said the kid.

00:07:27It was you.

00:07:30It was never me, said the judge.

00:07:33Listen to me.

00:07:35Do you think Glanton was a fool?

00:07:37Don't you know he'd have killed you?

00:07:42Lies, said the kid.

00:07:45Lies by God.

00:07:47Lies.

00:07:49Think again, said the judge.

00:07:53He never took part in your craziness.

00:07:57The judge smiled.

00:07:59He took his watch from his waistcoat and opened it and held it to the failing light.

00:08:05For even if you should have stood your ground, he said, yet.

00:08:12What ground was it?

00:08:14He looked up.

00:08:15He pressed the case shut and restored the instrument to his person.

00:08:20Time to be going, he said.

00:08:23I have errands.

00:08:25The kid closed his eyes.

00:08:27When he opened them, the judge was gone.

00:08:30That night he called the corporal to him, and they sat on either side of the bars, while

00:08:35the kid told the soldier of the hoard of gold and silver coins hid in the mountains, not

00:08:41far from this place.

00:08:43He talked for a long time.

00:08:45The corporal had set the candle on the floor between them, and he watched them as one might

00:08:51watch a glib and lying child.

00:08:54When he was finished, the corporal rose and took the candle with him, leaving him in the

00:09:00darkness.

00:09:02He was released two days later.

00:09:04A Spanish priest had come to baptize him, and had flung water at him through the bars

00:09:09like a priest casting out spirits.

00:09:12An hour later, when they came for him, he grew giddy with fear.

00:09:17He was taken before the alcalde, and this man spoke to him in a fatherly manner in the

00:09:22Spanish language, and then he was turned out into the streets.

00:09:28The doctor that he found was a young man of good family from the East.

00:09:32He cut open his trouser leg with scissors and looked at the blackened shaft of the arrow

00:09:38and moved it about.

00:09:40A soft fistula had formed from it.

00:09:43Do you have any pain?

00:09:45He said.

00:09:46The kid didn't answer.

00:09:49He pressed about the wound with his thumb.

00:09:52He said that he could perform the surgery and that it would cost one hundred dollars.

00:09:57The kid rose from the table and limped out.

00:10:00The day following, as he sat in the plaza, a boy came and led him again to the shack behind

00:10:07the hotel.

00:10:08And the doctor told him they would operate in the morning.

00:10:11He sold the pistol to an Englishman for forty dollars and woke at dawn in a lot, underneath

00:10:19some boards, where he'd crawled in the night.

00:10:24It was raining, and he went down through the empty mud streets and hammered at the grocer's

00:10:30door until the man let him in.

00:10:33When he appeared at the surgeon's office, he was very drunk.

00:10:36Holding on to the doorjamb, a quart bottle, half full of whiskey, clutched in his hand.

00:10:44The surgeon's assistant was a student from Sinaloa, who had apprenticed himself here.

00:10:50An altercation ensued at the door until the surgeon himself came from the rear of the premises.

00:10:58You'll have to come back tomorrow, he said.

00:11:01I don't aim to be no soberer then.

00:11:05The surgeon studied him.

00:11:08All right, he said.

00:11:09Let me have the whiskey.

00:11:11He entered, and the apprentice shut the door behind him.

00:11:16You won't need the whiskey, said the doctor.

00:11:19Let me have it.

00:11:22Why won't I need it?

00:11:25We have spirits of ether.

00:11:27You won't need the whiskey.

00:11:31Is it stronger?

00:11:33Much stronger.

00:11:35In any case, I can't operate on a man.

00:11:39And him, dead drunk.

00:11:41He looked at the assistant, and then looked at the surgeon.

00:11:45He set the bottle on the table.

00:11:47Good, said the surgeon.

00:11:49I want you to go with Marcello.

00:11:52He will draw you a bath and give you clean linen and show you to a bed.

00:11:56He pulled his watch from his vest and held it in his palm and read it.

00:12:01It's a quarter past eight.

00:12:04We'll operate at one.

00:12:05Get some rest.

00:12:07If you require anything, please let us know.

00:12:11The assistant led him across the courtyard to a whitewashed adobe building in the rear,

00:12:17a bay that held four iron beds all empty.

00:12:22He bathed in a large riveted copper boiler that looked to have been salvaged from a ship,

00:12:28and he lay on the rough mattress and listened to children playing somewhere beyond the wall.

00:12:35He did not sleep.

00:12:36When they came for him, he was still drunk.

00:12:39He was let out and laid on a trestle in an empty room adjoining the bay,

00:12:46and the assistant pressed an icy cloth to his nose and told him to breathe deeply.

00:12:53In that sleep and sleeps to follow, the judge did visit.

00:12:58Who would come other?

00:13:00A great, shambling mutant, silent and serene.

00:13:04Whatever his antecedents, he was something wholly other than their sum,

00:13:09nor was there a system by which to divide him back into his origins,

00:13:14for he would not go.

00:13:16Whoever would seek out his history through what unraveling of loins and ledger books

00:13:21must stand at last darkened and dumb,

00:13:24at the shore of a void without terminus or origin.

00:13:27And whatever science he might bring to bear upon the dusty primal matter

00:13:32blowing down out of the millennia will discover no trace

00:13:36of any ultimate atavistic egg by which to reckon his commencing.

00:13:43In the white and empty room, he stood in his bespoken suit,

00:13:48with his hat in his hand,

00:13:49and he peered down with his small and lashless pig eyes,

00:13:53wherein this child, just sixteen years on earth,

00:13:58could read whole bodies of decisions not accountable to the courts of men.

00:14:04And he saw his own name, which nowhere else could have been ciphered out at all,

00:14:10logged into the records as a thing already accomplished,

00:14:15a traveller known in jurisdictions existing only in the claims of certain pensioners,

00:14:21or on old dated maps.

00:14:24In his delirium, he ransacked the linens of his pallet for arms, but there were none.

00:14:29The judge smiled.

00:14:32The fool was no longer there, but another man,

00:14:34and this other man he could never see in his entirety,

00:14:38but he seemed an artisan and a worker in metal.

00:14:43The judge enshadowed him where he crouched at his trade.

00:14:47But he was a cold forger,

00:14:50who worked with hammer and die, perhaps,

00:14:53under some indictment and an exile for men's fires,

00:14:57hammering out like his own conjectural destiny,

00:15:01all through the night of his becoming some coinage for a dawn that would not be.

00:15:06It is this false moneyer, with his gravers and burns,

00:15:10who seeks favour with the judge,

00:15:14and he is at contriving from cold slag brute in the crucible

00:15:18a face that will pass,

00:15:20an image that will render this residual specie

00:15:25current in the markets,

00:15:27where men barter.

00:15:29Of this is the judge judge,

00:15:32and the night does not end.

00:15:35The light in the room altered.

00:15:38A door closed.

00:15:40He opened his eyes.

00:15:41His leg was swathed and shading,

00:15:43and it was propped up with small rolls of reed matting.

00:15:47He was desperate with thirst,

00:15:50and his head was booming,

00:15:51and his leg was like an evil visitant in the bed with him.

00:15:55Such was the pain.

00:15:57By and by,

00:15:58the assistant came with water for him.

00:16:00He did not sleep again.

00:16:03The water that he drank ran out through his skin

00:16:05and drenched the bedding,

00:16:06and he lay without moving as if to outwit the pain.

00:16:11And his face was grey and drawn,

00:16:14and his long hair damp and matted.

00:16:18A week more,

00:16:19and he was hobbling through the town on crutches provided him by the surgeon.

00:16:24He inquired at every door for news of the ex-priest,

00:16:28but no one knew him.

00:16:30In June of that year,

00:16:32he was in Los Angeles,

00:16:34quartered in a hostel that was no more than a common das house,

00:16:38he and forty other men,

00:16:39of every nationality.

00:16:42On the morning of the eleventh,

00:16:44all rose still in darkness,

00:16:45and turned out to witness a public hanging,

00:16:47at the carcel.

00:16:50When he arrived,

00:16:52it was paling light,

00:16:53and already such a horde of spectators at the gate,

00:16:56that he could not well see the proceedings.

00:16:59He stood at the edge of the crowd,

00:17:00while day broke and speeches were said.

00:17:03Then,

00:17:03abruptly,

00:17:05two bound figures rose vertically,

00:17:07from among the fellows to the top of the gatehouse.

00:17:10And there,

00:17:12they hung.

00:17:13And there they died.

00:17:16Bottles were handed about,

00:17:17and the witnesses,

00:17:18who had stood in silence,

00:17:20began to talk again.

00:17:23In the evening,

00:17:24when he returned to that place,

00:17:26there was no one there at all.

00:17:28A guard leaned in the gatehouse portal,

00:17:31chewing tobacco,

00:17:33and the hanged men at their rope ends

00:17:34looked like effigies

00:17:36to frighten birds.

00:17:39As he drew near,

00:17:41he saw that it was toad vine,

00:17:43and brown.

00:17:44He'd little money,

00:17:46and then he'd none.

00:17:47But he was in every dram house and gaming room,

00:17:50every cockpit and doggery.

00:17:53A quiet youth,

00:17:54in a suit too large,

00:17:55and the same broken boots,

00:17:57he'd come off the desert in.

00:18:00Standing just within the door of a foul saloon,

00:18:03with his eyes shifting under the brim of the hat he wore,

00:18:06and the light from a wall sconce on the side of his face,

00:18:09he was taken for a male whore,

00:18:12and set up to drinks and then shown to the rear of the premises.

00:18:16He left his patron senseless in a mudroom there,

00:18:20where there was no light.

00:18:23Other men found him on their own sordid missions,

00:18:26and other men took his purse and watch.

00:18:29Later still,

00:18:30someone took his shoes.

00:18:32He heard no news of the priest,

00:18:34and he'd quit asking.

00:18:36Returning to his lodging one morning at daybreak,

00:18:39in a grey rain,

00:18:40he saw a face slobbering in an upper window,

00:18:44and he climbed the stairwell and rapped at the door.

00:18:47A woman in a silk kimono opened the door and looked at him.

00:18:52Behind her in the room,

00:18:54a candle burned at a table,

00:18:56and in the pale light at the window,

00:18:58a half-wit sat in a pen with a cat.

00:19:01It turned to look at him.

00:19:03Not the judge's fool,

00:19:05but just some other fool.

00:19:08When the woman asked him what he wanted,

00:19:10he turned without speaking,

00:19:13and descended the stairwell

00:19:15into the rain and the mud in the street.

00:19:18With his last two dollars,

00:19:19he bought from a soldier

00:19:21the scapular of heathen ears

00:19:23that Brown had worn to the scaffold.

00:19:25He was wearing them the next morning

00:19:27when he hired out

00:19:29to an independent conductor

00:19:31from the state of Missouri,

00:19:33and he was wearing them

00:19:34when they set out for Fremont,

00:19:36on the Sacramento River

00:19:38with a train of wagons and pack animals.

00:19:41If the conductor had any curiosity

00:19:43about the necklace,

00:19:45he kept it to himself.

00:19:48He was at this employment for some months,

00:19:50and he left it without notice.

00:19:53He traveled about,

00:19:55from place to place.

00:19:57He did not avoid the company of other men.

00:20:00He was treated with a certain deference,

00:20:03as one who had got on to terms with life

00:20:05beyond what his years could account for.

00:20:08By now,

00:20:09he'd come by a horse and a revolver,

00:20:11the rudiments of an outfit.

00:20:14He worked at different trades.

00:20:16He had a Bible that he'd found

00:20:18at the mining camps,

00:20:19and he carried this book with him,

00:20:21no word of which he could read.

00:20:24In his dark and frugal clothes,

00:20:27some took him for a sort of preacher.

00:20:29But he was no witness to them,

00:20:31neither of things at hand,

00:20:33nor things to come.

00:20:35He, least of any man.

00:20:39They were remote places for news

00:20:42that he traveled in,

00:20:43and in those uncertain times

00:20:45men toasted the ascension of rulers

00:20:46already deposed,

00:20:48and hailed the coronation of kings

00:20:50murdered and in their graves.

00:20:53Of such corporal histories,

00:20:55even as these,

00:20:57he bore no tidings,

00:20:58and although it was the custom

00:20:59in that wilderness

00:21:00to stop with any traveler

00:21:02and exchange the news,

00:21:03he seemed to travel with no news at all,

00:21:06as if the doings of the world

00:21:07were too slanderous for him to truck with,

00:21:10or, perhaps, too trivial.

00:21:13He saw men killed with guns

00:21:15and with knives and with ropes,

00:21:17and he saw women fought over

00:21:19to the death whose value

00:21:20they themselves set at two dollars.

00:21:22He saw ships from the land of China,

00:21:25chained in the small harbors,

00:21:27and bales of tea and silks and spices,

00:21:30broken open with swords

00:21:32by small yellow men

00:21:33with speech like cats.

00:21:35On that lonely coast,

00:21:37where the steep rocks

00:21:39cradled a dark and muttersome sea,

00:21:42he saw vultures at their soaring,

00:21:46whose wingspan so dwarfed

00:21:48all lesser birds

00:21:49that the eagles shrieking underneath

00:21:52were more like terns or plovers.

00:21:55He saw piles of gold

00:21:56a hat would scarcely have covered,

00:21:59wagered on the turn of a cart,

00:22:01and lost.

00:22:03And he saw bears and lions

00:22:05turned loose in pits

00:22:06to fight wild bulls to the death.

00:22:09And he was twice

00:22:11in the city of San Francisco,

00:22:13and twice saw it burn,

00:22:15and never went back,

00:22:18fighting out on horseback

00:22:20along the road to the south,

00:22:21where all night

00:22:23the shape of the city

00:22:25burned against the sky,

00:22:27and burned again

00:22:28in the black waters of the sea,

00:22:30where dolphins rolled

00:22:32through the flames,

00:22:34fire in the lake,

00:22:35through the fall

00:22:37of burning timbers

00:22:38and the cries of the lost.

00:22:40He never saw

00:22:41the ex-priest again.

00:22:43Of the judge,

00:22:44he heard rumor

00:22:45everywhere.

00:22:47In the spring

00:22:48of his twenty-eighth year,

00:22:51he set out with others

00:22:52upon the desert

00:22:53to the east.

00:22:55He,

00:22:56one of five at higher,

00:22:57to see a party

00:22:58through the wilderness

00:22:59to their homes,

00:23:00halfway across the continent,

00:23:03seven days

00:23:04from the coast

00:23:04at a desert well

00:23:05he left them.

00:23:07They were just

00:23:07a band of pilgrims,

00:23:09returning to their homes,

00:23:11men and women,

00:23:13already dusty

00:23:14and travel-worn.

00:23:16He set the horses

00:23:17face north

00:23:18toward the stone mountains

00:23:19running thinly

00:23:20under the edge

00:23:21of the sky,

00:23:23and he rode

00:23:24the stars down

00:23:25and the sun up.

00:23:28It was no country

00:23:29he had ever seen,

00:23:30and there was no track

00:23:31to follow

00:23:32into those mountains,

00:23:34and there was

00:23:35no track out.

00:23:36Yet,

00:23:37in the deepest

00:23:39fastness

00:23:40of those rocks,

00:23:42he met with men

00:23:43who seemed

00:23:43unable to abide

00:23:45the silence

00:23:46of the world.

00:23:47He first saw them

00:23:49laboring over the plain

00:23:50in the dusk,

00:23:51among flowering

00:23:52ocotillo

00:23:53that burned

00:23:54in the final light

00:23:55like horned

00:23:56candelabra.

00:23:58They were led

00:23:59by a pitero,

00:24:01piping a reed,

00:24:02and then,

00:24:03in procession,

00:24:05a clanging

00:24:06of tambourines

00:24:07and matracas,

00:24:08and men

00:24:09naked to the waist

00:24:10in black capes

00:24:10and hoods,

00:24:11who flailed

00:24:12themselves with

00:24:13whips of braided yucca,

00:24:15and men who bore

00:24:16on their naked backs

00:24:17great loads

00:24:18of cholla,

00:24:20and a man

00:24:21tied to a rope

00:24:22who was pulled

00:24:22this way and that

00:24:23by his companions,

00:24:25and a hooded man

00:24:26in a white robe,

00:24:28who wore

00:24:29a heavy wooden cross

00:24:31on his shoulders.

00:24:33They were all of them

00:24:35barefoot,

00:24:37and they left

00:24:38the trail of blood

00:24:38across the rocks,

00:24:40and they were followed

00:24:41by a rude carreta,

00:24:44in which

00:24:45sat a carved

00:24:46wooden skeleton

00:24:47who rattled along

00:24:50stiffly,

00:24:51holding before him

00:24:52a bow

00:24:53and arrow.

00:24:54He shared his cart

00:24:56with a load

00:24:56of stones,

00:24:58and they went

00:24:59trundling over

00:24:59the rocks

00:25:00drawn by ropes

00:25:01tied to the heads

00:25:02and ankles

00:25:02of the bearers,

00:25:04and accompanied

00:25:04by a deputation

00:25:06of women

00:25:06who carried

00:25:07small desert flowers

00:25:09in their folded hands,

00:25:10or torches

00:25:12of sotol,

00:25:13or primitive

00:25:14lanterns

00:25:14of pierced tin.

00:25:18This troubled sect

00:25:20traversed slowly

00:25:22the ground

00:25:23under the bluff,

00:25:24where the watchers

00:25:25stood

00:25:26and made their way

00:25:27over the broken

00:25:28scree of a fan

00:25:29washed out of

00:25:31the draw above them,

00:25:32and wailing

00:25:33and piping

00:25:34and clanging,

00:25:35they passed

00:25:36between the granite

00:25:37walls

00:25:38into the upper valley

00:25:39and disappeared

00:25:41in the coming

00:25:41darkness,

00:25:43like heralds

00:25:44of some

00:25:44unspeakable calamity,

00:25:47leaving only

00:25:48bloody footprints

00:25:49on the stone.

