Read Weird West 04 - The Doctor and the Dinosaurs for Free Online Page B

doing.”
    “I see,” said Roosevelt.
    “So we got one or more of Marsh's guys trying to stop us, and the Comanche picking off a man or burning a wagon whenever they think can get away with it—and this ground looks pretty soft, but a couple of our horses have gone lame.”
    “I got a feeling all that's going to be the least of your problems,” said Holliday.

“S O TELL ME ,” said Holliday, as they sat on a pair of tree stumps by the dead fire, waiting for Cope and his party to return, “how the hell did you let a little twerp like Jesse James talk you into that Minnesota thing?”
    “You mean the Northfield raid?” asked Younger.
    Holliday nodded his head. “It's been written up in enough dime novels.”
    “It even made the papers back in New York,” added Roosevelt.
    Younger lit a hand-rolled cigarette. “And they all say it was the Youngers and Jesse James?”
    “The Younger Brothers and the James Brothers,” said Roosevelt. “It's one of the most famous robbery attempts in our history.”
    “Don't know how a story like that gets started,” replied Younger. “Jesse and Frank were nowhere near Northfield. Hell, I'll bet whatever Mr. Cope's paying me that Jesse's never set foot in Minnesota in his life.”
    “So who was it?” asked Roosevelt.
    “Me and my brothers Jim and Bob, and a couple of other guys.They got killed, and all three of us brothers got shot up pretty bad.” Suddenly he grinned. “Just as well that they caught us and tossed us in jail. They made it their business to keep us alive until the trial. If we'd have gotten away, filled with lead like we were, all three of us would have died within a week or two.”
    “You don't sound at all bitter,” noted Roosevelt.
    “Well, we'd much rather have gotten away clean with the money instead of loaded down with lead, but we're rough men, we took a gamble, we lost, and we paid our debt.”
    “They let you all out?”
    “Me and Jim did nine years each and got paroled. Bob never did recover from all them bullets, and he died in jail.”
    “Sorry to hear it,” said Holliday. “He's the only one I never met.”
    “Well, you can read all about him,” said Younger.
    “I know,” said Holliday. “Same place I read all those phony stories about me.”
    Younger shook his head. “No, I wrote my autobiography while I was in jail. Had to do something to kill all that time. And,” he added with a happy smile, “I sold it last month. Some New York publisher that your pal Bat Masterson showed it to.”
    “He's not exactly my friend,” said Holliday. “We just seem to be on the same side of issues out here.”
    “Well, he's my friend,” chimed in Roosevelt. “And as good a sportswriter as the Telegraph has on its staff.” He turned to Holliday. “How did you meet Cole and Jim?”
    Holliday grinned and looked at Younger. “You tell him, Cole.”
    “Me and Jim needed some quick cash, so we hired on as lawmen back in Dallas a couple of years before the Minnesota raid. I can't believe Doc didn't tell you the story about how the sheriff gave him something like ten hours to clear out of town after he shot a man at a gaming table.”
    “Yes, I heard it,” replied Roosevelt with a chuckle. “The sheriff had an abscessed tooth, Doc was packing his gear and was the only dentist still awake, so the sheriff came in, Doc put him under with laughing gas, and then”—Roosevelt uttered a hearty laugh—“he pulled all the sheriff's teeth before he woke up, and high-tailed it out of town.”
    “That's the story,” agreed Younger. “But Doc wasn't leaving town because of the sheriff. Doc could have taken him without drawing a deep breath.”
    “Even back then I couldn't draw a deep breath,” interjected Holliday with a smile.
    “Anyway, the reason Doc left in a hurry was so he wouldn't have to face Jim and me.”
    “I didn't want to kill you,” said Holliday.
    “You wouldn't have,” replied Younger.
    “Anyway,” concluded Holliday,