The Man From the Desert, Part Ii

...They said the diggings had all been tapped out, ain’t no way a man could strike it rich now, but there was work for men, hearty and hale, had I ever thought of wearing a star? It’s not the sort of job I had ever done, but I’d know where my next meal would come from, so I took the post and walked the small town, keeping order in the brothels and bars. Five years had passed and word was going round, the Bilmer Gang was targeting small towns, they were hitting every bank, near and far, three deputies had been sent to the grave. Word came they were spotted near my small ville, I knew stopping them meant having to kill, so I put together a town posse, sweetened the pot for them with extra pay. And as sure as the sun, the bandits did strike, but things didn’t go exactly as they liked, they found the townsfolk just wouldn’t behave, were raked by shot as we opened fire. One-by-one they fell, in a blaze of lead, until all but one of them did lay dead, he locked himself up in the livery barn, so I climbed up to the hayloft higher. I leapt down and landed behind my foe, our guns came up, and soon death one would know, I did not forsee what would next transpire, I stared at the same man from the desert. The bandit looked just as shocked as I was, we both stood with guns steady, and dropped jaws, I could not believe fate had brought me here, of all the men to face here on this Earth… Angry shouts went up from around the place, the man heard and knew there was no escape, to them he was a villain of no worth, but then he said,”I will not go to jail.” He looked to his gun, all ready to shoot, so I squeezed my Colt, rendered it all moot, the slug struck hard, and he fell to the ground, and just lay there, didn’t cry out or flail. I looked over and I saw him smile, it faded to death in a short while, I them realized his gun-hand hadn’t failed, he’d just given me an excuse to act. Rather then go out with gunfire rife, he’d instead thanked me for saving his life by making no move to rob me of mine, his final moments a gracious payback. The townsfolk sent up a thunderous cheer, but I couldn’t join in, it all felt weird… That a brigand would show such awesome tact was a thing that truly beggared belief. That such a man would freely choose to die, instead of making one last chance to fly, I guess the old proverb is partially true, there was some honor left within that thief.