00:25:52He bivouacked

00:25:53in a barren

00:25:55swale,

00:25:55and he and the horse

00:25:57lay down together,

00:25:59and all night

00:26:00the dry wind

00:26:02blew down

00:26:02the desert,

00:26:04and the wind

00:26:04was all but silent,

00:26:06for there was

00:26:07nothing of resonance

00:26:08among those rocks.

00:26:11in the dawn,

00:26:13he and the horse

00:26:13stood watching

00:26:14the east,

00:26:15where the light

00:26:16commenced,

00:26:17and then he saddled

00:26:19the horse,

00:26:20and led it down

00:26:21a scrabbled trail

00:26:22through a canyon,

00:26:23where he found a tank

00:26:25deep under a pitch

00:26:26of boulders.

00:26:28The water

00:26:29lay in darkness,

00:26:31and the stones

00:26:32were cool,

00:26:34and he drank

00:26:35and fetched water

00:26:36for the horse

00:26:37in his hat.

00:26:38Then he led

00:26:39the animal

00:26:39up onto the ridge,

00:26:41and they went on,

00:26:43the man

00:26:44watching the table

00:26:45into the south,

00:26:47and the mountains

00:26:48to the north,

00:26:49and the horse

00:26:51clattering along

00:26:53behind.

00:26:55By and by,

00:26:57the horse

00:26:57began to toss

00:26:58its head,

00:26:59and soon

00:27:00it would not go.

00:27:01He stood

00:27:02holding the hackamore

00:27:04and studying

00:27:04the country.

00:27:05Then he saw

00:27:06the pilgrims.

00:27:07They were scattered

00:27:08about below him

00:27:09in a stone coulee,

00:27:11dead in their blood.

00:27:14He took down

00:27:15his rifle

00:27:15and squatted

00:27:16and listened.

00:27:17He led the horse

00:27:19under the shade

00:27:19of the rock wall

00:27:20and hobbled it

00:27:22and moved along

00:27:23the rock,

00:27:24and down

00:27:24the slope.

00:27:26The company

00:27:27of penitents

00:27:27lay hacked

00:27:28and butchered

00:27:29among the stones

00:27:31in every attitude.

00:27:33Many lay

00:27:34about the fallen cross,

00:27:36and some were

00:27:37mutilated,

00:27:39and some were

00:27:40without heads.

00:27:41Perhaps they'd

00:27:42gathered under

00:27:43the cross

00:27:43for shelter,

00:27:44but the hole

00:27:45into which

00:27:46it had been set,

00:27:47and the cairn

00:27:48of rocks

00:27:48about its base,

00:27:50showed

00:27:51how it had been

00:27:52pushed over,

00:27:53and how the

00:27:54hooded

00:27:54altar Christ

00:27:55had been

00:27:56cut down

00:27:57and disemboweled,

00:27:59who now lay

00:28:00with the scraps

00:28:00of rope

00:28:01by which he'd

00:28:02been bound,

00:28:03still tied,

00:28:04about his wrists

00:28:05and ankles.

00:28:08The kid

00:28:09rose and looked

00:28:11about at this

00:28:12desolate scene,

00:28:14and then he saw

00:28:15alone and upright

00:28:17in a small

00:28:18leash on the rocks,

00:28:19an old woman

00:28:21kneeling

00:28:22in a faded

00:28:23rebozo,

00:28:25with her eyes

00:28:26cast down.

00:28:29He made his way

00:28:30among the corpses

00:28:31and stood

00:28:31before her.

00:28:33She was very

00:28:34old,

00:28:34and her face

00:28:35was grey

00:28:36and leathery,

00:28:36and sand

00:28:37had collected

00:28:38in the fold

00:28:39of her clothes.

00:28:40She did not

00:28:41look up.

00:28:42The shawl

00:28:43that covered

00:28:44her head

00:28:44was much faded

00:28:45of its colour

00:28:45yet.

00:28:46It bore

00:28:47like a patent

00:28:48woven into

00:28:49the fabric,

00:28:50the figures

00:28:51of stars

00:28:51and quarter moons

00:28:53and other

00:28:54insignia

00:28:55of a provenance

00:28:56unknown to him.

00:28:58He spoke to her

00:28:59in a low voice.

00:29:01He told her

00:29:01that he was

00:29:02an American,

00:29:03and that he was

00:29:04a long way

00:29:04from the country

00:29:05of his birth,

00:29:08and that he

00:29:08had no family,

00:29:10and that he

00:29:11had travelled much

00:29:12and seen many things

00:29:13and had been at war

00:29:15and endured

00:29:16hardships.

00:29:18He told her

00:29:18that he would

00:29:19convey her

00:29:19to a safe place,

00:29:21some party

00:29:22of her country people

00:29:23who would

00:29:23welcome her,

00:29:25and that she

00:29:25should join them,

00:29:26for he could not

00:29:27leave her in this place,

00:29:29or she would

00:29:30surely die.

00:29:31He knelt

00:29:32on one knee,

00:29:33resting the rifle

00:29:35before him

00:29:35like a staff.

00:29:38Abuelita,

00:29:39he said,

00:29:40no puedes

00:29:42escucharme?

00:29:44He reached

00:29:45into the little cove

00:29:46and touched

00:29:46her arm.

00:29:48She moved

00:29:49slightly.

00:29:51Her whole body,

00:29:53light

00:29:53and rigid.

00:29:55She weighed

00:29:56nothing.

00:29:58She was just

00:29:59a dried shell,

00:30:02and she had been

00:30:03dead in that place

00:30:05for years.

00:30:11Chapter 23

00:30:12on the North Texas Plains,

00:30:16an old buffalo hunter,

00:30:18the millennial herds,

00:30:20the bone pickers,

00:30:22night on the prairie,

00:30:23the callers,

00:30:25Apache ears,

00:30:27Elrod takes a stand,

00:30:28a killing,

00:30:30bearing off the dead,

00:30:32Fort Griffin,

00:30:33the beehive,

00:30:35a stage show,

00:30:36the judge,

00:30:38killing a bear.

00:30:40The judge speaks

00:30:41of old times,

00:30:43in preparation

00:30:43for the dance.

00:30:45The judge on war,

00:30:47destiny,

00:30:47the supremacy of man,

00:30:49the dance hall,

00:30:51the horror,

00:30:52the jakes,

00:30:53and what was

00:30:53encountered there.

00:30:55The judge

00:31:09Texas,

00:31:10he crossed the double

00:31:11mountain fork

00:31:12of the Brassos River,

00:31:14on a morning

00:31:15when skim ice

00:31:16lay along

00:31:17the sandy shore.

00:31:19And he rode

00:31:21through a dark

00:31:22dwarf forest

00:31:23of black

00:31:23and twisted

00:31:24mesquite trees.

00:31:26He made his camp

00:31:27that night

00:31:28on a piece

00:31:29of high ground,

00:31:30where there was

00:31:31a windbreak

00:31:31formed of a tree

00:31:32felled by lightning.

00:31:34He'd no sooner

00:31:35got his twist

00:31:36to burn

00:31:36than he saw

00:31:37across the prairie,

00:31:38in the darkness,

00:31:40another fire.

00:31:42Like his,

00:31:44it twisted

00:31:44in the wind.

00:31:46Like his,

00:31:48it warmed

00:31:49one man

00:31:50alone.

00:31:52It was an old

00:31:53hunter in camp.

00:31:56And the hunter

00:31:57shared tobacco

00:31:57with him

00:31:58and told him

00:31:58of the buffalo

00:31:59and the stands

00:32:00he'd made

00:32:00against them.

00:32:01laid up in a sag

00:32:03on some rise

00:32:04with the dead animals

00:32:05scattered

00:32:05over the grounds.

00:32:07And the herd

00:32:08beginning to mill

00:32:10and the rifle barrel

00:32:12so hot

00:32:13the wiping patches

00:32:15sizzled in the boar.

00:32:17And the animals

00:32:19by the thousands

00:32:20and tens of thousands.

00:32:22And the hides

00:32:23pegged out

00:32:24over actual

00:32:25square miles

00:32:26of ground.

00:32:27And the teams

00:32:28of skinners

00:32:29spelling one another

00:32:30around the clock.

00:32:32And the shooting

00:32:33and shooting

00:32:34weeks

00:32:35and months.

00:32:36So the boar

00:32:37shot slick

00:32:38and the stock

00:32:39shot loose

00:32:40at the tang.

00:32:41And their shoulders

00:32:42were yellow

00:32:43and blue

00:32:43to the elbow.

00:32:45And the tandem

00:32:46wagons groaned

00:32:46away

00:32:47over the prairie

00:32:48twenty

00:32:49and twenty-two

00:32:51ox teams.

00:32:52And the flint

00:32:53hides

00:32:54by the ton

00:32:54and hundred ton.

00:32:55And the meat

00:32:57rotting

00:32:58on the ground.

00:32:59And the air

00:33:00whining with flies

00:33:01and the buzzards

00:33:02and ravens.

00:33:03And the night

00:33:04of horror

00:33:04of snarling

00:33:05and feeding

00:33:06with the wolves

00:33:07half crazed

00:33:08and wallowing

00:33:09in the carrion.

00:33:14I seen

00:33:15Studebaker's

00:33:16wagons

00:33:16with six

00:33:17and eight

00:33:17and ox teams

00:33:19headed out

00:33:19for the ground.

00:33:20Not a hole

00:33:21in a thing

00:33:21but lead.

00:33:22Just pure

00:33:23galena.

00:33:24Tons of it.

00:33:25On this ground

00:33:26alone

00:33:27between the

00:33:27Arkansas River

00:33:28and the Contra

00:33:29there was

00:33:29eight million

00:33:30Caucasus

00:33:30for that's

00:33:31how many

00:33:31hides

00:33:32reached the

00:33:32railhead.

00:33:33Two years

00:33:34ago

00:33:34we pulled

00:33:34out from

00:33:35Griffin

00:33:35for a

00:33:35last hunt.

00:33:36We ransacked

00:33:37the country

00:33:38six weeks.

00:33:39Finally

00:33:39found a

00:33:40herd

00:33:40of eight

00:33:41animals

00:33:41and we

00:33:42killed

00:33:42them

00:33:42and come

00:33:42in.

00:33:43They're

00:33:43gone.

00:33:44Every

00:33:45one of

00:33:45them

00:33:45that God

00:33:46ever made

00:33:47is gone

00:33:47as if

00:33:48they'd

00:33:48never

00:33:48been

00:33:48there

00:33:49at all.

00:33:51The

00:33:52ragged

00:33:52sparks

00:33:52blew

00:33:53down

00:33:53the

00:33:53wind.

00:33:53The

00:33:54prairie

00:33:55about

00:33:55them

00:33:55lay

00:33:56silent.

00:33:57Beyond

00:33:58the

00:33:58fire

00:33:58it

00:33:58was

00:33:58cold

00:33:59and

00:33:59the

00:33:59night

00:33:59was

00:33:59clear

00:34:00and

00:34:01the

00:34:01stars

00:34:02were

00:34:02falling.

00:34:03The

00:34:03old

00:34:04hunter

00:34:04pulled

00:34:05his

00:34:05blanket

00:34:05about

00:34:06him.

00:34:07I

00:34:07wonder

00:34:08if

00:34:08there's

00:34:08other

00:34:09worlds

00:34:09like

00:34:09this,

00:34:10he

00:34:11said.

00:34:12Oh,

00:34:13this

00:34:14is

00:34:14the

00:34:14only

00:34:15one.

00:34:16When

00:34:17he

00:34:17came

00:34:17upon

00:34:17the

00:34:18bone

00:34:18pickers,

00:34:19he'd

00:34:20been

00:34:20riding

00:34:20three

00:34:20days

00:34:21in

00:34:21a

00:34:21country

00:34:22he'd

00:34:22never

00:34:22seen.

00:34:23The

00:34:24plains

00:34:24were

00:34:24seer

00:34:25and

00:34:25burnt

00:34:25looking,

00:34:26and

00:34:27the

00:34:27small

00:34:27trees

00:34:27black

00:34:28and

00:34:28misshapen,

00:34:29and

00:34:30haunted

00:34:30by

00:34:31ravens,

00:34:32and

00:34:33everywhere

00:34:33the ragged

00:34:34packs of

00:34:35jackal wolves

00:34:35and the

00:34:36crazed and

00:34:37sun-chalked

00:34:38bones

00:34:39of the

00:34:40vanished

00:34:40herds.

00:34:41He

00:34:42dismounted

00:34:43and led

00:34:44the

00:34:44horse.

00:34:45Here

00:34:46and there,

00:34:47within the

00:34:47arc of

00:34:48ribs,

00:34:48a few

00:34:48flat disks

00:34:49of

00:34:49darkened

00:34:50lead

00:34:50like

00:34:50old

00:34:51medallions

00:34:51of

00:34:52some

00:34:52order

00:34:53of

00:34:53the

00:34:53hunt.

00:34:55In

00:34:55the

00:34:55distance,

00:34:56teams

00:34:56of

00:34:57oxen

00:34:57bore

00:34:57along

00:34:58slowly,

00:34:59and the

00:34:59heavy

00:35:00wagons

00:35:00creaked

00:35:01dryly.

00:35:02Into

00:35:03these

00:35:03barrows

00:35:03the

00:35:04pickers

00:35:04tossed

00:35:04the

00:35:04bones,

00:35:05kicking

00:35:06down

00:35:06the

00:35:07calcined

00:35:07architecture,

00:35:09breaking

00:35:09apart

00:35:10the

00:35:10great

00:35:10frames

00:35:11with

00:35:11axes.

00:35:13The

00:35:13bones

00:35:14clattered

00:35:15in the

00:35:15wagons.

00:35:16They

00:35:17plowed

00:35:17on

00:35:17in

00:35:18a

00:35:18pale

00:35:18dust.

00:35:19He

00:35:20watched

00:35:20them

00:35:20pass,

00:35:21ragged,

00:35:22filthy,

00:35:23the

00:35:23oxen

00:35:24galled

00:35:25and

00:35:25mad

00:35:25looking.

00:35:26None

00:35:27spoke

00:35:27to

00:35:27him.

00:35:28In

00:35:29the

00:35:29distance,

00:35:29he

00:35:30could

00:35:30see

00:35:30a

00:35:30train

00:35:31of

00:35:31wagons

00:35:31moving

00:35:31off

00:35:32to

00:35:32the

00:35:32northeast,

00:35:33with

00:35:34great

00:35:34tottering

00:35:35loads

00:35:35of

00:35:36bones,

00:35:37and

00:35:37further

00:35:38to

00:35:38the

00:35:38north,

00:35:39other

00:35:39teams

00:35:40of

00:35:40pickers

00:35:40at

00:35:41their

00:35:41work.

00:35:43He

00:35:43mounted

00:35:44and

00:35:44rode

00:35:45on.

00:35:46The

00:35:46bones

00:35:46had

00:35:47been

00:35:47gathered

00:35:47into

00:35:47wind

00:35:48rows,

00:35:49ten

00:35:49feet

00:35:49high,

00:35:50and

00:35:51hundreds

00:35:51long,

00:35:53or into

00:35:54great

00:35:54conical

00:35:55hills topped

00:35:56with the

00:35:56signs or

00:35:57brands of

00:35:57their

00:35:57owners.

00:35:58He

00:35:59overtook

00:35:59one of

00:36:00the

00:36:00lumbering

00:36:00carts.

00:36:01A

00:36:02boy,

00:36:02riding

00:36:03near the

00:36:03wheel

00:36:03ox and

00:36:04driving

00:36:04with a

00:36:05jerkline

00:36:05and a

00:36:05jockey

00:36:06stick.

00:36:07Two

00:36:07youths,

00:36:08squatting

00:36:09atop

00:36:09a mound

00:36:10of

00:36:10skulls

00:36:11and

00:36:11pelvic

00:36:11bones,

00:36:13leered

00:36:13down

00:36:13at

00:36:14him.

00:36:15Their

00:36:16fires

00:36:16dotted

00:36:16the

00:36:17plain

00:36:17that

00:36:17night,

00:36:18and

00:36:18he

00:36:18sat

00:36:19with

00:36:19his

00:36:19back

00:36:19to

00:36:19the

00:36:20wind

00:36:20and

00:36:21drank

00:36:21from

00:36:21an

00:36:22army

00:36:22canteen

00:36:24and

00:36:24ate

00:36:25a handful

00:36:26of

00:36:26parched

00:36:26corn

00:36:27for his

00:36:27supper.

00:36:28All

00:36:29across

00:36:29those

00:36:30reaches

00:36:30the

00:36:30yammer

00:36:31and

00:36:31yap

00:36:31of the

00:36:32starving

00:36:32wolves

00:36:32relayed.

00:36:33Unto

00:36:34the

00:36:34north

00:36:34the

00:36:35silent

00:36:35lightning

00:36:36rigged

00:36:36a

00:36:36broken

00:36:37lyre

00:36:37upon

00:36:38the

00:36:38world's

00:36:39dark

00:36:39rim.

00:36:40The

00:36:40air

00:36:41smelled

00:36:41of

00:36:41rain

00:36:42but

00:36:42no

00:36:43rain

00:36:44fell

00:36:44and

00:36:45the

00:36:45creaking

00:36:46bone

00:36:46carts

00:36:46passed

00:36:47in

00:36:47the

00:36:47night

00:36:47like

00:36:47darkened

00:36:48ships

00:36:48and

00:36:49he

00:36:50could

00:36:50smell

00:36:50the

00:36:50oxen

00:36:51and

00:36:52hear

00:36:52their

00:36:52breath.

