Gunman's Reckoning

"I never laid much on what they said," he averred. "I know you, Lefty; you can do a lot, but when it comes to leading a whole gang, like they said you was, and all that-well, I knew it was a lie. Used to tell 'em that." "You talked foolish, then," burst out Lefty suddenly. "It was all straight." The brakie could hear the click of his companion's teeth at the period to this statement, as though he regretted his outburst. "Well, I'll be hanged," murmured the brakie innocently. Ordinarily, Lefty was not easily lured, but this night he apparently was in the mood for talk. "Kennebec Lou, the Clipper, and Suds. Them and a lot more. They was all with me; they was all under me; I was the Main Guy!" What a ring in his voice as he said it! The beaten general speaks thus of his past triumphs. The old man remembered his youth in such a voice. The brakie was impressed; he repeated the three names. "Even Suds?" he said. "Was even Suds with you?"