Chapter 3

Belfort, TX, July, 1892

The next morning, Mat decided that there was nothing in Belfort to keep him there. After breakfast, he went over to the train station to see when he could leave. Bad news. The next train through headed West wasn't due for another three days, so he asked about other possibilities. Well... the station agent wasn't supposed to talk about it, but here was a stagecoach headed West due to come through Belfort that afternoon. Mat decided that the only thing worse than a stagecoach ride was staying in Belfort for another three days. He was told that the stagecoach did stop at the hotel long enough to pick up mail for towns along its route and Mat could get on it when it stopped for that.

Mat went back to the hotel and checked out and made the necessary arrangements to get on the stagecoach when it arrived. He had changed into his heavy duty traveling clothes and armed himself fully. He was sitting in the hotel lobby when the stagecoach pulled into town.

He climbed into the coach to find two passengers already seated. Two women, one young, one old were sitting so that they faced forward. Courtesy required Mat to sit in the other seat facing to the rear. Actually, he didn't mind as this let him examine his companions with out having to strain. The coach left with a flourish more or less on time. It was immediately apparent that this was not going to be a comfortable ride; the coach swayed back and forth, side to side, and practically any other way you can imagine. Every bump in the road was magnified to the point that conversation was impossible. The motion, combined with the dust and noise quickly convinced Mat that he should have waited for the train. Never the less, he had to cope with the discomfort; but he was consoled by the thought that no matter how miserable it was for him, it had to be worse for the two ladies.

After an hour or so, it was time to change the mules. This stagecoach line had gotten smart and realized that, if you had a tough and/or demanding job to do, mules were much better than horses. The relay station was also a ten minute rest stop for the passengers and crew, so they all got down to use the facilities and walk around for a bit to relieve tired muscles. It was at this time that Mat found out that the ladies were mother and daughter returning from visiting relatives in New Orleans. He told them that he was fresh out of college and looking for an opportunity.

All too soon, they returned to the stagecoach and continued their journey. The speed and the roughness of the trip lessened as they began to cross a line of rocky hills. At one point, the road led through a narrow cut which forced the stagecoach to a slow crawl as it wound between walls of rock which sometimes came very close to the side of the coach. This is when the bandits struck!

One side of the coach was very close to the rock wall, while the other was completely exposed. The bandits had pulled a tree trunk across the road, which forced the coach to halt. Three bandits were standing near the exposed side of the coach with pistols drawn. They had the drop on the driver and the guard, so there was nothing they could do. Mat immediately grasped the situation, and, holding his finger to his lips to quieten the ladies, opened the door on the opposite side of the coach and squeezed out onto the ground.

Mat drew both his .44-40 pistols and rolled under the coach. Without a word, he opened fire on the three bandits. Three shots, three head wounds, three dead bandits. Fortunately, the mules were blocked by the downed tree; otherwise, Mat might have been injured as the mules tried to bolt. As it was, the driver and guard were as surprised as the bandits, since they were not aware of Mat's activities once the coach was stopped. Of course, everybody was pleased by the results of Mat's actions and proceeded to tell him so with great enthusiasm. Being young, Mat was thrilled by all of the attention, but also a little embarrassed.

The three men used the bandit's horses to pull the tree out of the way. They tied the bodies to the horses and hitched the horses to the back of the coach. There were no further delays as the travelers wound their way around the switchbacks into town. Fortunately, Hanksville was the end of the day's run, so everybody was able to rest once they reached town.

The two ladies were met by their husband/father, and after good wishes all round, rode off, leaving Mat to deal with a grateful audience.

Hanksville's town marshal was called to inspect the three bodies and take possession. Mat was asked to drop by the marshal's office the next day to take care of some paperwork. Of course, Mat agreed. Mat was ushered to the town's hotel where he was put up at the expense of the grateful stage line. He was then invited out to celebrate his grand victory; the celebration lasted far into the night and Mat was poured into bed by his new friends.

By the next afternoon, Mat had recovered enough from his hangover to visit the marshal's office. Marshal Ben Jackson was amused by Mat's understandably bleary-eyed look.

"Well, Mat, how is Hanksville's latest hero making out? Will you survive the party or should I go ahead with funeral arrangements?" Ben laughed.

"Oh, I think I'll survive, if people will just stop being so loud!" Mat groaned. "What did you want to see me about?"

"The first thing we need to settle is how you want to handle the reward from the stage company. The stage people pay a $50 reward for every dead bandit turned in to me. Since I now have three, you now have $150 from them. I'll give you a receipt so that you can go by their office to collect. Also, I looked through my poster collection and found that one of the beauties you dropped has a $75 price on his head. You'll have to wait a little bit to collect on that, since the claim will have to be handled by mail. So, will you stick around a while so you can collect?"

"For that kind of money, I'd be stupid not to hang around." Mat replied. "Is there a cheaper place to stay than the hotel? I don't think that the stage line will keep wanting to put me up there."

"The Widow Lewis takes in boarders, and I know she has a room available. Her place is on the edge of town, so it's quiet enough, and she has a good cook. Besides, you will probably like what you see when you get there. I'll give you directions."

Mat thanked Ben and headed out to the stage office. "Damn, Hanksville is a pretty large town. I'll have to get a horse if I'm to get around easy," Mat mused as the made his way the three long blocks to the stage office. Once there, he was given a royal welcome by David Witherspoon, the owner of the line. With great ceremony, the $150 reward was counted out and Mat was offered a drink in celebration. Mat begged for coffee, explaining that he had had all of the whiskey he could stand for a few days. Witherspoon chuckled and agreed to join Mat for a cup of coffee.

Witherspoon (call me Dave) ushered Mat into his private office to enjoy the coffee. Dave asked Mat what his current plans were, and Mat explained that he planned to hang around Hanksville until he could collect the $75 reward the marshal was going to write off for.

At this news, Dave jumped to his secret agenda. "How would you like a job while you are waiting? Bob, the current shotgun guard is getting too old to hold up well under the daily grind, and I'd like to semi-retire him to being a night watchman at our warehouse. It would be a great help to us all if you would take on that position, at least for a few months. The pay is $40 dollars a month, and you'd still be eligible for the $50 bounty for caught bandits."

It only took Mat a moment to realize that this was a golden opportunity to make some money and have some fun at the same time. "I'll take the job! Thanks, Dave."

"Great! Show up at the corral at 4:30 tomorrow morning and we'll get you started. We'll furnish the shotgun and ammunition, but you can bring any other weapons you might want."

"Since I am now an employee, I'd like to ask a favor. Can I borrow a horse to use around town? I really don't like to walk any more than I can help," Mat asked.

"Sure, let's go see what's available and get you fixed up." The two men went out to the horse corral, separate from the mule corral, and looked over the available stock.

Mat saw a gelding he liked and asked for it. Dave agreed, so a worker put on a bridle, blanket and saddle and walked the horse over to where the two men were standing. Mat inspected the horse a little more closely and climbed aboard. He bid goodbye to Dave and set off to find the boarding house of Widow Lewis.

Mat had to travel seven long blocks down the main street and turn twice on other streets before he got to Widow Lewis' place. "God, am I glad that Dave loaned me this horse. Otherwise, I would have been pretty well pissed by the time I finally got here. I see there's a barn in the back where I can keep the horse over night."