00:36:53The

00:36:54sour smell

00:36:54of the

00:36:55bones

00:36:55was

00:36:55everywhere.

00:36:57Toward

00:36:57midnight

00:36:57a party

00:36:58hailed

00:36:58him as

00:36:58he

00:36:59squatted

00:36:59at

00:36:59his

00:36:59coals.

00:37:02Come

00:37:02on

00:37:03up,

00:37:04he

00:37:04said.

00:37:05They

00:37:06came

00:37:06up

00:37:07out

00:37:07of

00:37:07the

00:37:07dark

00:37:08sullen

00:37:08wretches

00:37:08dressed

00:37:09in

00:37:10skins.

00:37:10They

00:37:11carried

00:37:11old

00:37:12military

00:37:12guns,

00:37:13save

00:37:14for

00:37:14one

00:37:14who

00:37:14had

00:37:14a

00:37:14buffalo

00:37:15rifle.

00:37:16And

00:37:16they

00:37:16had

00:37:17no

00:37:17coats,

00:37:17and

00:37:18one

00:37:18of

00:37:18them

00:37:18wore

00:37:18green

00:37:19hide

00:37:19boots,

00:37:20peeled

00:37:20whole

00:37:21from

00:37:22the

00:37:22hawks

00:37:22of

00:37:22some

00:37:23animal,

00:37:23and

00:37:24the

00:37:24toes

00:37:25gathered

00:37:25shot

00:37:25with

00:37:26leader.

00:37:30Evening,

00:37:31stranger,

00:37:32called out

00:37:33the eldest

00:37:33child

00:37:34among

00:37:34them.

00:37:35He

00:37:35looked

00:37:36at

00:37:36them.

00:37:37There

00:37:38were

00:37:38four

00:37:38and a

00:37:39half-grown

00:37:39boy,

00:37:41and they

00:37:42halted

00:37:42at the

00:37:43edge of

00:37:43the

00:37:43light

00:37:44and

00:37:45arranged

00:37:45themselves

00:37:46there.

00:37:46Come

00:37:47on up,

00:37:48he said.

00:37:49They

00:37:50shuffled

00:37:51forward,

00:37:52three of

00:37:52them

00:37:52squatted,

00:37:53and two

00:37:53stood.

00:37:55Where's

00:37:56the

00:37:56outfit?

00:37:57said

00:37:58one.

00:37:59He

00:38:00ain't

00:38:00all

00:38:00for

00:38:01bones.

00:38:03You

00:38:03ain't

00:38:03got

00:38:03narrow

00:38:04tooth

00:38:04to

00:38:04back

00:38:05about

00:38:05your

00:38:05clothes,

00:38:06have

00:38:06he?

00:38:08he

00:38:08shook

00:38:09his

00:38:09head.

00:38:10Never

00:38:10drink

00:38:10whiskey

00:38:11neither,

00:38:12I

00:38:12don't

00:38:12reckon.

00:38:13He

00:38:14ain't

00:38:14got

00:38:14no

00:38:14whiskey.

00:38:16Where

00:38:16you

00:38:16headed,

00:38:17mister?

00:38:18Are

00:38:18you

00:38:19headed

00:38:19to

00:38:19those

00:38:19griffin?

00:38:21He

00:38:21looked

00:38:21them

00:38:22over.

00:38:23I

00:38:23am,

00:38:24he

00:38:25said.

00:38:26Come

00:38:26for

00:38:26the

00:38:27whores,

00:38:27I

00:38:27bet

00:38:28ye.

00:38:29He

00:38:29ain't

00:38:30coming

00:38:30for

00:38:30the

00:38:31whores.

00:38:32It's

00:38:33full

00:38:33of

00:38:33whores,

00:38:34griffin

00:38:34is.

00:38:35Hell,

00:38:36he's

00:38:37probably

00:38:37been

00:38:37there

00:38:37more

00:38:38than

00:38:38you.

00:38:39You

00:38:39been

00:38:39to

00:38:40griffin

00:38:40mister?

00:38:42Not

00:38:43yet.

00:38:44Full

00:38:45of

00:38:45whores,

00:38:46full

00:38:46plumber.

00:38:48They

00:38:48say

00:38:49you

00:38:49can

00:38:49get

00:38:49clapped

00:38:50the

00:38:50days

00:38:50right

00:38:51out

00:38:51when

00:38:51the

00:38:51wind

00:38:51is

00:38:52right.

00:38:53They

00:38:54sit

00:38:54in

00:38:54a

00:38:54tree

00:38:55in

00:38:55front

00:38:55of

00:38:55this

00:38:55here

00:38:56place

00:38:56and

00:38:56you

00:38:56can

00:38:56look

00:38:57up

00:38:57and

00:38:57see

00:38:57their

00:38:57bloomers.

00:38:58I

00:38:59counted

00:38:59high

00:38:59as

00:39:00eight

00:39:00in

00:39:00that

00:39:00tree

00:39:01early

00:39:01of

00:39:01an

00:39:01evening.

00:39:02Sit

00:39:02up

00:39:03there

00:39:03like

00:39:03coons

00:39:04and

00:39:04smoke

00:39:04cigarettes

00:39:05and

00:39:05holler

00:39:05down

00:39:05at

00:39:06ye.

00:39:07It's

00:39:07set

00:39:07up

00:39:07to

00:39:07be

00:39:07the

00:39:08biggest

00:39:08town

00:39:08for

00:39:08all

00:39:08sin

00:39:09in

00:39:09all

00:39:09Texas.

00:39:10It's

00:39:11as

00:39:11lively

00:39:11a

00:39:11place

00:39:12for

00:39:12murders

00:39:12as

00:39:13you

00:39:13care

00:39:13to

00:39:13visit.

00:39:14Scrapes

00:39:15with

00:39:15knives

00:39:16about

00:39:16any

00:39:17kind

00:39:17of

00:39:17meanness

00:39:18you

00:39:18can

00:39:18name.

00:39:20He

00:39:20looked

00:39:21at

00:39:21them

00:39:21from

00:39:22one

00:39:22to

00:39:22the

00:39:22other.

00:39:23He

00:39:23reached

00:39:24and

00:39:25took

00:39:25up

00:39:25a

00:39:25stick

00:39:25and

00:39:26roused

00:39:26the

00:39:26fire

00:39:27with

00:39:27it

00:39:28and

00:39:29put

00:39:29the

00:39:29stake

00:39:29in

00:39:30the

00:39:30flames.

00:39:32Y'all

00:39:32like

00:39:33meanness?

00:39:34He

00:39:35said.

00:39:36We

00:39:36don't

00:39:37hold

00:39:37with

00:39:37it.

00:39:39Like

00:39:39to

00:39:39drink

00:39:40whiskey?

00:39:41He's

00:39:42just

00:39:42talking.

00:39:43He

00:39:43ain't

00:39:43no

00:39:43whiskey

00:39:44drinker.

00:39:46Hell,

00:39:47you

00:39:48just

00:39:48now

00:39:48seen

00:39:48him

00:39:49drink

00:39:49a

00:39:49night

00:39:50I

00:39:50would

00:39:50go.

00:39:51I

00:39:52seen

00:39:52him

00:39:52puke

00:39:53back

00:39:53up

00:39:53too.

00:39:54What's

00:39:54them

00:39:54things

00:39:54around

00:39:55your

00:39:55neck

00:39:55there,

00:39:55mister?

00:39:57He

00:39:57pulled

00:39:57the

00:39:58aged

00:39:58scapular

00:39:58from

00:39:59his

00:39:59shirt

00:39:59front

00:40:00and

00:40:01looked

00:40:01at

00:40:01it.

00:40:02It's

00:40:03ears,

00:40:04he

00:40:05said.

00:40:06Ears

00:40:07what?

00:40:09Ears.

00:40:13What

00:40:14kind

00:40:14of

00:40:14ears?

00:40:15He

00:40:16tugged

00:40:16at

00:40:16the

00:40:17thong

00:40:17and

00:40:17looked

00:40:17down

00:40:18at

00:40:18them.

00:40:18They

00:40:19were

00:40:19perfectly

00:40:20black

00:40:20and

00:40:21hard

00:40:21and

00:40:21dry

00:40:21and

00:40:22of

00:40:23no

00:40:23shape

00:40:23at

00:40:24all.

00:40:25Humans.

00:40:27He

00:40:27said

00:40:27human

00:40:28ears.

00:40:30Ain't

00:40:31done

00:40:31it,

00:40:32said

00:40:33the

00:40:33one

00:40:33with

00:40:33the

00:40:33rifle.

00:40:35Don't

00:40:35call him

00:40:36a

00:40:36liar,

00:40:36El

00:40:36Rye,

00:40:37he's

00:40:37liable

00:40:37to

00:40:37shoot

00:40:38you,

00:40:38let's

00:40:38see

00:40:39them

00:40:39things,

00:40:39mister,

00:40:40if you

00:40:40don't

00:40:40care.

00:40:42He

00:40:42slid

00:40:42the

00:40:43scapular

00:40:43over

00:40:44his

00:40:44head

00:40:44and

00:40:45hatted

00:40:45across

00:40:46the

00:40:46boy

00:40:46who'd

00:40:47spoken.

00:40:48They

00:40:49pressed

00:40:49about

00:40:50and

00:40:50felt

00:40:51the

00:40:51strange

00:40:51dried

00:40:52pendants.

00:40:54Niggas,

00:40:54ain't

00:40:55it?

00:40:55They

00:40:56said.

00:40:57Doc

00:40:57them

00:40:57niggas

00:40:57ears

00:40:58so

00:40:58they

00:40:58know

00:40:58when

00:40:59they

00:40:59run

00:40:59off.

00:41:01How

00:41:01many

00:41:01is

00:41:02there,

00:41:02mister?

00:41:04I

00:41:05don't

00:41:05know.

00:41:05Used

00:41:06to

00:41:06be

00:41:06near

00:41:06a

00:41:06hundred.

00:41:08They

00:41:08held

00:41:08the

00:41:08thing

00:41:09up

00:41:09and

00:41:10turned

00:41:10it

00:41:10in

00:41:10the

00:41:10fire

00:41:11line.

00:41:11Niggas

00:41:12ears

00:41:12by

00:41:13God.

00:41:14They

00:41:15ain't

00:41:15niggas

00:41:16like

00:41:17I

00:41:18ain't.

00:41:19Hello?

00:41:20What

00:41:21are

00:41:21they?

00:41:22Engines.

00:41:23The

00:41:24hell

00:41:25they

00:41:25are.

00:41:27Elrod,

00:41:28you

00:41:28done

00:41:28been

00:41:28told.

00:41:29How

00:41:30come

00:41:30they

00:41:31be

00:41:31so

00:41:31black

00:41:32as

00:41:33that

00:41:33if

00:41:34they

00:41:34ain't

00:41:34niggas?

00:41:36They

00:41:36turned

00:41:37that

00:41:37way.

00:41:38They

00:41:38got

00:41:38blacker

00:41:38till

00:41:38they

00:41:39gone

00:41:39black

00:41:39no

00:41:39more.

00:41:41Where'd

00:41:41you

00:41:41get

00:41:42them

00:41:42at?

00:41:43Kill

00:41:43them

00:41:44son

00:41:44of

00:41:44bitches

00:41:44didn't

00:41:45you,

00:41:45mister?

00:41:47You

00:41:48been

00:41:48to scout

00:41:48them

00:41:48prairies,

00:41:49ain't

00:41:49she?

00:41:52I

00:41:53bought

00:41:53them

00:41:53ears

00:41:54in

00:41:54California

00:41:55all

00:41:55for

00:41:56soldier

00:41:56in

00:41:56a

00:41:56saloon

00:41:57didn't

00:41:57have

00:41:57no

00:41:58money

00:41:58to

00:41:58drink

00:41:58on.

00:42:00He

00:42:00reached

00:42:01and took

00:42:02the

00:42:02scapular

00:42:02from

00:42:03them.

00:42:04Shoot,

00:42:05I

00:42:05bet

00:42:05he's

00:42:06a scout

00:42:06on

00:42:06the

00:42:06prairie

00:42:07kill

00:42:07every

00:42:08one

00:42:08of

00:42:08them

00:42:08son

00:42:09bitches.

00:42:10The

00:42:11one

00:42:11called

00:42:11Elrod

00:42:12followed

00:42:13the

00:42:13trophies

00:42:14with his

00:42:14chin

00:42:14and

00:42:15sniffed

00:42:15the

00:42:15air.

00:42:17I

00:42:17don't

00:42:18see

00:42:18what

00:42:18you

00:42:18want

00:42:19with

00:42:19them

00:42:19things,

00:42:20he

00:42:20said.

00:42:20I

00:42:21wouldn't

00:42:21have

00:42:21them.

00:42:22The

00:42:23others

00:42:23looked

00:42:23at

00:42:23him

00:42:24uneasily.

00:42:26You

00:42:27don't

00:42:27know

00:42:27where

00:42:27them

00:42:27ears

00:42:28come

00:42:28from.

00:42:29That

00:42:29old

00:42:29boy

00:42:29you

00:42:29bought

00:42:29them

00:42:30off

00:42:30might

00:42:30have

00:42:30said

00:42:30they

00:42:31was

00:42:31entrance,

00:42:31but

00:42:31that

00:42:31don't

00:42:32make

00:42:32it

00:42:32so.

00:42:34The

00:42:34man

00:42:35didn't

00:42:36answer.

00:42:37Them

00:42:37ears

00:42:37could

00:42:38have

00:42:38come

00:42:38off

00:42:38cannibals

00:42:39or

00:42:39any

00:42:39other

00:42:39kind

00:42:39of

00:42:40our

00:42:40nigger

00:42:40they

00:42:40tell

00:42:41you

00:42:41can

00:42:41buy

00:42:41whole

00:42:42heads

00:42:42in

00:42:42New

00:42:43Orleans.

00:42:44Sellers

00:42:45bring

00:42:45them

00:42:45in

00:42:45and

00:42:45you

00:42:46can

00:42:46buy

00:42:46them

00:42:46for

00:42:46five

00:42:47dollars

00:42:47all

00:42:47day

00:42:47long

00:42:48them

00:42:48heads.

00:42:50Hush

00:42:50Elrod?

00:42:52The

00:42:53man

00:42:53sat

00:42:54holding

00:42:54the

00:42:54necklace

00:42:55in

00:42:55his

00:42:55hands.

00:42:57They

00:42:58wasn't

00:42:58cannibals,

00:42:59he

00:43:00said.

00:43:00They

00:43:01was

00:43:01Apaches.

00:43:02I

00:43:02know

00:43:02the

00:43:03man

00:43:03that

00:43:03docked

00:43:03them,

00:43:04know

00:43:04him

00:43:04and

00:43:05rode

00:43:05with

00:43:05him

00:43:05and

00:43:06seen

00:43:06him

00:43:06hung.

00:43:08Elrod

00:43:09looked

00:43:09at

00:43:09the

00:43:09others

00:43:09and

00:43:10grinned.

00:43:11Oh,

00:43:11Apaches,

00:43:12he

00:43:12said.

00:43:13I

00:43:13bet

00:43:13them

00:43:13old

00:43:14Apaches

00:43:14would

00:43:14give

00:43:14a

00:43:15watermelon

00:43:15a

00:43:15pure

00:43:16fit.

00:43:17What

00:43:17about

00:43:18you

00:43:18all?

00:43:19The

00:43:20man

00:43:20looked

00:43:20up

00:43:21wearily.

00:43:22You

00:43:23ain't

00:43:23calling

00:43:24me

00:43:24a

00:43:25liar.

00:43:26Are

00:43:26ye,

00:43:27son?

00:43:29Aye,

00:43:29son.

00:43:31How

00:43:32old

00:43:32are

00:43:32you?

00:43:33There's

00:43:34some

00:43:34more

00:43:34your

00:43:35business.

00:43:36how

00:43:37old

00:43:38are

00:43:38you?

00:43:39He's

00:43:4015.

00:43:41You

00:43:42hush

00:43:42your

00:43:42damn

00:43:43mouth.

00:43:43He

00:43:44turned

00:43:44to

00:43:44the

00:43:44man.

00:43:45He

00:43:45don't

00:43:45speak

00:43:45for

00:43:46me,

00:43:46he

00:43:47said.

00:43:50He's

00:43:50done

00:43:51spoke.

00:43:52I

00:43:52was

00:43:5215

00:43:53years

00:43:53old

00:43:54when

00:43:54I

00:43:54was

00:43:55first

00:43:55shot.

00:43:56I

00:43:57ain't

00:43:57never

00:43:57been

00:43:57shot.

00:43:59You

00:43:59ain't

00:44:0016

00:44:00yet

00:44:01neither.

00:44:02You

00:44:02aim

00:44:03to

00:44:03shoot

00:44:03me.

00:44:04I

00:44:04aim.

00:44:05to

00:44:05try

00:44:06to

00:44:06keep

00:44:06from

00:44:07it.

00:44:08Come

00:44:08on,

00:44:09Elrod,

00:44:10you

00:44:10ain't

00:44:10gonna

00:44:10shoot

00:44:10nobody

00:44:11maybe

00:44:11in

00:44:12the

00:44:12back

00:44:12of

00:44:12them

00:44:12asleep.

00:44:14Elrod,

00:44:15we're

00:44:15gone.

00:44:17I

00:44:17knowed

00:44:18you

00:44:18for

00:44:18what

00:44:18you

00:44:19was

00:44:19when

00:44:19I

00:44:19seen

00:44:20you.

00:44:21You

00:44:22better

00:44:22go

00:44:22on.

