by W. C. Tuttle
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.
Transcribed from Adventure, July 1917 (The Ridgway Company).