As the day died and the afterglow stretched upward in the soft, empty sky, the Hat Creek outfit, seven strong, crossed the river and rode southeast, toward the Hacienda Flores.
As she was finishing her song, the notes dipped down low—they carried a sadness that was more than a sadness at the death of men; rather it was a sadness at the lives of men, and of women. It reminded...
A chain of follies had put him there: Call’s abrupt decision to become a cattleman and his own decision, equally abrupt, to try and rescue a girl foolish enough to be taken in by Jake Spoon. None of i...
That evening: she was going to a country club dance with Lester Marlow. She wasn’t sheddin’ no tears over the telephone, Duane said bitterly. She may be getting to like country club dances, that’s wha...
You’re like a starving person whose stomach is shrunk up from not having any food. You’re shrunk up from not wanting nothing.
You are like me, a free man. The sky is your wife.
Why would you want to keep in practice being wrong? Call asked. I’d think it would be something you’d try to avoid. You can’t avoid it, you’ve got to learn to handle it, Augustus said. If you only com...
The older the violin, the sweeter the music.
Son, this is a sad thing, Augustus said. Loss of life always is. But the life is lost for good. Don’t you go attempting vengeance. You’ve got more urgent business. If I ever run into Blue Duck I’ll ki...
One day Augustus asked Newt to ride along with him, much to Newt’s surprise. In the morning they saw a grizzly, but the bear was far upwind and didn’t scent them. It was a beautiful day—no clouds in t...
Jake, you’re a dern grasshopper, Augustus said. You ride in yesterday talking Montana, and today you’re talking California.
It’s my fault for not shooting the son of a bitch while he was drinking. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I should have shot him on suspicion. And then I plumb forgot about it all day. I’m ge...
Is the girl all right? She’s had an ordeal but she’s young, Augustus said. She won’t forget it, but she might outlive it.
Incompetents invariably made trouble for people other than themselves.
In the vastness of the desert, each reduction of the group made them realize how small they were, how puny, in relation to the space they were traveling through.
If I had a mind to rent pigs, I'd be mighty upset. A man that likes to rent pigs won't be stopped.
I'm sure partial to the evening,' Augustus said. 'The evening and the morning. If we just didn't have to have the rest of the dern day I'd be a lot happier.
I wish you'd stop talking about your own death, Gus said, in a joking tone. It ain't genteel.
I see you’re in a hurry to get someplace. It’s a great mistake to hurry. Why? Joe asked, puzzled by almost everything the traveler said. Because the grave’s our destination, Mr. Sedgwick said. Those w...
I needed a man, Call replied. I was hoping he might turn out to be a fighter. No, he’s just a jailer, Billy said.