00:44:23Sit

00:44:24there

00:44:24and

00:44:25talk

00:44:25about

00:44:25shooting

00:44:26anybody.

00:44:27Ain't

00:44:27nobody

00:44:28done

00:44:28it

00:44:28yet.

00:44:30The

00:44:31other

00:44:31four

00:44:31stood

00:44:32at the

00:44:32limits

00:44:33of

00:44:33the

00:44:33fire

00:44:33light.

00:44:34The

00:44:35youngest

00:44:35of

00:44:35them

00:44:36was

00:44:36casting

00:44:36glances

00:44:37out

00:44:37at

00:44:38the

00:44:38dark

00:44:38sanctuary

00:44:39of

00:44:40the

00:44:40prairie

00:44:41night.

00:44:42Go

00:44:42on,

00:44:43the

00:44:44man

00:44:44said.

00:44:45They're

00:44:45waiting

00:44:45on

00:44:46ye.

00:44:47He

00:44:48spat

00:44:48into

00:44:48the

00:44:48man's

00:44:49fire

00:44:49and

00:44:49wiped

00:44:49his

00:44:50mouth.

00:44:51Out

00:44:52on

00:44:52the

00:44:52prairie

00:44:52to

00:44:52the

00:44:52north,

00:44:53a

00:44:54train

00:44:54of

00:44:54yoked

00:44:54wagons

00:44:55was

00:44:55passing,

00:44:56and

00:44:57the

00:44:57oxen

00:44:57were

00:44:58pale

00:44:58and

00:44:58silent

00:44:59in

00:44:59the

00:44:59starlight,

00:45:00and

00:45:01the

00:45:01wagons

00:45:01creaked

00:45:02faintly

00:45:02in

00:45:02the

00:45:02distance,

00:45:03and

00:45:04a

00:45:04lantern

00:45:04with

00:45:05a

00:45:05red

00:45:05glass

00:45:05followed

00:45:06them

00:45:06out,

00:45:07like

00:45:08an

00:45:08alien

00:45:08eye.

00:45:09This

00:45:10country

00:45:10was

00:45:11filled

00:45:11with

00:45:11violent

00:45:12children,

00:45:13orphaned

00:45:13by

00:45:14war.

00:45:15His

00:45:15companions

00:45:16had

00:45:17started

00:45:17back

00:45:17to

00:45:17fetch

00:45:18him,

00:45:18and

00:45:19perhaps

00:45:19this

00:45:21emboldened

00:45:22him

00:45:22more,

00:45:23and

00:45:24perhaps

00:45:24he

00:45:24said

00:45:25other

00:45:25things

00:45:25to

00:45:25the

00:45:26man,

00:45:26for

00:45:27when

00:45:27they

00:45:27got

00:45:27to

00:45:27the

00:45:27fire,

00:45:28the

00:45:28man

00:45:29had

00:45:29risen

00:45:29to

00:45:30his

00:45:30feet.

00:45:32You

00:45:33keep

00:45:33him

00:45:33away

00:45:33from

00:45:34me,

00:45:34he

00:45:35said.

00:45:35I

00:45:36see

00:45:36him

00:45:36back

00:45:37here,

00:45:37I'll

00:45:37kill

00:45:38him.

00:45:39When

00:45:40they

00:45:40had

00:45:40gone,

00:45:41he

00:45:41built

00:45:41up

00:45:41the

00:45:41fire,

00:45:42and

00:45:43caught

00:45:43the

00:45:44horse,

00:45:44and

00:45:44took

00:45:45the

00:45:45hobbles

00:45:45off,

00:45:45and

00:45:46tied

00:45:46it,

00:45:46and

00:45:46saddled

00:45:46it,

00:45:47and

00:45:48then

00:45:48he

00:45:48moved

00:45:48off

00:45:48apart

00:45:49and

00:45:49spread

00:45:49his

00:45:49blanket

00:45:50and

00:45:50lay

00:45:50down

00:45:51in

00:45:51the

00:45:51dark.

00:45:53When

00:45:53he

00:45:54woke,

00:45:54there

00:45:54was

00:45:55still

00:45:55no

00:45:55light

00:45:55in

00:45:55the

00:45:56east.

00:45:57The

00:45:57boy

00:45:57was

00:45:58standing

00:45:58by

00:45:58the

00:45:58ashes

00:45:59of

00:45:59the

00:45:59fire,

00:46:01with

00:46:01the

00:46:01rifle

00:46:02in

00:46:02his

00:46:02hand.

00:46:03The

00:46:03horse

00:46:04had

00:46:04snuffed,

00:46:05and

00:46:05now

00:46:05it

00:46:05snuffed

00:46:06again.

00:46:08I

00:46:08knowed

00:46:09you

00:46:09be

00:46:09here

00:46:10now,

00:46:11the

00:46:11boy

00:46:12called.

00:46:12He

00:46:13pushed

00:46:13back

00:46:14the

00:46:14blanket,

00:46:15rolled

00:46:15onto

00:46:15his

00:46:15stomach,

00:46:16and

00:46:17caught

00:46:17the

00:46:18pistol,

00:46:18and

00:46:18leveled

00:46:19it

00:46:19at

00:46:19the

00:46:19sky,

00:46:21where

00:46:21the

00:46:21clustered

00:46:21stars

00:46:22were

00:46:22burning

00:46:22for

00:46:23eternity.

00:46:24He

00:46:25centered

00:46:25the

00:46:25foresight

00:46:26in

00:46:26the

00:46:26milled

00:46:26groove

00:46:27of

00:46:27the

00:46:27frame

00:46:27strap,

00:46:29and

00:46:29holding

00:46:29the

00:46:30piece

00:46:30so he

00:46:30swung

00:46:31it

00:46:31through

00:46:31the

00:46:31dark

00:46:31of

00:46:31the

00:46:31trees

00:46:32with

00:46:32both

00:46:32hands

00:46:33to

00:46:33the

00:46:33darker

00:46:34shape

00:46:34of

00:46:34the

00:46:34visitor.

00:46:39I'm

00:46:40right

00:46:40here,

00:46:41he

00:46:41said.

00:46:42The

00:46:42boy

00:46:42swung

00:46:43with

00:46:43the

00:46:43rifle

00:46:44and

00:46:44fired.

00:46:47You

00:46:47wouldn't

00:46:48have lived

00:46:48anyway,

00:46:50the man

00:46:51said.

00:46:51It was

00:46:52gray dawn

00:46:53when the

00:46:53others

00:46:53came up.

00:46:54They

00:46:55had no

00:46:55horses.

00:46:56They

00:46:57led the

00:46:57half-grown

00:46:58boy to

00:46:58where the

00:46:58dead

00:46:59youth

00:46:59was

00:46:59lying on

00:47:00his

00:47:00back,

00:47:00with his

00:47:01hands

00:47:01composed

00:47:02upon his

00:47:03chest.

00:47:04We

00:47:05don't

00:47:05want no

00:47:06trouble,

00:47:06mister.

00:47:07We

00:47:07just

00:47:07want to

00:47:08take

00:47:08him

00:47:08with

00:47:08us.

00:47:10Take

00:47:10him?

00:47:11I

00:47:12know

00:47:12to

00:47:12bury

00:47:13him

00:47:13on

00:47:13this

00:47:13prairie.

00:47:16They

00:47:16come

00:47:17out

00:47:17here

00:47:17from

00:47:17Kentucky,

00:47:18mister.

00:47:19This

00:47:19stock

00:47:19and

00:47:19his

00:47:19brother,

00:47:20his

00:47:20mama

00:47:20and

00:47:21daddy

00:47:21both

00:47:22dead.

00:47:22His

00:47:23granddaddy

00:47:23was

00:47:23killed

00:47:24by a

00:47:24lunatic

00:47:24and

00:47:25buried

00:47:25in

00:47:25the

00:47:25woods

00:47:25like

00:47:26a

00:47:26dog.

00:47:27He

00:47:27never

00:47:28no

00:47:28good

00:47:28fortune

00:47:28in

00:47:29his

00:47:29life,

00:47:29and

00:47:29now

00:47:30he

00:47:30ain't

00:47:30got

00:47:30a

00:47:30soul

00:47:31in

00:47:31this

00:47:31world.

00:47:35Randall,

00:47:36you

00:47:36take

00:47:36a

00:47:36good

00:47:36look

00:47:37at

00:47:37that

00:47:37man

00:47:37that

00:47:37has

00:47:38made

00:47:38you

00:47:38an

00:47:38orphan.

00:47:40The

00:47:40orphan

00:47:41in

00:47:41his

00:47:41large

00:47:41clothes,

00:47:42holding

00:47:43the

00:47:43musket

00:47:43with

00:47:44the

00:47:44mended

00:47:44stock,

00:47:45stared

00:47:46at

00:47:46him,

00:47:47woodenly.

00:47:48He

00:47:49was

00:47:49maybe

00:47:50twelve

00:47:50years

00:47:50old,

00:47:51and

00:47:51he

00:47:52looked

00:47:52not

00:47:52so

00:47:52much

00:47:52dull

00:47:53witted

00:47:53as

00:47:54insane.

00:47:55Two

00:47:56of the

00:47:56others

00:47:56were

00:47:56going

00:47:57through

00:47:57the

00:47:57dead

00:47:57boy's

00:47:57pockets.

00:47:59Where's

00:48:00his

00:48:00raffle

00:48:00at,

00:48:00mister?

00:48:02The

00:48:03man

00:48:03stood

00:48:04with

00:48:05his

00:48:05hand

00:48:05on his

00:48:06belt.

00:48:06He

00:48:07nodded

00:48:07to

00:48:07where

00:48:07the

00:48:08rifle

00:48:08stood

00:48:08against

00:48:08a

00:48:09tree.

00:48:09They

00:48:10brought

00:48:10it

00:48:10over

00:48:11and

00:48:11presented

00:48:11it

00:48:12to

00:48:12the

00:48:12brother.

00:48:13It

00:48:13was

00:48:13a

00:48:14sharp's

00:48:14.50

00:48:14caliber,

00:48:15and

00:48:15holding

00:48:15it,

00:48:16and

00:48:16the

00:48:16musket,

00:48:17he

00:48:18stood

00:48:18in

00:48:19ainly

00:48:19armed,

00:48:21his

00:48:21eyes

00:48:22skittering.

00:48:23One

00:48:23of the

00:48:24older

00:48:24boys

00:48:24handed

00:48:25him

00:48:25the

00:48:25dead

00:48:25boy's

00:48:25hat,

00:48:26and

00:48:27then

00:48:27he

00:48:27turned

00:48:27to

00:48:27the

00:48:28man.

00:48:30He

00:48:31get

00:48:31forty

00:48:31dollars

00:48:32for

00:48:32that

00:48:32rifle

00:48:32on

00:48:32Little

00:48:33Rock.

00:48:33You

00:48:33can

00:48:33buy

00:48:37Randall,

00:48:38are

00:48:39you

00:48:39ready

00:48:39to

00:48:39go?

00:48:41He

00:48:42did

00:48:42not

00:48:42assist

00:48:43as a

00:48:43bearer,

00:48:44for

00:48:44he

00:48:44was

00:48:44too

00:48:44small.

00:48:45When

00:48:46they

00:48:46set

00:48:46out

00:48:47across

00:48:47the

00:48:47prairie

00:48:47with

00:48:48his

00:48:48brother's

00:48:49body

00:48:49carried

00:48:50up

00:48:51on

00:48:51their

00:48:51shoulders,

00:48:52he

00:48:52followed

00:48:53behind,

00:48:54carrying

00:48:54the

00:48:54musket,

00:48:55and

00:48:56the

00:48:56dead

00:48:56boy's

00:48:56rifle,

00:48:57and

00:48:58the

00:48:58dead

00:48:58boy's

00:48:58hat.

00:48:59The

00:49:00man

00:49:00watched

00:49:00them

00:49:01go.

00:49:02Out

00:49:02there,

00:49:03there

00:49:03was

00:49:04nothing.

00:49:05They

00:49:05were

00:49:06simply

00:49:06bearing

00:49:06the

00:49:06body

00:49:07off

00:49:07over

00:49:08the

00:49:08bone

00:49:08strewn

00:49:09waist

00:49:09toward

00:49:10a

00:49:10naked

00:49:10horizon.

00:49:12The

00:49:12orphan

00:49:12turned

00:49:13once

00:49:13to

00:49:13look

00:49:14back

00:49:14at

00:49:14him,

00:49:15and

00:49:15then

00:49:15he

00:49:16hurried

00:49:16to

00:49:16catch

00:49:16up.

00:49:18In

00:49:18the

00:49:18afternoon

00:49:18he

00:49:19rode

00:49:19through

00:49:19the

00:49:19Mackenzie

00:49:20crossing

00:49:20of

00:49:20the

00:49:20clear

00:49:21fork

00:49:21of

00:49:21the

00:49:21Brazos

00:49:22river,

00:49:23and

00:49:23he

00:49:23and

00:49:24the

00:49:24horse

00:49:24walked

00:49:25side

00:49:25by

00:49:25side

00:49:26down

00:49:26the

00:49:26twilight

00:49:27toward

00:49:28the

00:49:28town

00:49:28where

00:49:29in

00:49:29the

00:49:29long

00:49:29red

00:49:29dusk

00:49:30and

00:49:31in

00:49:31the

00:49:31darkness

00:49:31the

00:49:32random

00:49:33aggregate

00:49:33of

00:49:33the

00:49:34lamps

00:49:34formed

00:49:34slowly

00:49:35a

00:49:35false

00:49:36shore

00:49:36of

00:49:37hospice

00:49:38cradled

00:49:39on

00:49:40the

00:49:40low

00:49:40plain

00:49:40before

00:49:41them.

00:49:42They

00:49:42passed

00:49:42enormous

00:49:43ricks

00:49:44of

00:49:44bones,

00:49:45colossal

00:49:46dikes

00:49:46composed

00:49:46of

00:49:47horned

00:49:47skulls,

00:49:48and the

00:49:49crescent

00:49:49ribs

00:49:50like

00:49:50old

00:49:50ivory

00:49:51bows

00:49:51heaped

00:49:52in the

00:49:53aftermath

00:49:53of

00:49:53some

00:49:54legendary

00:49:55battle,

00:49:56great

00:49:57levees

00:49:57of

00:49:58them

00:49:58curving

00:49:59away

00:49:59over

00:50:00the

00:50:00plain

00:50:01into

00:50:01the

00:50:01night.

00:50:02They

00:50:03entered

00:50:03the

00:50:04town

00:50:04now

00:50:04light

00:50:04rain

00:50:05falling.

00:50:06The

00:50:06horse

00:50:07nickered

00:50:08and

00:50:08snuffed

00:50:08shyly

00:50:09at

00:50:10the

00:50:10hocks

00:50:10of

00:50:10the

00:50:10other

00:50:10animals

00:50:11standing

00:50:11at

00:50:12stall

00:50:12before

00:50:13the

00:50:13lamplip

00:50:13banos

00:50:14they

00:50:14passed.

00:50:15Fiddle

00:50:16music

00:50:16issued

00:50:16into

00:50:17the

00:50:17solitary

00:50:17mud

00:50:18street

00:50:18and

00:50:19lean

00:50:19dogs

00:50:20crossed

00:50:20before

00:50:20them

00:50:21from

00:50:21shadow

00:50:21to

00:50:22shadow.

00:50:23At

00:50:23the

00:50:23end

00:50:24of

00:50:24the

00:50:24town

00:50:24he

00:50:25led

00:50:25the

00:50:25horse

00:50:25to

00:50:25a

00:50:25rail

00:50:26and

00:50:26tied

00:50:27it

00:50:27among

00:50:27others

00:50:27and

00:50:28stepped

00:50:28up

00:50:28the

00:50:28low

00:50:29wooden

00:50:29stairs

00:50:30into

00:50:30the

00:50:31dim

00:50:31light

00:50:31that

00:50:31fell

00:50:32from

00:50:32the

00:50:32door

00:50:32lay

00:50:32there.

00:50:36He

00:50:36looked

00:50:36back

00:50:37a

00:50:38last

00:50:38time

00:50:39at

00:50:39the

00:50:39street

00:50:39and

00:50:41at

00:50:41the

00:50:41random

00:50:41window

00:50:42lights

00:50:42let

00:50:43into

00:50:43the

00:50:43darkness

00:50:44and

00:50:45at

00:50:45the

00:50:45last

00:50:46pale

00:50:46light

00:50:47in

00:50:47the

00:50:47west

00:50:48and

00:50:49the

00:50:49low

00:50:49dark

00:50:49hills

00:50:50around.

00:50:51Then

00:50:52he

00:50:52pushed

00:50:52open

00:50:53the

00:50:53door

00:50:53and

00:50:54entered

00:50:56a

00:50:57dimly

00:50:57seething

00:50:58rabble

00:50:58had

00:50:58coagulated

00:50:59within

00:50:59as if

00:51:01the

00:51:01raw

00:51:01board

00:51:01structure

00:51:02erected

00:51:02for

00:51:03their

00:51:03containment

00:51:03occupied

00:51:04some

00:51:04ultimate

00:51:05sink

00:51:06in which

00:51:06they had

00:51:07gravitated

00:51:08from off

00:51:09the

00:51:09surrounding

00:51:09flatlands.

