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CHAPTER 23

      THE MINERS Pike had recruited were better than Purdy hoped.

      They were all as proficient with firearms as they were with shovels and sluices. One, a silent gray-haired man called Aldo, had been among the miners who whipped the Texans at Glorietta Pass. He was a dead shot and proved it by driving a nail into a tree at 25 yards.

      Purdy was elected leader after Pike revealed his "real" identity as Deputy Marshall Feeney. It was an honor Purdy would rather have dispensed with, but be knew they thought having a U.S. lawman leading them proved that justice was on their side.

      They walked about the camp, while Purdy set up their outpost locations. Because plenty of men were around to give the alarm during the day, they would occupy their positions only at night, and if they saw anything suspicious they were to fire their rifles at least three times, preferably at the lead riders. The men smiled and nodded at that.

      Then a serious-looking miner named Moore, suggested that he go down to Tres Marias and keep watch there. "If I see anything that looks like preparations for an attack, I'll come riding back and warn you."

      "Good idea," Purdy said. "Go to it."

      When the men learned their positions, they drifted back to the tents, except for Moore, who eagerly took off for Tres Marias.

      After he was gone, Pike said, shaking his head, "Marshal, if ever a man lived who was a poor choice to be sent alone in a town with a saloon in it, Mr. Moore is that man."

      "Will he do the job or will he just get drunk?"

      "I expect he'll do both," the bulky miner said. "But I wish somebody was goin' with him. Me, for instance."

      "Go on then."

      Pike shook his head. "Can't shoot straight when I've been drinking."

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