The Bad Man

Bad Man, The

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Bad Man, by Charles Hanson
Towne
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: The Bad Man
Author: Charles Hanson Towne

Release Date: October 30, 2005 [eBook #16968]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BAD
MAN***
E-text prepared by David Garcia, Josephine Paolucci, and the Project
Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net/) from page images generously made available
by The Kentuckiana Digital Library (http://kdl.kyvl.org/)

Note: Images of the original pages are available through the
Kentuckiana Digital Library. See
http://kdl.kyvl.org/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=kyetexts;cc=kyetexts;xc=1&idn
o=B92-259-31824852&view=toc

THE BAD MAN
A Novel
by
CHARLES HANSON TOWNE
Based on the Play by Porter Emerson Browne

G. P. Putnam's Sons New York and London The Knickerbocker Press
1921
Copyright, 1921, by G. P. Putnam's Sons Printed in the United States of
America

[Illustration: HOLBROOK BLINN AS "THE BAD MAN."]

To
HOLBROOK BLINN

CONTENTS
CHAPTER

I.
--Wherein it is shown that a young American had the courage to come
into a new country; how fate played against him, and a neighbor looked
longingly at his ranch
II.--Wherein, far away, another man hears whispers of the wealth along
the border, and comes down to see about it
III.--Wherein Uncle Henry speaks his mind--as usual
IV.--Wherein "Red" reveals his heart, and Mrs. Quinn gives him good
coffee and good advice
V.--Wherein Gilbert Jones is worried, and Lucia Pell is asked to do an
impossible thing
VI.--Wherein an old love awakens, Pell reveals his true colors, a
mortgage is about to be foreclosed, the contents of a satchel are made
known, Uncle Henry springs a sensation, and Pell takes an option
VII.--Wherein Lucia sees treachery brewing, Pell proves himself a
brute, and an unexpected guest appears
VIII.--Wherein the bandit expounds a new philosophy, and makes
marionettes of the Americans
IX.--Wherein Uncle Henry chatters some more, there is an auction, and
things look black indeed
X.--Wherein an old friendship comes to life, Lopez learns a thing or
two, and finally makes a match
XI.--Wherein a man proves himself a craven, a shot rings out, and the
bad man explains one little hour
XII.--Wherein the bad man cannot understand the good man, and
disappears; and a dead man stirs

XIII.--Wherein an old situation seems about to be repeated, another
shot is fired, and the bad man comes back
XIV.--Wherein an old friend returns, and there is a joyful reunion

THE BAD MAN
CHAPTER I
WHEREIN IT IS SHOWN THAT A YOUNG AMERICAN HAD THE
COURAGE TO COME INTO A NEW COUNTRY; HOW FATE
PLAYED AGAINST HIM, AND A NEIGHBOR LOOKED
LONGINGLY AT HIS RANCH
Looking back now, after so many months of struggle and foreboding,
he wondered how he had ever had the high courage to come to this
strange country. Had he been a few years older he would not have
started forth--he was sure of that now. But the flame of youth was in
him, the sure sense that he could conquer where others had miserably
failed; and, like all virile young Americans, he had love of adventure,
and zest for the unknown was in his blood. The glamour of Arizona
lured him; the color of these great hills and mountains he had come to
love captivated him from the first. It was as if a siren beckoned, and he
had to follow.
For days he had been worried almost to the breaking point. Things had
not shaped themselves as he had planned. Event piled upon event, and
now disaster--definite disaster--threatened to descend upon him.
All morning, despite the intense heat, he had been about the ranch,
appraising this and that, mentally; pottering in the shed; looking at his
horses--the few that were left!--smiling at the thought of his wheezing
Ford, wondering just when he would clear out altogether.
Not that young Gilbert Jones was a pessimist. And yet he wasn't one of
those damnable Pollyanna optimists he so abominated--the kind who

went about saying continually that God was in His heaven and all was
right with the world. No, indeed! He was just a normal, regular fellow,
ready to face a difficult situation when it came about as the natural
result of a series of events. He saw the impending catastrophe as the
logical finale of many happenings--for some of which he was not in
any way responsible.
Who could have foreseen the Great War, for instance? Surely that was
not his fault! A pitiful archduke was murdered in a European city. He
remembered reading about it, and then instantly dismissing it from his
mind as