00:51:11An

00:51:11old

00:51:11man

00:51:11in

00:51:12a

00:51:12Tyrolean

00:51:12costume

00:51:13was

00:51:14shuffling

00:51:14among

00:51:15the

00:51:15rough

00:51:15tables

00:51:16with

00:51:16his

00:51:16hat

00:51:16outheld

00:51:17while

00:51:18a

00:51:18little

00:51:19girl

00:51:19in

00:51:19a

00:51:19smock

00:51:20cranked

00:51:20a

00:51:20barrel

00:51:20organ

00:51:21and a

00:51:22bear

00:51:22in

00:51:22a

00:51:23crinoline

00:51:23twirled

00:51:24strangely

00:51:24upon

00:51:25a

00:51:25board

00:51:25stage

00:51:26defined

00:51:27by a

00:51:27row

00:51:27of

00:51:28tallow

00:51:28candles

00:51:28that

00:51:29dripped

00:51:30and

00:51:30sputtered

00:51:31in

00:51:31their

00:51:31pools

00:51:32of

00:51:32grease.

00:51:33He

00:51:34made

00:51:34his

00:51:34way

00:51:35through

00:51:35the

00:51:35crowd

00:51:35to

00:51:35the

00:51:35bar

00:51:36where

00:51:36several

00:51:36men

00:51:36in

00:51:36gaitered

00:51:37shirts

00:51:37were

00:51:38drawing

00:51:38beer

00:51:39or

00:51:39pouring

00:51:40whiskey.

00:51:41Young

00:51:42boys

00:51:42worked

00:51:43behind

00:51:43them

00:51:43fetching

00:51:44crates

00:51:44of bottles

00:51:44and racks

00:51:45of glasses

00:51:46steaming

00:51:47from the

00:51:47scullery

00:51:48to the

00:51:48rear.

00:51:49the

00:51:50bar

00:51:50was

00:51:50covered

00:51:51with

00:51:51zinc

00:51:51and

00:51:52he

00:51:52placed

00:51:53his

00:51:53elbows

00:51:53upon

00:51:53it

00:51:54and

00:51:54spun

00:51:54a

00:51:54silver

00:51:55coin

00:51:55before

00:51:55him

00:51:56and

00:51:56slapped

00:51:57it

00:51:57flat.

00:52:00Speak

00:52:01or

00:52:01forever

00:52:02said

00:52:03the

00:52:03barman

00:52:03a

00:52:04whiskey

00:52:06whiskey

00:52:07it is

00:52:08he set

00:52:09up a

00:52:09glass

00:52:09and

00:52:10uncorked

00:52:10a

00:52:10bottle

00:52:11and

00:52:12poured

00:52:12perhaps

00:52:12half

00:52:13a

00:52:13gill

00:52:13and

00:52:14took

00:52:14the

00:52:14coin.

00:52:15he

00:52:16stood

00:52:16looking

00:52:16at

00:52:16the

00:52:16whiskey

00:52:17then

00:52:18he

00:52:18took

00:52:18his

00:52:18hat

00:52:19off

00:52:19and

00:52:19placed

00:52:19it

00:52:19on

00:52:19the

00:52:20bar

00:52:20and

00:52:21took

00:52:21up

00:52:21the

00:52:21glass

00:52:22and

00:52:22drank

00:52:22it

00:52:22very

00:52:22deliberately

00:52:24and

00:52:24set

00:52:24the

00:52:24empty

00:52:25glass

00:52:25down

00:52:25again.

00:52:26He

00:52:27wiped

00:52:27his

00:52:27mouth

00:52:27and

00:52:28turned

00:52:28around

00:52:29and

00:52:30placed

00:52:30his

00:52:30elbows

00:52:31on

00:52:31the

00:52:31bar

00:52:31behind

00:52:32him.

00:52:33Watching

00:52:34him

00:52:35across

00:52:36the

00:52:36layered

00:52:36smoke

00:52:36in

00:52:37the

00:52:37yellow

00:52:37light

00:52:38was

00:52:39the

00:52:39judge.

00:52:41He

00:52:41was

00:52:41sitting

00:52:42at

00:52:42one

00:52:42of

00:52:42the

00:52:42tables.

00:52:43He

00:52:44wore

00:52:44round

00:52:44hat

00:52:44with

00:52:45a

00:52:45narrow

00:52:45brim

00:52:45and

00:52:46he

00:52:47was

00:52:47among

00:52:47every

00:52:48kind

00:52:49of

00:52:49man

00:52:49herder

00:52:51and

00:52:51bull

00:52:52whacker

00:52:52and

00:52:52drover

00:52:53and

00:52:53freighter

00:52:54and

00:52:54miner

00:52:55and

00:52:55hunter

00:52:55and

00:52:55soldier

00:52:56and

00:52:56peddler

00:52:56and

00:52:57gambler

00:52:58and

00:52:58drifter

00:52:58and

00:52:59drunkard

00:52:59and

00:53:00thief.

00:53:02And

00:53:02he

00:53:02was

00:53:03among

00:53:03the

00:53:03dregs

00:53:03of

00:53:03the

00:53:04earth

00:53:04in

00:53:04beggary

00:53:05a

00:53:05thousand

00:53:05years

00:53:06and

00:53:07he

00:53:07was

00:53:07among

00:53:08the

00:53:08scapegrace

00:53:09scions

00:53:09of

00:53:10eastern

00:53:10dynasties

00:53:12and

00:53:12in

00:53:12all

00:53:13that

00:53:13motley

00:53:13assemblage

00:53:14he

00:53:14sat

00:53:15by

00:53:15them

00:53:15and

00:53:16yet

00:53:16alone

00:53:18as

00:53:19if

00:53:19he

00:53:19were

00:53:19some

00:53:20other

00:53:21sort

00:53:21of

00:53:21man

00:53:22entirely

00:53:23and

00:53:24he

00:53:24seemed

00:53:24little

00:53:24changed

00:53:25or

00:53:26none

00:53:26in

00:53:27all

00:53:27these

00:53:27years.

00:53:28He

00:53:29turned

00:53:29away

00:53:30from

00:53:30those

00:53:30eyes

00:53:30and

00:53:30stood

00:53:31looking

00:53:31down

00:53:31at

00:53:32the

00:53:32empty

00:53:32tumbler

00:53:33between

00:53:33his

00:53:34fists.

00:53:34When

00:53:36he

00:53:36looked

00:53:36up

00:53:36the

00:53:37barman

00:53:37was

00:53:38watching

00:53:38him.

00:53:39He

00:53:39raised

00:53:39his

00:53:40forefinger

00:53:40and

00:53:41the

00:53:41barman

00:53:42brought

00:53:42the

00:53:42whiskey.

00:53:43He

00:53:43paid.

00:53:44He

00:53:44lifted

00:53:45the

00:53:45glass

00:53:45and

00:53:46drank.

00:53:47There

00:53:47was

00:53:47a

00:53:47mirror

00:53:48along

00:53:48the

00:53:48back

00:53:49bar

00:53:49but

00:53:50it

00:53:50only

00:53:50held

00:53:50smoke

00:53:51and

00:53:51phantoms.

00:53:53The

00:53:53barrel

00:53:53organ

00:53:54was

00:53:54groaning

00:53:54and

00:53:55creaking

00:53:55and

00:53:56the

00:53:56bear

00:53:56with

00:53:56tongue

00:53:56alol

00:53:57was

00:53:58revolving

00:53:58heavily

00:53:59on

00:53:59the

00:53:59boards.

00:54:01When

00:54:02he

00:54:02turned

00:54:02the

00:54:03judge

00:54:03had

00:54:03risen

00:54:03and

00:54:04was

00:54:04speaking

00:54:05with

00:54:05other

00:54:05men.

00:54:06The

00:54:07showman

00:54:07made

00:54:07his

00:54:08way

00:54:08through

00:54:08the

00:54:08throng

00:54:09shaking

00:54:09the

00:54:09coins

00:54:09in

00:54:10his

00:54:10hat.

00:54:11Garishly

00:54:12clad

00:54:12whores

00:54:12were

00:54:13going

00:54:13through

00:54:13a

00:54:13door

00:54:14at

00:54:14the

00:54:14rear

00:54:14of

00:54:14the

00:54:14premises

00:54:15and

00:54:16he

00:54:16watched

00:54:16them

00:54:17and

00:54:17he

00:54:18watched

00:54:18the

00:54:18bear

00:54:19and

00:54:19he

00:54:20looked

00:54:20back

00:54:20across

00:54:21the

00:54:21room.

00:54:22The

00:54:22judge

00:54:22was

00:54:22not

00:54:23there.

00:54:24The

00:54:24showman

00:54:25seemed

00:54:25to be

00:54:25in

00:54:25altercation

00:54:26with

00:54:26the

00:54:26men

00:54:27standing

00:54:27at

00:54:27the

00:54:27bar.

00:54:29Another

00:54:29man

00:54:29rose.

00:54:30The

00:54:31showman

00:54:31gestured

00:54:32with

00:54:32his

00:54:33hat.

00:54:34One

00:54:34of

00:54:34them

00:54:34pointed

00:54:35toward

00:54:35the

00:54:35bar.

00:54:36He

00:54:36shook

00:54:36his

00:54:37head.

00:54:37Their

00:54:38voices

00:54:38were

00:54:38incoherent

00:54:39in

00:54:39the

00:54:39din.

00:54:40On

00:54:41the

00:54:41boards

00:54:41the

00:54:41bear

00:54:42was

00:54:42dancing

00:54:42for

00:54:42all

00:54:43that

00:54:43his

00:54:43heart

00:54:43was

00:54:43worth

00:54:44and

00:54:44the

00:54:45girl

00:54:45cranked

00:54:45the

00:54:45organ

00:54:46handle

00:54:46and

00:54:47the

00:54:47shadow

00:54:47of

00:54:47the

00:54:47act

00:54:48which

00:54:49the

00:54:49candlelight

00:54:49constructed

00:54:50upon

00:54:50the

00:54:50wall

00:54:51might

00:54:51have

00:54:51gone

00:54:51begging

00:54:52for

00:54:52reference

00:54:53in

00:54:53any

00:54:54daylight

00:54:54world.

00:54:56When

00:54:57he

00:54:57looked

00:54:57back

00:54:57the

00:54:58showman

00:54:59had

00:54:59donned

00:54:59the

00:54:59hat

00:54:59and

00:55:00he

00:55:00stood

00:55:00with

00:55:01his

00:55:01hands

00:55:01on

00:55:02his

00:55:02hips.

00:55:03One

00:55:04of

00:55:04the

00:55:04men

00:55:04had

00:55:05drawn

00:55:05a

00:55:05long

00:55:06barreled

00:55:06cavalry

00:55:06pistol

00:55:07from

00:55:07his

00:55:07belt.

00:55:10He

00:55:10turned

00:55:11and

00:55:12leveled

00:55:12the

00:55:12pistol

00:55:13toward

00:55:13the

00:55:14stage.

00:55:17Some

00:55:17dove

00:55:18for

00:55:18the

00:55:18floor.

00:55:19Some

00:55:19reached

00:55:19for

00:55:19their

00:55:20own

00:55:20arms.

00:55:20The

00:55:20owner

00:55:21of

00:55:21the

00:55:21bear

00:55:21stood

00:55:21like

00:55:22a

00:55:22pitchman

00:55:22at

00:55:22a

00:55:23shooting

00:55:23gallery.

00:55:24The

00:55:24shot

00:55:25was

00:55:25thunderous

00:55:26and

00:55:27in

00:55:27the

00:55:27after

00:55:28clap

00:55:28all

00:55:29sound

00:55:29in

00:55:29that

00:55:30room

00:55:30ceased.

00:55:32The

00:55:32bear

00:55:33had

00:55:33been

00:55:33shot

00:55:34through

00:55:34the

00:55:34midsection.

00:55:36He

00:55:36let

00:55:36out

00:55:36a

00:55:37low

00:55:37moan

00:55:37and

00:55:39he

00:55:39began

00:55:39to

00:55:39dance

00:55:40faster,

00:55:41dancing

00:55:41in

00:55:42silence

00:55:42save

00:55:42for

00:55:42the

00:55:43slap

00:55:43of

00:55:43his

00:55:43great

00:55:43foot

00:55:44pads

00:55:44on

00:55:44the

00:55:45planks.

00:55:46Blood

00:55:47was

00:55:48running

00:55:48down

00:55:48his

00:55:48groin.

00:55:49The

00:55:50little

00:55:50girl

00:55:50strapped

00:55:51into

00:55:51the

00:55:51barrel

00:55:51organ

00:55:52stood

00:55:52frozen.

00:55:53The

00:55:54crank

00:55:54at

00:55:55rest

00:55:55on

00:55:55the

00:55:55upswing.

00:55:57The

00:55:57man

00:55:57with

00:55:58the

00:55:58pistol

00:55:58fired

00:55:59again

00:55:59and

00:56:01the

00:56:01pistol

00:56:01bucked

00:56:02and

00:56:02roared

00:56:02and the

00:56:03black

00:56:03smoke

00:56:03rolled

00:56:04and the

00:56:05bear

00:56:05groaned

00:56:06and began

00:56:07to reel

00:56:08drunkenly.

00:56:09He

00:56:10was holding

00:56:10his

00:56:11chest

00:56:12and a

00:56:12thin

00:56:13foam

00:56:13of

00:56:13blood

00:56:14swung

00:56:14from

00:56:15his

00:56:15jaw

00:56:16and

00:56:16he

00:56:17began

00:56:17to

00:56:17totter

00:56:18and

00:56:19to

00:56:19cry

00:56:19like

00:56:19a

00:56:19child

00:56:20and

00:56:21he

00:56:21took

00:56:21the

00:56:21last

00:56:22few

00:56:22steps

00:56:24dancing

00:56:25and

00:56:25crashed

00:56:26to

00:56:26the

00:56:26boards.

00:56:28Someone

00:56:28had

00:56:28seized

00:56:29the

00:56:29pistol

00:56:29of

00:56:29the

00:56:29man

00:56:30who

00:56:30done

00:56:30the

00:56:30shooting

00:56:31and

00:56:32the

00:56:32gun

00:56:32was

00:56:32waving

00:56:32aloft.

00:56:33The

00:56:34owner

00:56:34of

00:56:34the

00:56:34beer

00:56:34stood

00:56:35stunned

00:56:36clutching

00:56:36the

00:56:37brim

00:56:37of

00:56:37his

00:56:37old

00:56:37world

00:56:38hat.

00:56:40Shut

00:56:40the

00:56:41goddamn

00:56:42bear

00:56:44said

00:56:44the

00:56:45barman.

00:56:45The

00:56:46little

00:56:46girl

00:56:46had

00:56:47unbuckled

00:56:47herself

00:56:48out

00:56:48of

00:56:48the

00:56:48barrel

00:56:48organ

00:56:49and

00:56:50it

00:56:50clattered

00:56:51wheezing

00:56:51to the

00:56:52floor.

00:56:52She

00:56:53ran

00:56:53forward

00:56:54and

00:56:54knelt

00:56:54and

00:56:54gathered

00:56:55the

00:56:55great

00:56:55shaggy

00:56:56head

00:56:56up

00:56:57in

00:56:57her

00:56:57arms

00:56:57and

00:56:59began

00:56:59to

00:56:59rock

00:57:00back

00:57:00and

00:57:00forth

00:57:02sobbing.

00:57:03Most

00:57:04of

00:57:04the

00:57:04men

00:57:04in

00:57:04the

00:57:04room

00:57:05had

00:57:05risen

00:57:05and

00:57:05they

00:57:05stood

00:57:06in

00:57:06the

00:57:06smoky

00:57:07yellow

00:57:07space

00:57:07with

00:57:08their

00:57:08hands

00:57:08on

00:57:08their

00:57:09side

00:57:09arms.

00:57:10Whole

00:57:11flocks

00:57:11of

00:57:11whores

00:57:12were

00:57:13scuttling

00:57:13toward

00:57:14the

00:57:14rear

00:57:14and

00:57:15a

00:57:15woman

00:57:16mounted

00:57:17to

00:57:17the

00:57:17boards

00:57:17and

00:57:18stepped

00:57:19past

00:57:19the

00:57:19bear

00:57:20and

00:57:21held

00:57:21out

00:57:21her

00:57:21hands.

00:57:24It's all

00:57:25over,

00:57:25she

00:57:26said.

00:57:26It's all

00:57:27over.

00:57:29Do you

00:57:30believe

00:57:30it's all

00:57:31over,

00:57:31son?

00:57:32He

00:57:33turned.

00:57:34The

00:57:35judge

00:57:35was

00:57:35standing

00:57:35at

00:57:36the

00:57:36bar

00:57:36looking

00:57:37down

00:57:37at

00:57:37him.

00:57:38He

00:57:38smiled.

00:57:39He

00:57:40removed

00:57:40his

00:57:40hat.

00:57:41The

00:57:41great

00:57:42pale

00:57:42dome

00:57:43of

00:57:43his

00:57:43skull

00:57:43shone

00:57:44like

00:57:45an

00:57:45enormous

00:57:45phosphorescent

00:57:46egg

00:57:47in the

00:57:48lamplight.

00:57:50The

00:57:50last of

00:57:51the

00:57:51true,

00:57:52the

00:57:52last of

00:57:53the

00:57:53true,

00:57:53I'd

00:57:53say

00:57:54they're

00:57:54all

00:57:54gone,

00:57:55under

00:57:56now

00:57:56saving

00:57:56me

00:57:57and

00:57:57thee.

00:57:58Would

00:57:58you

00:57:59not?

00:58:00He

00:58:01tried to

00:58:01see past

00:58:02him.

00:58:02the

00:58:03great

00:58:03corpus

00:58:03enshadowed

00:58:04him

00:58:04from

00:58:04all

00:58:05beyond.

00:58:06He

00:58:06could

00:58:06hear

00:58:06the

00:58:07woman

00:58:07announcing

00:58:08the

00:58:08commencement

00:58:08of

00:58:09dancing

00:58:09in

00:58:09the

00:58:09hall

00:58:09to

00:58:10the

00:58:10rear.

