Chapter 3

After one of the best suppers I ever did eat, the four of us sat on the front veranda an' enjoyed the cool of the evenin'. I wuz right startled, but almighty pleased, when Miss Ann invited me ta sit with her on the swing. She wuz sittin' at one end of the swing an' I sat down at the other end, but, an' I don't know how she managed it, she wuz sittin' right next ta me in no time at all.

The four of us must of talked about a million thin's, none of which I remember, cuz sittin' next ta Miss Ann did a right good job of addlin' my brains. I do remember tellin' them that I wuz a professional bounty hunter, but that didn't put them off, which kinda s'prised me, cuz many folks think of bounty hunters as some sort of monster.

I figured out that Mr. Arlington wuz some sort of businessman, so I asked him what he thought I should do with my money. I pro'bly shouldn't of brought it up, but, as I say, Miss Ann had kinda addled my brains. Mr. Arlington said that he did know of a bank where they didn't speculate with depositors' funds without permission. He gave me the address of a bank in Eagle Pass an' suggested that I drop by there one day. He wuz sure that the manager would be happy ta talk ta me 'bout depositin' my money. I thanked him an' said that I would look inta it.

After a couple of hours of conversation, Mr. an' Miz. Arlington said that they were goin' ta bed, but me an' Miss Ann could sit an' talk fer as long as we liked. That kinda s'prised me some more, since most folks wouldn't leave their unmarried daughter ta be with a single man like that. The only thin' I could figure wuz that they must of taken a shine ta me.

Me an' Miss Ann talked fer it must of been more than an hour afore she suggested that it wuz time ta call it a night. I coulda sat there fer several more hours, but I knew when I wuz bein' given orders, soz I agreed an' left fer the room they had showed me earlier.

That wuz a right comfortable bed, an' I shore slept good—much better than on a lumpy hotel bed. I wasn't able ta shave, but I did wash my face an' armpits afore I went ta breakfast. Miss Ann asked me ta ride inta town with her ta visit the wheel wright ta git a new wheel fer her carriage. Of course, I jumped at the chance ta spend some more time with her, so that wuz the way we spent most of the day.

On the way in ta town, I asked her ifen she did much ridin' around by herself. She admitted that she did, so I asked her ifen she carried a gun. She said no, she didn't, cuz there weren't no ladylike way ta wear a gun while wearin' a skirt. Man, I wuz bumfoozled when I heard that! I couldn't imagine a woman of any age ridin' around the countryside by herself without no gun.

That's when I suggested she get a shoulder holster. That wuz worn high enough that it didn't interfere with wearin' a skirt, an' it wuz still easy ta git ta. She admitted then that she ain't never learned ta shoot, so I popped in with the statement that I would love ta teach her.

She agreed, so we went ta the gunsmith ta see what he had ta offer. He had a Colt Navy in good condition what he had converted ta use .38 caliber cartridges. It fit her hand right well, an' she wuz able ta manage it when we tried it on his firin' range. He wanted a pretty steep price fer it, but I bought it as a present fer Miss Ann fer $25 when he threw in a shoulder holster. I picked up three boxes of ammunition afore we left the shop.

Miss Ann wuz as excited as a school girl on our way back ta the ranch. She wuz really lookin' forward ta learnin' how ta shoot her new pistol. She ran in ta tell her ma about the pistol an' how I wuz gonna teach her ta shoot. Miz. Arlington thought that wuz a very good idea, so I wuz home, free.

We found a hill ta use as a backstop fer the bullets where we wuz away from other people, soz it wuz safe. I started her off with a lecture 'bout gun safety, an' then had her hold the gun with two hands while she practiced dry firin'. She got bored with that pretty quick, so I loaded one bullet inta the cylinder an' let her shoot that. She had already fired the gun three times at the gunsmith's range, so that wuz not the thrill that she had expected, but I insisted that she learn my way, or I wanted nothin' ta do with teachin' her. That made an impression, so she agreed ta do what I asked.

I had cut some prickly pear cactus leaves ta use fer targets cuz they would stick easy ta the bank. I had her usin' two hands an' loadin' one bullet at a time 'til she could come close ta hittin' her target. I had a mite of trouble gittin' her ta squeeze the trigger, instead of jerkin' it, but she caught on soon enough an' wuz actually hittin' the target once in a while.

That's when I let her load five bullets inta the cylinder an' shoot all of them afore she quit. She wuz so thrilled when she hit the target three out of the five times, that she actually turned ta me an' kissed me on my cheek. That kiss nearly knocked me down! I don't think I have ever enjoyed sumpthin' so much as I did that kiss. I don't know how long it took me ta recover, but Miss Ann wuz a mite embarrassed when she realized what she had done.

We both acted like nothin' had happened, though we both knew that sumpthin' important had happened. We resumed the lesson, but the rest of the afternoon passed in a state of bliss fer me. When Miss Ann started ta git tired, we shut down fer the day an' headed back ta her house. She couldn't hardly wait ta tell her ma 'bout her shootin', an' how she could hit the target most of the time usin' both hands ta hold the gun. Of course, the range wuz only 20 feet or so, but still, she had done very well for her first day.

Miz. Arlington congratulated her an' invited me ta stay fer supper an ta sleep over again tonight. I grabbed on ta that offer; only a fool would of turned it down.

That evenin' at supper, Miss Ann had ta tell her father all about the shootin' lessons. "Sam ... er Mr. Hopkins has taught me a lot already. I kin hit the target most of the time when I shoot with both hands. Sam ... er Mr. Hopkins says that I kin learn ta shoot real good ifen I jus' practice enough. He has promised ta teach me what I need ta know."

Mr. Arlington said, "Well, Mr. Hopkins, it looks like we'll all be callin' ya Sam pretty soon, so, ifen ya don't mind, I'll start now. Ya kin call me Isiah ifen ya like." He laughed when he said that.

"Seriously, Sam, do ya think that Ann kin learn ta shoot well enough ta protect herself? I worry 'bout her ridin' around by herself, but she refuses ta listen ta reason."

"Yes, Isiah, I do think Miss Ann kin learn ta shoot that well, but it will take at least a month of practice, an' more likely two or three months. After all, she jus' started today."

"Oh, Pa, kin Sam move in here soz he kin teach me? Please? It shore would make thin's easier."

"Yes, Dear, I wuz goin' ta invite him ta join us, ifen it don't interfere with what plans he already has."

"Why, I would really like that! We're goin' through ammunition faster'n I expected, soz I need ta go inta town ta git some more. While I'm there, I'll check out of the hotel, an' I'll also visit that bank ya told me about." I wuz startled ta hear a gurgle of laughter from Miss Ann, but she stifled it an' didn't mention it, soz I figured it wouldn't be polite ta question her over it.

We spent another very pleasant evenin' on the veranda, an' Mr. an' Miz. Arlington went ta bed early, leavin' us on the porch ta talk some more fer a while.

When they were gone, Ann opened a new topic of conversation. "Sam, I hope I wuzn't too forward when I kissed ya this afternoon. Ifen I wuz, I want ta apologize an' hope ya won't hold in again' me."