Magpie—Diplomat
By Tuttle, W. C.
When drifters Magpie Simpkins and Ike Harper ride into the frontier settlement of Pinto, they find its mayor, chief of police, and treasurer sitting forlorn on a pile of boulders—exiled from their own town by a scheme gone spectacularly wrong. What began as a clever fix to a civic problem has unraveled into a comedy of romantic deception, jealous wives, and loaded firearms. With Magpie's quick tongue and talent for back-country diplomacy, he attempts to untangle the mess—but peace, like gold, proves elusive on the frontier. A sharp and rollicking tale of frontier wit, marital chaos, and the perils of small-town politics, first published in Adventure magazine in July 1917.
Publisher: The Ridgway Company (in Adventure Magazine)
First published: 1917