00:58:12And

00:58:13some

00:58:13are

00:58:14not

00:58:14yet

00:58:15born

00:58:15who

00:58:16shall

00:58:16have

00:58:16cause

00:58:17to

00:58:17curse

00:58:17the

00:58:18do

00:58:18fong

00:58:18soul,

00:58:21said

00:58:21the

00:58:21judge.

00:58:22He

00:58:23turned

00:58:23slightly.

00:58:25Plenty

00:58:26of time

00:58:26for the

00:58:27dance.

00:58:29I

00:58:30ain't

00:58:30studying

00:58:30no

00:58:30dance.

00:58:32The

00:58:33judge

00:58:33smiled.

00:58:34The

00:58:35Tyrolean

00:58:35and

00:58:36another

00:58:37man

00:58:37were

00:58:37bent

00:58:38over

00:58:38the

00:58:38bear.

00:58:39The

00:58:39girl

00:58:39was

00:58:40sobbing,

00:58:40the

00:58:41front

00:58:41of

00:58:41her

00:58:41dress

00:58:42dark

00:58:42with

00:58:43blood.

00:58:44The

00:58:44judge

00:58:44leaned

00:58:45across

00:58:45the

00:58:45bar

00:58:46and

00:58:46seized

00:58:46a

00:58:47bottle

00:58:47and

00:58:48snapped

00:58:48the

00:58:48cork

00:58:49out

00:58:49of

00:58:49it

00:58:49with

00:58:49his

00:58:49thumb.

00:58:50The

00:58:51cork

00:58:51whined

00:58:51off

00:58:52into

00:58:52the

00:58:52blackness

00:58:53above

00:58:53the

00:58:53lamps

00:58:54like

00:58:54a

00:58:54bullet.

00:58:56He

00:58:56rifled

00:58:57a

00:58:57great

00:58:57drink

00:58:58down

00:58:58his

00:58:58throat

00:58:59and

00:59:00leaned

00:59:01back

00:59:01against

00:59:02the

00:59:02bar.

00:59:04You're

00:59:04here

00:59:05for

00:59:05the

00:59:05dance,

00:59:06he

00:59:07said.

00:59:08I

00:59:09got

00:59:09to

00:59:09go.

00:59:11The

00:59:12judge

00:59:12looked

00:59:12aggrieved.

00:59:13Go?

00:59:14he

00:59:15said.

00:59:16He

00:59:17nodded.

00:59:18He

00:59:18reached

00:59:19and took

00:59:19hold of

00:59:19his hat

00:59:20where it

00:59:20lay on

00:59:20the

00:59:21bar,

00:59:21but

00:59:21he

00:59:22did

00:59:22not

00:59:23take

00:59:23it

00:59:23up

00:59:24and

00:59:25he

00:59:25did

00:59:25not

00:59:25move.

00:59:27What

00:59:27man

00:59:28would

00:59:28not

00:59:28be

00:59:28a

00:59:28dancer

00:59:29if

00:59:29he

00:59:29could,

00:59:30said

00:59:31the

00:59:31judge.

00:59:31It's

00:59:32a

00:59:32great

00:59:32thing,

00:59:33the

00:59:34dance.

00:59:35The

00:59:36woman

00:59:36was

00:59:36kneeling

00:59:37and

00:59:38had

00:59:38her

00:59:38arm

00:59:39around

00:59:40the

00:59:40little

00:59:40girl.

00:59:41The

00:59:41candle

00:59:42sputtered

00:59:42and

00:59:43the

00:59:43great

00:59:44hairy

00:59:44mound

00:59:44of

00:59:45the

00:59:45bear

00:59:45dead

00:59:45in

00:59:45its

00:59:46crinoline

00:59:46lay

00:59:47like

00:59:47some

00:59:48monster

00:59:48slain

00:59:49in

00:59:50the

00:59:50commission

00:59:50of

00:59:50unnatural

00:59:51acts.

00:59:52The

00:59:53judge

00:59:53poured

00:59:53the

00:59:53tumbler

00:59:54full

00:59:54where

00:59:54it

00:59:55stood

00:59:55empty

00:59:55alongside

00:59:56the

00:59:57hat

00:59:57and

00:59:58nudged

00:59:58it

00:59:58forward.

00:59:59drink

01:00:00up,

01:00:01he

01:00:02said,

01:00:02drink

01:00:02up,

01:00:03this

01:00:04night

01:00:04thy

01:00:05soul

01:00:06may

01:00:06be

01:00:06required

01:00:07of

01:00:07thee.

01:00:08He

01:00:09looked

01:00:09at

01:00:09the

01:00:09glass.

01:00:10The

01:00:11judge

01:00:11smiled

01:00:12and

01:00:12gestured

01:00:12with

01:00:12the

01:00:13bottle.

01:00:13He

01:00:14took

01:00:14up

01:00:14the

01:00:14glass

01:00:15and

01:00:15drank.

01:00:16The

01:00:17judge

01:00:17watched

01:00:18him.

01:00:19Was

01:00:20it

01:00:20always

01:00:20your

01:00:21idea,

01:00:22he

01:00:22said,

01:00:23that

01:00:23if

01:00:23you

01:00:24did

01:00:24not

01:00:24speak,

01:00:25you

01:00:26would

01:00:26not

01:00:27be

01:00:27recognized?

01:00:29you

01:00:30seen

01:00:31me.

01:00:32The

01:00:33judge

01:00:33ignored

01:00:33this.

01:00:34I

01:00:35recognized

01:00:35you

01:00:36when

01:00:36I

01:00:36first

01:00:36saw

01:00:36you

01:00:37and

01:00:37yet

01:00:37you

01:00:37were

01:00:38a

01:00:38disappointment

01:00:39to

01:00:39me.

01:00:40Then

01:00:40and

01:00:41now,

01:00:42even

01:00:42so,

01:00:43at

01:00:44the

01:00:44last,

01:00:45I

01:00:45find

01:00:45you

01:00:45here

01:00:46with

01:00:47me.

01:00:48I

01:00:49with

01:00:50you.

01:00:51The

01:00:52judge

01:00:52raised

01:00:52his

01:00:53bald

01:00:53brow.

01:00:54Not,

01:00:55he

01:00:56said.

01:00:56He

01:00:57looked

01:00:57about

01:00:57him

01:00:57in

01:00:58a

01:00:58puzzled

01:00:58and

01:00:58artful

01:00:59way,

01:00:59and

01:01:00he

01:01:00was

01:01:01a

01:01:01passable

01:01:01thespian.

01:01:03I

01:01:03never

01:01:04come

01:01:04here

01:01:05hunting

01:01:05you.

01:01:07What

01:01:08then?

01:01:08said

01:01:09the

01:01:09judge.

01:01:10What

01:01:10would

01:01:11I

01:01:11want

01:01:11with

01:01:11you?

01:01:12I

01:01:12come

01:01:12here

01:01:13same

01:01:13reason

01:01:13as

01:01:14any

01:01:14man.

01:01:16And

01:01:17what

01:01:17reason

01:01:18is

01:01:18that?

01:01:19What

01:01:19reason

01:01:20is

01:01:20what?

01:01:23That

01:01:23these

01:01:24men

01:01:24are

01:01:24here.

01:01:24they

01:01:25come

01:01:26here

01:01:26to

01:01:27have

01:01:27a

01:01:28good

01:01:28time.

01:01:30The

01:01:30judge

01:01:30watched

01:01:31him.

01:01:31He

01:01:32began

01:01:32to

01:01:32point

01:01:32out

01:01:33various

01:01:33men

01:01:33in

01:01:34the

01:01:34room

01:01:34and

01:01:35to

01:01:35ask

01:01:35if

01:01:35these

01:01:36men

01:01:36were

01:01:36here

01:01:36for

01:01:36a

01:01:36good

01:01:37time

01:01:37or

01:01:38if

01:01:38indeed

01:01:38they

01:01:39knew

01:01:39why

01:01:39they

01:01:39were

01:01:40here

01:01:40at

01:01:40all.

01:01:42Everybody

01:01:43don't

01:01:44have

01:01:44to

01:01:44have

01:01:44a

01:01:45reason

01:01:45to

01:01:45be

01:01:45someplace.

01:01:48That's

01:01:49so,

01:01:50said

01:01:50the

01:01:51judge.

01:01:51they

01:01:51do

01:01:52not

01:01:52have

01:01:52to

01:01:53have

01:01:53a

01:01:53reason

01:01:53but

01:01:54order

01:01:54is

01:01:55not

01:01:55set

01:01:55aside

01:01:56because

01:01:56of

01:01:56their

01:01:57indifference.

01:01:58He

01:01:59regarded

01:02:00the

01:02:00judge

01:02:00warily.

01:02:02Let

01:02:03me put

01:02:03it

01:02:03this

01:02:04way,

01:02:04said

01:02:05the

01:02:05judge,

01:02:06if

01:02:06it

01:02:07is

01:02:07so

01:02:07that

01:02:08they

01:02:08themselves

01:02:08have

01:02:08no

01:02:09reason

01:02:09yet

01:02:09are

01:02:10indeed

01:02:11here,

01:02:11must

01:02:12they

01:02:13not

01:02:13be

01:02:13here

01:02:13by

01:02:14reason

01:02:14of

01:02:15some

01:02:15other?

01:02:17And

01:02:18if

01:02:18this

01:02:18is

01:02:19so,

01:02:20can

01:02:20you

01:02:21guess

01:02:22who

01:02:23that

01:02:24other

01:02:25might

01:02:25be?

01:02:27No,

01:02:28can

01:02:29you?

01:02:30I

01:02:31know

01:02:31him

01:02:31well.

01:02:32He

01:02:33poured

01:02:33the

01:02:33tumbler

01:02:33full

01:02:34once

01:02:34more,

01:02:36and

01:02:36he

01:02:36took

01:02:36a

01:02:37drink

01:02:37himself

01:02:37from

01:02:37the

01:02:38bottle

01:02:38and

01:02:38he

01:02:38wiped

01:02:38his

01:02:39mouth

01:02:39and

01:02:39turned

01:02:40to

01:02:40regard

01:02:40the

01:02:40room.

01:02:41This

01:02:42is

01:02:42an

01:02:42orchestration

01:02:43for

01:02:43an

01:02:43event,

01:02:43for

01:02:43a

01:02:44dance,

01:02:44in

01:02:44fact.

01:02:45The

01:02:45participants

01:02:46will

01:02:46be

01:02:46apprised

01:02:47of

01:02:47their

01:02:47roles

01:02:47at

01:02:47the

01:02:47proper

01:02:48time,

01:02:48for

01:02:48now,

01:02:49it

01:02:49enough

01:02:50that

01:02:50they

01:02:50have

01:02:50arrived.

01:02:51As

01:02:52the

01:02:52dance

01:02:53is

01:02:53the

01:02:53thing

01:02:53with

01:02:53which

01:02:53we

01:02:54are

01:02:54concerned

01:02:54and

01:02:55contains

01:02:55complete

01:02:56within

01:02:56itself

01:02:56its own

01:02:57arrangement

01:02:57and history

01:02:58and finale,

01:02:59there is

01:03:00no necessity

01:03:01that the

01:03:01dancers contain

01:03:02these things

01:03:03within themselves

01:03:04as well.

01:03:05In any

01:03:06event,

01:03:06the history

01:03:07of all

01:03:08is not

01:03:09the history

01:03:10of each,

01:03:11nor

01:03:11indeed

01:03:12the sum

01:03:13of those

01:03:13histories,

01:03:14and none

01:03:14here can

01:03:15finally comprehend

01:03:16the reason

01:03:17for his

01:03:17presence,

01:03:18for he has

01:03:19no way

01:03:19of knowing

01:03:19even in

01:03:20what the

01:03:20event

01:03:21consists.

01:03:22In fact,

01:03:24were he to

01:03:25know,

01:03:25he might

01:03:26well absent

01:03:27himself,

01:03:27and you can

01:03:28see that

01:03:29that cannot be

01:03:30any part of

01:03:30the plan

01:03:31if plan

01:03:32there be.

01:03:34He smiled,

01:03:35his great

01:03:36teeth

01:03:37shone,

01:03:38he drank.

01:03:39An event,

01:03:40a ceremony,

01:03:42the orchestration

01:03:43thereof.

01:03:44The overture

01:03:45carries certain

01:03:45marks of

01:03:46decisiveness.

01:03:47It includes

01:03:48the slaying

01:03:48of a large

01:03:49bear.

01:03:49The evening's

01:03:50progress will

01:03:51not appear

01:03:52strange or

01:03:52unusual,

01:03:54even to

01:03:55those who

01:03:55question the

01:03:56tightness of

01:03:56the events

01:03:57so ordered.

01:03:58A ceremony,

01:03:59then,

01:04:00one could

01:04:00well argue

01:04:01that there

01:04:01are not

01:04:02categories of

01:04:03no ceremony,

01:04:04but only

01:04:05ceremonies of

01:04:05greater or

01:04:06lesser degree,

01:04:08and,

01:04:08referring to

01:04:09this argument,

01:04:09we will say

01:04:10that this is

01:04:10a ceremony

01:04:11of a certain

01:04:12magnitude,

01:04:13perhaps more

01:04:14commonly called

01:04:15a ritual.

01:04:17A ritual

01:04:18includes

01:04:19the letting

01:04:20of blood.

01:04:22Rituals which

01:04:22fail in this

01:04:23requirement are

01:04:24but mock

01:04:24rituals.

01:04:26Here,

01:04:26every man

01:04:27knows the

01:04:28false at

01:04:29once,

01:04:30never doubt

01:04:30it.

01:04:31That feeling

01:04:32in the breast

01:04:32that evokes

01:04:33a child's

01:04:33memory of

01:04:34loneliness,

01:04:35such as when

01:04:36the others

01:04:36have gone

01:04:37and only the

01:04:38game is left

01:04:38with its

01:04:39solitary

01:04:39participant.

01:04:40A

01:04:41solitary

01:04:42game

01:04:44without

01:04:45opponent.

01:04:47Where only

01:04:48the rules

01:04:49are at

01:04:49hazard,

01:04:50don't look

01:04:51away.

01:04:52We are not

01:04:53speaking in

01:04:53mysteries.

01:04:54You,

01:04:55of all men,

01:04:56are no

01:04:57stranger to

01:04:57that feeling,

01:04:58the emptiness

01:04:59and despair.

01:05:00It is that

01:05:01which we

01:05:02take arms

01:05:03against,

01:05:04is it not?

01:05:05Is not

01:05:06the blood

01:05:07the tempering

01:05:07agent in

01:05:08the mortar

01:05:09which bonds?

01:05:10The judge

01:05:11leaned closer.

01:05:12What do you

01:05:13think death

01:05:13is,

01:05:14man?

01:05:14Of whom

01:05:15do we

01:05:15speak when

01:05:16we speak

01:05:16of a man

01:05:17who was

01:05:17and is

01:05:18not?

01:05:18Are these

01:05:19blind riddles

01:05:20or are they

01:05:21not some

01:05:21part of

01:05:21every man's

01:05:22jurisdiction?

01:05:24What is

01:05:25death,

01:05:25if not

01:05:26an agency?

01:05:28And

01:05:29whom

01:05:29does he

01:05:31intend

01:05:31toward?

01:05:33Look

01:05:34at me.

01:05:35I don't

01:05:36like

01:05:36craziness.

01:05:38Nor I,

01:05:39nor I,

01:05:39bear with

01:05:40me,

01:05:40look at

01:05:41them now.

01:05:41Pick a

01:05:42man,

01:05:42any

01:05:42man,

01:05:42that

01:05:43man

01:05:43there,

01:05:43see

01:05:43him,

01:05:44that

01:05:44man,

01:05:44hatless.

01:05:45You

01:05:46know his

01:05:46opinion of

01:05:46the world?

01:05:47You can

01:05:48read it in

01:05:49his face,

01:05:49in his

01:05:50stance.

01:05:51Yet,

01:05:52his complaint

01:05:53that a

01:05:53man's life

01:05:54is no

01:05:54bargain

01:05:54masks

01:05:55the actual

01:05:56case with

01:05:56him,

01:05:57which is

01:05:58that men

01:05:59will not

01:05:59do as

01:06:00he wishes

01:06:00them to.

01:06:03Have

01:06:03never

01:06:04done.

01:06:05Never

01:06:06will

01:06:06do.

01:06:07That's

01:06:08the way

01:06:08of things

01:06:08with him

01:06:09and his

01:06:09life is

01:06:09so balked

01:06:10about by

01:06:10difficulty

01:06:11and become

01:06:12so altered

01:06:12of its

01:06:13intended

01:06:13architecture

01:06:14that he

01:06:15is little

01:06:15more than

01:06:16a walking

01:06:17hovel hardly

01:06:17fit to

01:06:18house the

01:06:18human spirit

01:06:18at all.

01:06:20Can he

01:06:21say such

01:06:22a man

01:06:22that there

01:06:22is no

01:06:23malign

01:06:23thing

01:06:24said against

01:06:24him,

01:06:25that there

01:06:26is no

01:06:26power and

01:06:26no force

01:06:27and no

01:06:28cause?

01:06:28What

01:06:29manner of

01:06:29heretic

01:06:30could doubt

01:06:31agency and

01:06:32claimant

01:06:32alike?

01:06:33Can he

01:06:33believe that

01:06:34the wreckage

01:06:34of his

01:06:35existence

01:06:35is

01:06:36unentailed?

01:06:37No

01:06:38leans,

01:06:38no

01:06:39creditors,

01:06:39that gods

01:06:40of vengeance

01:06:41and of

01:06:41compassion

01:06:42alike lie

01:06:42sleeping in

01:06:43their crypt.

