Ole Devil and the Caplocks (28 page)
Read Ole Devil and the Caplocks Online
Authors: J.T. Edson
Tags: #texas, #mexico, #jt edson, #ole devil hardin, #us frontier life, #caplock rifles, #early 1800s america, #texians
Di saw the puff of white
smoke well from the uppermost muzzle of her assailant’s weapon,
then felt as if a red-hot iron had been pressed lightly against her
left shoulder. Pain slammed her into a fuller awareness of her
predicament. She had heard of “Pepperboxes” and guessed that the
woman must be using something of the kind.
What was more, de Moreau
did not intend to miss, or merely score a flesh wound, next
time!
Coming to a halt, the
woman took a more careful aim than would be possible—even employing
both hands—while on the move. After the first three attempts, Di
had developed a very healthy respect for her
marksmanship.
Accepting that there was
only one hope for her, the girl spun around and ran toward her
horse. With each step, she expected to feel lead driving into or
flying past her.
Sighting at the middle of
the girl’s back, Madeline was confident that she could send the
bullet into it. Set free by the rearward movement of the sear, the
hammer descended—
And produced no better
result than Di had achieved with the flintlock!
But for a different
reason!
Madeline had fallen foul
of the deadly flaw to which Ole Devil Hardin had known
percussion-fired “Pepperboxes” were prone. Unlike the revolvers
that would soon succeed and eventually replace them, which had the
caps situated horizontally at the rear of the cylinder, the
formation of the barrels caused the cap-nipples to be placed on top
and vertically. So, unless seated very firmly, when a barrel was at
the lowest point of the axis around which it revolved the cap
frequently fell off.
To give the woman credit,
she realized what had caused the misfire and understood how to
correct it. Unfortunately, neither realization nor understanding
came quite quickly enough. Even as she started to press at the
trigger, she saw the girl diving over the horse.
Although Di was wondering
what had prevented Madeline from shooting, she made no attempt to
find out before she had rearmed herself. Remembering what had
happened with its mate, she ignored her second pistol. Instead, she
jerked free Rassendyll’s weapon. The Mob Pistol had started its
life as a flintlock, but he had had it altered to handle percussion
caps by a master gunsmith in Louisiana.
Praying that the artisan
had carried out the modification satisfactorily, although she did
not put it into those exact words, the girl drew back the single
hammer which served the quadruple barrels. Even as she noticed the
brass cap sitting so comfortingly on its nipple, she heard
footsteps drawing rapidly closer to the horse behind which she was
crouching. Obviously the woman was gambling upon her second pistol
producing no better result than its mate and was approaching for
the kill.
“Have you got a surprise—”
Di began, but the thought was cut off when she came very near to
death.
Once again, Madeline was
firing on the move. However, her bullet did no more than nick the
lobe of the girl’s ear; which was only a matter of pure chance. She
had aimed with all possible care, but her heavy breathing had
spoiled what should have been a fatal shot.
Thrusting herself into a
kneeling posture, Di swung around the Mob Pistol in both her hands.
Even so, Madeline was already squeezing at the “Pepperbox’s”
trigger and looming at such a proximity that she would not be
likely to miss again.
There was no time for the
girl to take a careful aim, but the weapon she held had been
designed to remove the need for that. Slanting it in the woman’s
general direction, she cut loose.
Touched off by the impact
of the hammer, the percussion cap ignited the priming charge in the
chamber which was connected to all four barrels. There was a sullen
roar louder than any other pistol or rifle could produce and a
quartet of .45 caliber balls spread fanlike through the air from
their respective muzzles. Madeline was so close that she took three
of them in a line across her bosom. Shock and agony slammed her
backward, with the “Pepperbox” flying from her grasp as she went
down.
Hooves thundered from
behind the girl. With a cold sensation of apprehension, she
realized that she did not have a firearm with which to defend
herself if the riders—she knew that there must be at least two—were
enemies. Swinging
around and driving herself
erect, she dropped the Mob Pistol which had saved her life and sent
her right hand flying to the knife sheathed upon her belt. The
gesture proved to be unnecessary. A sigh of relief broke from her
as she recognized the three men who were bearing down so rapidly
upon her.
“See you got her, Di,”
Mannen Blaze remarked, in his invariable languid manner.
“That’s what I come out
here for,” the girl answered, throwing a glance at the lifeless
body of the woman who had caused them so much trouble and danger.
Then she turned her gaze to Ole Devil and Tommy Okasi, both of whom
were displaying—if only a good friend could have seen
it—satisfaction and pleasure at finding her alive. “I’d say you
boys’ve handed them Hopis their needings.”
