This was strange, for the marshal was a very talkative man, and talkative men are not popular on the desert; but it has been discovered that on occasion his six-gun could speak as rapidly and much more accurately than his tongue.

So Marshal Calkins waxed in favour.
He set the household at ease upon his arrival by announcing that "they hadn't nothin' for him there." All he wanted was a place to bunk in, some chow, and a feed for the horse.

His trail led past the Cumberland Ranch many and many a dreary mile.
The marshal was a politic man, and he had early in life discovered that the best way to get along with any man was to meet him on his own ground.

His opening blast of words at Doctor Byrne was a sample of his art.
"So you're a doc, hey?
Well, sir, when I was a kid I had a colt that stuck its foreleg in a hole and busted it short and when that colt had to be shot they wasn't no holdin' me.

No, sir, I could of cleaned up on the whole family.