01:06:44And whether

01:06:45our cries

01:06:46are for

01:06:47an accounting

01:06:47or for

01:06:48the destruction

01:06:48of ledgers

01:06:49altogether,

01:06:51they must

01:06:52evoke only

01:06:53the same

01:06:54silence,

01:06:55and that

01:06:56is the

01:06:57silence which

01:06:58will prevail.

01:07:00To whom

01:07:01is he

01:07:01talking,

01:07:02man?

01:07:02Can't you

01:07:03see him?

01:07:05The man

01:07:06was indeed

01:07:06muttering to

01:07:07himself,

01:07:08and peering

01:07:09balefully

01:07:10about the

01:07:10room,

01:07:11wherein it

01:07:12seemed there

01:07:12was no

01:07:13friend to

01:07:13him.

01:07:14A man

01:07:15seeks his

01:07:16own destiny

01:07:17and no

01:07:17other,

01:07:18said the

01:07:19judge,

01:07:20will or

01:07:21nil,

01:07:21any man

01:07:22who could

01:07:23discover

01:07:24his own

01:07:25fate and

01:07:26elect

01:07:27therefore some

01:07:28opposite course

01:07:29could only

01:07:29come at

01:07:30last to

01:07:31that self

01:07:31same

01:07:31reckoning

01:07:32at the

01:07:33same

01:07:33appointed

01:07:34time,

01:07:35for each

01:07:35man's

01:07:36destiny

01:07:36is as

01:07:36large as

01:07:37the world

01:07:37he inhabits

01:07:38and contains

01:07:39within it

01:07:39all opposites

01:07:41as well.

01:07:41This

01:07:42desert

01:07:43upon which

01:07:44so many

01:07:44have been

01:07:45broken

01:07:45is vast

01:07:46and calls

01:07:47for largeness

01:07:47of heart,

01:07:48but it

01:07:48is also

01:07:49ultimately

01:07:50empty.

01:07:51It is

01:07:52heart,

01:07:52it is

01:07:53barren,

01:07:54its

01:07:55very

01:07:56nature

01:07:56is

01:07:57stone.

01:07:59He

01:07:59poured

01:08:00the tumbler

01:08:00full.

01:08:01Drink up,

01:08:02he said.

01:08:02The world

01:08:03goes on,

01:08:04we have

01:08:04dancing

01:08:05nightly

01:08:05and this

01:08:06night

01:08:06is no

01:08:07exception.

01:08:08The

01:08:08straight

01:08:09and the

01:08:09winding

01:08:10way

01:08:10are

01:08:10one

01:08:11and now

01:08:12that

01:08:12you

01:08:12are

01:08:12here,

01:08:13what

01:08:14do

01:08:14the

01:08:14years

01:08:14count

01:08:15since

01:08:16last

01:08:17we

01:08:17two

01:08:17met

01:08:17together?

01:08:18Men's

01:08:19memories

01:08:19are

01:08:20uncertain

01:08:20and the

01:08:22past

01:08:22that

01:08:22was

01:08:23differs

01:08:23little

01:08:24from

01:08:24the

01:08:25past

01:08:25that

01:08:25was

01:08:26not.

01:08:27He

01:08:28took

01:08:28up

01:08:28the

01:08:28tumbler.

01:08:29The

01:08:30judge

01:08:30had

01:08:30poured

01:08:30and

01:08:31he

01:08:31drank

01:08:31and

01:08:31set

01:08:31it

01:08:32down

01:08:32again.

01:08:33He

01:08:34looked

01:08:34at

01:08:34the

01:08:34judge.

01:08:35I

01:08:36been

01:08:36everywhere,

01:08:38he

01:08:38said.

01:08:39This

01:08:39is

01:08:40just

01:08:40one

01:08:41more

01:08:42place.

01:08:44The

01:08:44judge

01:08:45arched

01:08:45his

01:08:45brow.

01:08:46Did

01:08:47you

01:08:47post

01:08:47witnesses,

01:08:48he

01:08:48said,

01:08:49to

01:08:49report

01:08:50to

01:08:50you

01:08:50on

01:08:50the

01:08:50continued

01:08:51existence

01:08:51of

01:08:51those

01:08:52places

01:08:52once

01:08:53you'd

01:08:53quit

01:08:53them?

01:08:55That's

01:08:55crazy.

01:08:57Is

01:08:57it?

01:08:58Where

01:08:58is

01:08:58yesterday?

01:08:59Where

01:08:59is

01:08:59Glanton

01:09:00and

01:09:00Brown

01:09:00and

01:09:01where

01:09:01is

01:09:01the

01:09:01priest?

01:09:01He

01:09:02leaned

01:09:02closer.

01:09:03Where

01:09:03is

01:09:03Shelby,

01:09:04whom

01:09:04you

01:09:04left

01:09:04to

01:09:05the

01:09:05mercies

01:09:05of

01:09:05Elias

01:09:06in

01:09:06the

01:09:06desert?

01:09:07And

01:09:07where

01:09:07is

01:09:08Tate,

01:09:09whom

01:09:09you

01:09:09abandoned

01:09:10in

01:09:10the

01:09:10mountains?

01:09:11Where

01:09:11are

01:09:12the

01:09:12ladies?

01:09:12The

01:09:13fair

01:09:13and

01:09:14tender

01:09:15ladies

01:09:15with

01:09:16whom

01:09:16you

01:09:16danced

01:09:16at

01:09:16the

01:09:17governor's

01:09:17ball

01:09:17when

01:09:17you

01:09:18were

01:09:18a

01:09:18hero,

01:09:19anointed

01:09:19with

01:09:24and

01:09:25where

01:09:26is

01:09:26the

01:09:26fiddler?

01:09:27And

01:09:28where

01:09:28the

01:09:28dance?

01:09:30I

01:09:31guess

01:09:32you

01:09:32can

01:09:33tell

01:09:33me.

01:09:34I'll

01:09:35tell

01:09:35you

01:09:35this.

01:09:36As

01:09:36war

01:09:36becomes

01:09:37dishonored

01:09:37and

01:09:38its

01:09:38nobility

01:09:38called

01:09:38into

01:09:39question,

01:09:39those

01:09:40honorable

01:09:40men

01:09:40who

01:09:40recognize

01:09:41the

01:09:41sanctity

01:09:42of

01:09:42blood

01:09:42will

01:09:43become

01:09:44excluded

01:09:45from

01:09:46the

01:09:46dance,

01:09:47which

01:09:47is

01:09:47the

01:09:47warrior's

01:09:48right.

01:09:49And

01:09:49thereby

01:09:50will

01:09:51the

01:09:51dance

01:09:51become

01:09:51a

01:09:52false

01:09:52dance

01:09:52and

01:09:53the

01:09:53dancer's

01:09:53false

01:09:53dancers

01:09:54and

01:09:54yet

01:09:54there

01:09:56will

01:09:56be

01:09:56one

01:09:57there

01:09:57always

01:09:58who

01:09:59is

01:09:59a

01:09:59true

01:10:00dancer.

01:10:01And

01:10:02can

01:10:02you

01:10:02guess

01:10:03who

01:10:04that

01:10:04might

01:10:04be?

01:10:06You

01:10:07ain't

01:10:08nothing.

01:10:09You

01:10:10speak

01:10:10truer

01:10:11than

01:10:11you

01:10:11know,

01:10:12but

01:10:12I

01:10:12will

01:10:12tell

01:10:13you

01:10:13only

01:10:14that

01:10:15man

01:10:15who

01:10:15has

01:10:15offered

01:10:15up

01:10:16himself

01:10:17entire

01:10:18to

01:10:19the

01:10:19blood

01:10:19of

01:10:19war,

01:10:20who

01:10:20has

01:10:20been

01:10:21to

01:10:21the

01:10:21floor

01:10:21of

01:10:21the

01:10:21pit

01:10:22and

01:10:22seen

01:10:23horror

01:10:23in

01:10:23the

01:10:23round

01:10:24and

01:10:25learned

01:10:25at

01:10:25last

01:10:26that

01:10:26it

01:10:26speaks

01:10:26to

01:10:26his

01:10:27in

01:10:27most

01:10:28heart.

01:10:29Only

01:10:30that

01:10:30man

01:10:31can

01:10:31dance.

01:10:33Even

01:10:34a

01:10:34dumb

01:10:35animal

01:10:36can

01:10:36dance.

01:10:39The

01:10:39judge

01:10:40set the

01:10:40bottle

01:10:40on the

01:10:41bar.

01:10:42Hear

01:10:42me,

01:10:43man,

01:10:43he

01:10:44said.

01:10:44There

01:10:45is room

01:10:45on the

01:10:46stage

01:10:46for one

01:10:46beast

01:10:46and one

01:10:47alone.

01:10:47All

01:10:48others

01:10:48are

01:10:48destined

01:10:49for a

01:10:49night

01:10:49that is

01:10:50eternal

01:10:50and without

01:10:51name.

01:10:52One

01:10:52by one

01:10:53they

01:10:54will

01:10:54step

01:10:55down

01:10:55into

01:10:56the

01:10:56darkness

01:10:57before

01:10:58the

01:10:58footlamps.

01:10:59Bears

01:11:00that

01:11:00dance,

01:11:01bears

01:11:02that

01:11:02don't.

01:11:04He

01:11:05drifted

01:11:05with the

01:11:05crowd

01:11:06toward

01:11:06the

01:11:07door

01:11:07at the

01:11:07rear.

01:11:08In

01:11:09the

01:11:09anteroom

01:11:09sat

01:11:10men

01:11:10at

01:11:11cards,

01:11:12dim

01:11:12in

01:11:12the

01:11:12smoke.

01:11:13He

01:11:14moved

01:11:14on.

01:11:15A

01:11:15woman

01:11:16was

01:11:16taking

01:11:16chits

01:11:17from

01:11:17the

01:11:17man

01:11:17as

01:11:17they

01:11:17passed

01:11:18through

01:11:18to

01:11:18the

01:11:18shed

01:11:19at

01:11:19the

01:11:20rear

01:11:20of

01:11:20the

01:11:20building.

01:11:21She

01:11:21looked

01:11:22up

01:11:22at

01:11:22him.

01:11:22He

01:11:23had

01:11:23no

01:11:23chit.

01:11:25She

01:11:25directed

01:11:25him

01:11:26to

01:11:26a

01:11:26table

01:11:26where

01:11:27a

01:11:27woman

01:11:27was

01:11:27selling

01:11:27the

01:11:27chits

01:11:28and

01:11:28stuffing

01:11:28the

01:11:29money

01:11:29with

01:11:29a

01:11:29piece

01:11:29of

01:11:29shingle

01:11:30through

01:11:30a

01:11:31narrow

01:11:31slit

01:11:31into

01:11:32an

01:11:32iron

01:11:32strong

01:11:32box.

01:11:33He

01:11:34paid

01:11:34his

01:11:34dollar

01:11:34and

01:11:35took

01:11:35the

01:11:35stamped

01:11:35brass

01:11:36token

01:11:36and

01:11:37rendered

01:11:37it

01:11:37up

01:11:38at

01:11:38the

01:11:38door

01:11:38and

01:11:38pass

01:11:39through.

01:11:40He

01:11:40found

01:11:41himself

01:11:41in a

01:11:41large

01:11:41hall

01:11:42with

01:11:42a

01:11:42platform

01:11:42for

01:11:43the

01:11:43musicians

01:11:43at

01:11:44one

01:11:44end

01:11:44and

01:11:45a

01:11:45large

01:11:45home

01:11:46main

01:11:46sheet

01:11:46iron

01:11:46stove

01:11:47at

01:11:48the

01:11:48other.

01:11:49Whole

01:11:50squadrons

01:11:50of

01:11:51whores

01:11:51were

01:11:52working

01:11:52the

01:11:52floor.

01:11:54In

01:11:54their

01:11:54stained

01:11:54penoirs,

01:11:55in

01:11:55their

01:11:56green

01:11:56stockings

01:11:57and

01:11:57melon

01:11:58colored

01:11:58drawers

01:11:58they

01:11:59drifted

01:11:59through

01:11:59the

01:12:00smoky

01:12:00oil

01:12:00light

01:12:01like

01:12:02make-believe

01:12:03wantons

01:12:03at

01:12:04once

01:12:04childlike

01:12:05and

01:12:05lewd.

01:12:06A

01:12:07dark

01:12:07little

01:12:07dwarf

01:12:08of

01:12:08a

01:12:08whore

01:12:08took

01:12:09his

01:12:09arm

01:12:10and

01:12:10smiled

01:12:10up

01:12:10at

01:12:11him.

01:12:12I

01:12:12see

01:12:13you

01:12:13right

01:12:13away,

01:12:14she

01:12:14said.

01:12:15I

01:12:15always

01:12:16pick

01:12:16the

01:12:16one

01:12:17I

01:12:17want.

01:12:18She

01:12:19led

01:12:19him

01:12:19through

01:12:19a

01:12:19door

01:12:20where

01:12:20an

01:12:20old

01:12:20Mexican

01:12:21woman

01:12:21was

01:12:22handing

01:12:22out

01:12:22towels

01:12:23and

01:12:23candles

01:12:23and

01:12:25they

01:12:25ascended

01:12:25like

01:12:25refugees

01:12:26of

01:12:26some

01:12:26sordid

01:12:27disaster,

01:12:28the

01:12:29darkened

01:12:29plank

01:12:29board

01:12:30stairwell

01:12:30to

01:12:31the

01:12:32upper

01:12:32rooms,

01:12:33lying

01:12:34in the

01:12:34little

01:12:34cubicle

01:12:35with

01:12:35his

01:12:35trousers

01:12:36about

01:12:36his

01:12:36knees,

01:12:37he

01:12:37watched

01:12:37her.

01:12:38He

01:12:38watched

01:12:39her

01:12:39take

01:12:39up

01:12:39her

01:12:39clothes

01:12:40and

01:12:40don

01:12:40them,

01:12:41and

01:12:41he

01:12:42watched

01:12:42her

01:12:42hold

01:12:42the

01:12:42candle

01:12:43to

01:12:43the

01:12:43mirror

01:12:43and

01:12:44study

01:12:44her

01:12:45face

01:12:45there.

01:12:46She

01:12:47turned

01:12:47and

01:12:48looked

01:12:48at

01:12:48him.

01:12:50Let's

01:12:50go,

01:12:51she

01:12:52said.

01:12:52I

01:12:52gotta

01:12:53go.

01:12:54Goom,

01:12:55you

01:12:55can't

01:12:56lay

01:12:56there.

01:12:58Come

01:12:58on,

01:12:59I

01:12:59got

01:12:59to

01:12:59go.

01:13:01He

01:13:01sat

01:13:02up and

01:13:02swung

01:13:03his

01:13:03legs

01:13:03over

01:13:03the

01:13:04edge

01:13:04of the

01:13:04little

01:13:05iron

01:13:05cot

01:13:05and

01:13:07stood

01:13:07and

01:13:07pulled

01:13:07his

01:13:08trousers

01:13:08up

01:13:09and

01:13:09buttoned

01:13:10them

01:13:10and

01:13:10buckled

01:13:11his

01:13:11belt.

01:13:12His

01:13:12hat

01:13:12was

01:13:13on

01:13:13the

01:13:13floor

01:13:13and

01:13:13he

01:13:13picked

01:13:14it

01:13:14up

01:13:14and

01:13:14slapped

01:13:15it

01:13:15against

01:13:16the

01:13:16side

01:13:16of

01:13:16his

01:13:16leg

01:13:17and

01:13:17put

01:13:17it

01:13:18on.

01:13:19he

01:13:21said.

01:13:25He

01:13:26went

01:13:29out.

01:13:30He

01:13:30turned

01:13:30down

01:13:31stairs.

01:13:35She

01:13:35had

01:13:35come

01:13:36to

01:13:36the

01:13:36door.

01:13:36She

01:13:37stood

01:13:37in the

01:13:37hallway

01:13:38holding

01:13:38the

01:13:38candle

01:13:39and

01:13:39brushing

01:13:39her

01:13:39hair

01:13:40back

01:13:40with

01:13:40one

01:13:40hand.

01:13:41And

01:13:42she

01:13:42watched

01:13:42him

01:13:43descend

01:13:43into

01:13:43the

01:13:44dark

01:13:44of

01:13:44the

01:13:44stairwell

01:13:45and

01:13:46then

01:13:46she

01:13:47pulled

01:13:47the

01:13:47door

01:13:47shut

01:13:48behind

01:13:48her.

01:13:49He

01:13:50stood

01:13:50at

01:13:50the

01:13:50edge

01:13:50of

01:13:51the

01:13:51dance

01:13:51floor.

01:13:52A

01:13:52ring

01:13:53of

01:13:53people

01:13:53had

01:13:53taken

01:13:53the

01:13:54floor

01:13:54and

01:13:55were

01:13:55holding

01:13:55hands

01:13:56and

01:13:56grinning

01:13:56and

01:13:57calling

01:13:57out

01:13:58to

01:13:58one

01:13:58another.

01:13:59A

01:14:00fiddler

01:14:00sat

01:14:00on

01:14:00the

01:14:00stool

01:14:01on

01:14:01the

01:14:01stage

01:14:01and

01:14:02a

01:14:02man

01:14:02walked

01:14:03up

01:14:03and

01:14:03down

01:14:04calling

01:14:04out

01:14:05the

01:14:05order

01:14:05of

01:14:05the

01:14:05dance

01:14:06and

01:14:06gesturing

01:14:06and

01:14:07stepping

01:14:07in

01:14:08the

01:14:08way

01:14:08he

01:14:08wished

01:14:08them

01:14:09to

01:14:09go.