“
We
have,” Ole Devil Hardin confirmed. “So now perhaps we can get the
Caplocks on their way to General Houston.”
~*~
How the Caplocks were
delivered and the use to which they were put is told in
Ole Devil at San
Jacinto
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More on
J.T.
Edson
i
Chicano: a Mexican, or Spanish-born citizen of
Texas.
ii
The reason for the colonists’ decision is explained at length
in
Young Ole Devil
.
iii
Rio Bravo: the Mexicans’ name for the Rio Grande.
iv
Supercargo: an agent placed on board a ship to be in charge
of the purchase, sale, or safe delivery of a consignment. Often
used as a derogatory term by sailors.
v
Hessian boots: designed for riding, with legs extending to
just below the knee and having a y-shaped notch at the front;
originally used by light cavalry such as Hussars.
vi
Texian: an Anglo-U.S.-born citizen of Texas, the “i” being
dropped from general usage after annexation by the United States
and the Mexican War of 1846-48.
vii
What happened to James Bowie’s knife after his death at the
conclusion of the siege of the Alamo Mission—at San Antonio de
Bexar Texas on March 6, 1836—is told in
The Quest for Bowie’s Blade.
viii
A more important cause of Jackson Baines Hardin’s nickname
was his well-deserved reputation for being a “lil ole devil” in a
fight.
ix
A
detailed description of how to ride “posting the trot” is given in
the “The Scout” episode of
Under the Stars
and Bars.
x
The State of Louisiana uses the term “parish”
instead of “county. “
xi
Rezin Pleasant Bowie, elder brother of James,
q.v., and believed by many authorities to have been the actual
designer of the “bowie” knife.
xii
During the period in question, Texas was regarded
by the Mexican Government as being a Territory of the State of
Coahuila. Santa Anna’s refusal to make it a State in its own right,
with full representation in the national government, was one of the
reasons for the Texians’ resentment and bitterness.
xiii
In the author’s
opinion, the fact that the Beaucoup family did not take the matter
any further suggests they suspected — or knew — the wrong man was
being blamed.
xiv
“Gone to Texas”: at odds with the law in the
United States. Many wanted men entered Texas in the period before
annexation, knowing that there was little danger of them being
caught and extradited by the Mexican authorities.
xv
The Texians had suggested that, considering the
enormous area of land which would be involved, after annexation
Texas could be divided into three or four separate
states.
xvi
“Slick fork” saddle: one with little bulge, or
roll, at the fork. Because of its Spanish connotations, the Texians
preferred to use the word “girth” instead of “cinch.”
xvii
Hapsburg: an ancient
German family from which were descended rulers of Austria, Hungary
and Bohemia, the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.
xviii
Astrakhan: originally
the pelts of very young lambs, with tightly curled wool, from the
district around the Russian city of that name. Later a fabric with
a curled pile in imitation of such pelts.
xix
Quetzal: Pharomachnis Mocino, one of the
Trogoniformes birds, found in the mountain forests of Central and
South America regarded as sacred by the Ancient Aztecs and Incas.
Two of the cock’s fringed tail covert feathers may reach a length
of over three feet, making them much sought after for decorative
purposes.
xx
Wellington-leg boots: not the modern waterproofed
rubber variety, but the knee-length leather pattern made popular by
the Duke of Wellington.
xxi
The majority of the “Kentucky” rifles were
actually made in Pennsylvania.
xxii
Jonathan Browning was
the father and tutor of the master firearms’ designer, John Moses
Browning, who appears in
Calamity Spells
Trouble.
xxiii
Despite the difficulty
of transporting it with the magazine in position, Jonathan Browning
had produced a comparatively simple repeating rifle which was
capable of a continuous fire unequaled by any contemporary weapon.
However, during the period when he was manufacturing it, between
1834-42, he lacked the facilities to go into large-scale
production. He would have been able to do so in later years, but
the development of self-contained metallic cartridges and more
compact, if less simple, repeating arms had rendered it
obsolete.
xxiv
On December 6, 1835, at
the end of a battle lasting for six days. General Martin Perfecto
de Cos and his force of eleven hundred men had surrendered to the
Texians at San Antonio de Bexar. On Cos giving his parole that he
and his men would refrain from further military action against the
Republic of Texas, they were allowed to return unharmed to Mexico.
As Cos was accompanying the army which was marching north, it was
apparent that he did not intend to honor the terms of his
parole.
xxv
Mozo:
a manservant,
particularly one serving in a menial capacity.