01:14:10Outside

01:14:11in

01:14:11the

01:14:11darkened

01:14:12lot

01:14:12groups

01:14:12of

01:14:12wretched

01:14:14Tonkowas

01:14:14stood

01:14:15in

01:14:15the

01:14:15mud

01:14:15with

01:14:15their

01:14:16faces

01:14:16composed

01:14:17in

01:14:17strange

01:14:18lost

01:14:19portraits

01:14:19within

01:14:20the

01:14:21sash

01:14:21work

01:14:21of

01:14:22the

01:14:22window

01:14:22lights.

01:14:23The

01:14:24fiddler

01:14:24rose

01:14:25and

01:14:25set

01:14:25the

01:14:25fiddle

01:14:25to

01:14:26his

01:14:26jaw.

01:14:26There

01:14:27was

01:14:27a

01:14:27shout

01:14:28and

01:14:28the

01:14:29music

01:14:29began

01:14:29and

01:14:30the

01:14:30ring

01:14:31of

01:14:31dancers

01:14:31began

01:14:32to

01:14:32rotate

01:14:32ponderously

01:14:33with

01:14:34a

01:14:34great

01:14:34shuffling.

01:14:36He

01:14:37went

01:14:37out

01:14:37the

01:14:37back.

01:14:39The

01:14:40rain

01:14:40had

01:14:41stopped

01:14:41and

01:14:42the

01:14:42air

01:14:42was

01:14:42cold.

01:14:43He

01:14:44stood

01:14:44in

01:14:44the

01:14:44yard.

01:14:45Stars

01:14:46were

01:14:46falling

01:14:46across

01:14:47the

01:14:47sky,

01:14:48myriad

01:14:48and

01:14:49random,

01:14:50speeding

01:14:51along

01:14:51brief

01:14:51vectors

01:14:52from

01:14:52their

01:14:52origins

01:14:53in

01:14:53night

01:14:54to

01:14:55their

01:14:55destinies

01:14:55in

01:14:56dust

01:14:56and

01:14:57nothingness.

01:14:59Within

01:15:00the

01:15:00hall,

01:15:00the

01:15:00fiddle

01:15:01squealed

01:15:01and

01:15:02the

01:15:03dancers

01:15:03shuffled

01:15:04and

01:15:04stomped.

01:15:06In

01:15:06the

01:15:06street,

01:15:08men

01:15:08were

01:15:08calling

01:15:08for

01:15:09the

01:15:09little

01:15:09girl

01:15:09whose

01:15:10bear

01:15:10was

01:15:10dead

01:15:10for

01:15:10she

01:15:11was

01:15:11lost.

01:15:12They

01:15:12went

01:15:13among

01:15:13the

01:15:13darkened

01:15:13lots

01:15:14with

01:15:14lanterns

01:15:15and

01:15:15torches,

01:15:16calling

01:15:16out to

01:15:17her.

01:15:18He

01:15:19went

01:15:19down

01:15:19the

01:15:19walk

01:15:19board

01:15:20toward

01:15:21the

01:15:21jakes.

01:15:22He

01:15:22stood

01:15:22outside

01:15:23listening

01:15:23to

01:15:23the

01:15:23voices

01:15:24fading

01:15:24away,

01:15:25and

01:15:26he

01:15:26looked

01:15:26again

01:15:26at

01:15:27the

01:15:27silent

01:15:27tracks

01:15:28of

01:15:28the

01:15:28stars

01:15:28where

01:15:29they

01:15:29died

01:15:29over

01:15:29the

01:15:30darkened

01:15:30hills.

01:15:31Then

01:15:32he

01:15:32opened

01:15:33the

01:15:33rough

01:15:33board

01:15:33door

01:15:34of

01:15:34the

01:15:34jakes

01:15:34and

01:15:34stepped

01:15:35in.

01:15:36The

01:15:37judge

01:15:37was

01:15:38seated

01:15:39upon

01:15:39the

01:15:39closet.

01:15:40He

01:15:41was

01:15:41naked,

01:15:41and he

01:15:42rose up

01:15:43smiling

01:15:43and gathered

01:15:44him in

01:15:44his arms

01:15:45against

01:15:45his

01:15:46immense

01:15:46and

01:15:47terrible

01:15:47flesh,

01:15:49and shot

01:15:50the wooden

01:15:50barlatch

01:15:51home

01:15:51behind him.

01:15:53In the

01:15:53saloon,

01:15:54two men

01:15:55who

01:15:56wanted

01:15:56to

01:15:56buy

01:15:57the

01:15:57hide

01:15:58were

01:15:58looking

01:15:59for

01:15:59the

01:15:59owner

01:15:59of

01:15:59the

01:16:00bear.

01:16:01The

01:16:01bear

01:16:01lay

01:16:01on

01:16:02the

01:16:02stage

01:16:02in

01:16:03an

01:16:03immense

01:16:04pool

01:16:04of

01:16:05blood.

01:16:06All

01:16:06the

01:16:06candles

01:16:07had

01:16:07gone

01:16:07out

01:16:07save

01:16:08one,

01:16:08and

01:16:09it

01:16:09guttered

01:16:09uneasily

01:16:10in its

01:16:11grease,

01:16:12like

01:16:12a

01:16:12votive

01:16:12lamp.

01:16:13In

01:16:14the

01:16:14dance

01:16:14hall,

01:16:15a

01:16:15young

01:16:15man

01:16:15had

01:16:15joined

01:16:16the

01:16:16fiddler,

01:16:16and

01:16:17he

01:16:17kept

01:16:17the

01:16:17measure

01:16:17of

01:16:17the

01:16:18music

01:16:18with

01:16:18a

01:16:18pair

01:16:18of

01:16:18spoons

01:16:19which

01:16:19he

01:16:19clapped

01:16:20between

01:16:20his

01:16:20thighs.

01:16:21The

01:16:22whores

01:16:22sashayed

01:16:23half

01:16:24naked,

01:16:25some

01:16:25with

01:16:26their

01:16:26breasts

01:16:26exposed.

01:16:28In

01:16:28the

01:16:29mudded

01:16:29dog

01:16:29yard,

01:16:31behind

01:16:31the

01:16:31premises,

01:16:32two

01:16:33men

01:16:33went

01:16:33down

01:16:34the

01:16:34boards

01:16:34toward

01:16:34the

01:16:35jakes.

01:16:36A

01:16:37third

01:16:37man

01:16:37was

01:16:37standing

01:16:38there,

01:16:39urinating

01:16:40into

01:16:40the

01:16:40mud.

01:16:42Someone

01:16:43in

01:16:43there,

01:16:44the

01:16:44first

01:16:45man

01:16:45said.

01:16:46The

01:16:46man

01:16:46who

01:16:46was

01:16:46relieving

01:16:47himself

01:16:47did

01:16:47not

01:16:48look

01:16:48up.

01:16:48I

01:16:49wouldn't

01:16:49go

01:16:50in

01:16:50there

01:16:50if

01:16:50I

01:16:50was

01:16:50you,

01:16:51he

01:16:51said.

01:16:52Is

01:16:53there

01:16:53somebody

01:16:54in

01:16:54there?

01:16:55I

01:16:56wouldn't

01:16:56go

01:16:56in.

01:16:58He

01:16:58hitched

01:16:59himself

01:16:59up

01:17:00and

01:17:00buttoned

01:17:01his

01:17:01trousers

01:17:01and

01:17:02stepped

01:17:03past

01:17:03them

01:17:04and

01:17:04went

01:17:04up

01:17:05the

01:17:05walk

01:17:06toward

01:17:07the

01:17:07lights.

01:17:08The

01:17:08first

01:17:09man

01:17:09watched

01:17:09him

01:17:09go

01:17:10and

01:17:10then

01:17:10opened

01:17:11the

01:17:11door

01:17:11of

01:17:11the

01:17:11jakes.

01:17:13Good

01:17:13God

01:17:14almighty,

01:17:16he

01:17:16said.

01:17:17What

01:17:18is

01:17:18it?

01:17:19He

01:17:20didn't

01:17:20answer.

01:17:21He

01:17:22stepped

01:17:22past the

01:17:22other and

01:17:23went back

01:17:24up the

01:17:24walk.

01:17:25The

01:17:25other man

01:17:26stood

01:17:26looking

01:17:27after him.

01:17:28Then

01:17:29he

01:17:30opened

01:17:30the

01:17:30door

01:17:30and

01:17:31looked

01:17:32in.

01:17:33In

01:17:33the

01:17:34saloon

01:17:34they

01:17:34had

01:17:34rolled

01:17:35the

01:17:35dead

01:17:35bear

01:17:35onto

01:17:36a

01:17:36wagon

01:17:36sheet

01:17:37and

01:17:37there

01:17:37was

01:17:37a

01:17:38general

01:17:38call

01:17:38for

01:17:38hands.

01:17:39In

01:17:40the

01:17:40anteroom

01:17:40the

01:17:41tobacco

01:17:41smoke

01:17:42circled

01:17:42the

01:17:42lamps

01:17:43like

01:17:43an

01:17:44evil

01:17:44fog

01:17:44and

01:17:45the

01:17:46men

01:17:46bid

01:17:46and

01:17:47dealt

01:17:47in

01:17:47a

01:17:47low

01:17:48mutter.

01:17:49There

01:17:49was

01:17:49a

01:17:50lull

01:17:50in

01:17:50the

01:17:50dancing

01:17:51and

01:17:52a

01:17:52second

01:17:52fiddler

01:17:53took

01:17:53the

01:17:53stage

01:17:54and

01:17:54two

01:17:54plucked

01:17:55their

01:17:55strings

01:17:55and

01:17:56turned

01:17:56the

01:17:56little

01:17:56hardwood

01:17:57pegs

01:17:57until

01:17:58they

01:17:58were

01:17:58satisfied.

01:18:00Many

01:18:01among

01:18:01the

01:18:01dancers

01:18:01were

01:18:02staggering

01:18:02drunk

01:18:02through

01:18:03the

01:18:03room

01:18:03and

01:18:04some

01:18:04had

01:18:04rid

01:18:05themselves

01:18:05of

01:18:05shirts

01:18:06and

01:18:06jackets

01:18:06and

01:18:07stood

01:18:08bare

01:18:08chested

01:18:08and

01:18:09sweating

01:18:09even

01:18:10though

01:18:10the

01:18:11room

01:18:11was

01:18:11cold

01:18:11enough

01:18:11to

01:18:12cloud

01:18:12their

01:18:12breath.

01:18:13An

01:18:14enormous

01:18:14whore

01:18:15stood

01:18:16clapping

01:18:16her

01:18:16hands

01:18:17at

01:18:17the

01:18:17bandstand

01:18:18and

01:18:18called

01:18:19drunkenly

01:18:20for

01:18:20the

01:18:21music.

01:18:22She

01:18:22wore

01:18:23nothing

01:18:23but a

01:18:23pair

01:18:23of

01:18:24men's

01:18:24drawers

01:18:24and

01:18:25some

01:18:25of

01:18:25her

01:18:25sisters

01:18:26were

01:18:26likewise

01:18:26clad

01:18:27in

01:18:27what

01:18:27appeared

01:18:28to

01:18:28be

01:18:28trophy

01:18:29flats

01:18:29or

01:18:30pantaloons

01:18:31or

01:18:31blue

01:18:32twill

01:18:32cavalry

01:18:33jackets.

01:18:34As

01:18:35the

01:18:35music

01:18:35sawed

01:18:36up

01:18:36there

01:18:37was

01:18:37a

01:18:37lively

01:18:37cry

01:18:38from

01:18:38all

01:18:38and

01:18:39a

01:18:39caller

01:18:40stood

01:18:40to

01:18:40the

01:18:40front

01:18:41and

01:18:41called

01:18:42out

01:18:42the

01:18:42dance

01:18:43and

01:18:43the

01:18:43dancers

01:18:43stomped

01:18:44and

01:18:44hooted

01:18:45and

01:18:46lurched

01:18:46against

01:18:46one

01:18:47another

01:18:47and

01:18:48they

01:18:49are

01:18:50dancing

01:18:51the

01:18:52board

01:18:52slamming

01:18:52against

01:18:53the

01:18:53jack

01:18:53boots

01:18:53and

01:18:54the

01:18:54fiddlers

01:18:54grinning

01:18:54hideously

01:18:55over

01:18:56their

01:18:56counted

01:18:56pieces

01:18:58towering

01:18:59over

01:18:59them

01:18:59all

01:19:00as

01:19:00the

01:19:00judge

01:19:01and

01:19:02he

01:19:02is

01:19:02naked

01:19:03dancing

01:19:04his

01:19:05small

01:19:05feet

01:19:06lively

01:19:06and

01:19:06quick

01:19:07and

01:19:07now

01:19:07in

01:19:07double

01:19:08time

01:19:08and

01:19:09bowing

01:19:09to

01:19:09the

01:19:09ladies

01:19:10huge

01:19:11and

01:19:11pale

01:19:12and

01:19:12hairless

01:19:13like

01:19:14an

01:19:14enormous

01:19:15infant

01:19:17he

01:19:17never

01:19:18sleeps

01:19:18he

01:19:18says

01:19:19he

01:19:20says

01:19:20he'll

01:19:20never

01:19:20die

01:19:21he

01:19:21bows

01:19:22to

01:19:22the

01:19:22fiddlers

01:19:22and

01:19:22sachets

01:19:23backwards

01:19:23and

01:19:24throws

01:19:24back

01:19:24his

01:19:25head

01:19:25and laughs

01:19:25deep

01:19:26in his

01:19:26throat

01:19:26and

01:19:27he

01:19:28is a

01:19:28great

01:19:29favorite

01:19:29the

01:19:29judge

01:19:30he

01:19:31wafts

01:19:31his

01:19:31hat

01:19:31in the

01:19:32lunar

01:19:32dome

01:19:32with

01:19:32his

01:19:33skull

01:19:33passes

01:19:34paley

01:19:34under

01:19:34the

01:19:35lamps

01:19:35and

01:19:35he

01:19:35swings

01:19:36about

01:19:36and

01:19:37takes

01:19:37possession

01:19:37of one

01:19:38of the

01:19:38fiddles

01:19:39and he

01:19:39pirouettes

01:19:40and makes

01:19:40a pass

01:19:41two passes

01:19:42dancing

01:19:43and fiddling

01:19:43at once

01:19:44his feet

01:19:45are light

01:19:46and nimble

01:19:47he never

01:19:48sleeps

01:19:49he says

01:19:50that he will

01:19:51never die

01:19:52he dances

01:19:53in light

01:19:53and in shadow

01:19:54and he is

01:19:54a great

01:19:55favorite

01:19:56he never

01:19:57sleeps

01:19:58the judge

01:19:58he is

01:20:00dancing

01:20:01he says

01:20:02that he

01:20:03will

01:20:03never

01:20:03die

01:20:04the end

01:20:06epilogue

01:20:08in the

01:20:08dawn

01:20:09there is

01:20:09a man

01:20:09progressing

01:20:10over the

01:20:10plain

01:20:11by means

01:20:11of holes

01:20:12which he

01:20:13is making

01:20:13in the

01:20:13ground

01:20:15he uses

01:20:16an implement

01:20:16with two

01:20:17handles

01:20:17and he

01:20:18chucks

01:20:18it into

01:20:18the hole

01:20:19and he

01:20:20enkindles

01:20:20the stone

01:20:21in the

01:20:21hole

01:20:22with his

01:20:22steel

01:20:22hole

01:20:22by holes

01:20:24striking

01:20:24the fire

01:20:25out of

01:20:25the rock

01:20:26which

01:20:26god

01:20:26has put

01:20:28there

01:20:28on the

01:20:29plain

01:20:29behind him

01:20:30are the

01:20:30wanderers

01:20:31in search

01:20:31of bones

01:20:32and those

01:20:33who do

01:20:33not

01:20:34search

01:20:34and they

01:20:35move

01:20:35haltingly

01:20:36in the

01:20:36light

01:20:37like

01:20:37mechanisms

01:20:38whose

01:20:39movements

01:20:39are

01:20:39monitored

01:20:40with

01:20:40escapement

01:20:41and

01:20:41palette

01:20:41so that

01:20:42they

01:20:42appear

01:20:43restrained

01:20:44by a

01:20:44prudence

01:20:44or

01:20:45reflectiveness

01:20:46which has

01:20:47no

01:20:47inner

01:20:48reality

01:20:48and they

01:20:50cross

01:20:50in their

01:20:50progress

01:20:51one

01:20:51by one

01:20:52that

01:20:53track

01:20:53of

01:20:54holes

01:20:54that

01:20:55continues

01:20:55to the

01:20:56rim

01:20:56of the

01:20:56visible

01:20:57ground

01:20:57and which

01:20:58seems

01:20:59less

01:21:00the pursuit

01:21:00of some

01:21:01continuance

01:21:02than the

01:21:03verification

01:21:03of a

01:21:04principle

01:21:04a

01:21:06validation

01:21:06of sequence

01:21:07and causality

01:21:08as if

01:21:10each

01:21:10round

01:21:11and perfect

01:21:12hole

01:21:13owed

01:21:14its existence

01:21:15to the

01:21:16one before

01:21:17it there

01:21:18on that

01:21:18prairie

01:21:19upon which

01:21:20are the

01:21:20bones

01:21:21and the

01:21:22gatherers

01:21:22of bones

01:21:23and those

01:21:24who do

01:21:25not gather

01:21:26he strikes

01:21:27fire in the

01:21:28hole

01:21:28and draws

01:21:30out his

01:21:30steel

01:21:30then

01:21:32they

01:21:33all

01:21:33move

01:21:34on

01:21:34again

01:21:35in

01:21:35again

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