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Authors: Elmore Leonard

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Repper sat up with his hand to his face. He had a welt across his forehead where the rifle barrel hit, but he was more mad than hurt. He said, “You think I'm going to let you get away with this?”

Terry was himself again. He said, “I don't think you got a choice.”

“I haven't?” Max said. “I'll make damn sure he gets put the hell on that reservation.”

“If you can prove he's Indian,” Terry answered.

Max gave us his sly look. “Either way,” he said. “If he ain't Indian then he's white, with white kin, and no authority's going to let him get adopted by a saddle tramp who ain't worked in two years.”

It was a good thing Max was sitting down when
he said that. Max was through, and he probably knew it, but if Terry wanted the boy, then he'd sure make it plain hell for Terry to keep him.

I told Repper, “That's up to the authorities. The thing is, this boy's got no recollection of white kin and the only other person who knew his parents is dead. And he's said himself he wants to live with Terry.”

Max grinned. “And I imagine Terry wants the boy, and his nugget, to live with him. But like I said, the authorities won't see it that way.”

And then Deelie had something to say. She was looking at Max Repper, but I think talking to Terry, and she said, “No, they wouldn't let the boy live with a saddle tramp who hasn't worked in two yearsâ¦but I'm sure they would agree that a successful mining man of Mr. McNeil's character would be more than they could hope forâ¦especially since he'll be married within the week.”

That was exactly how Deelie did it. I've often wondered if she ever thought Terry married her just so he could raise the boy. I didn't think he did, knowing Terry, and I doubt if Deelie really caredâ¦long as she had him.

The stories contained in this volume originally appeared in the following publications:

“Cavalry Boots,”
Zane Grey's Western
, December 1952

“Under the Friar's Ledge,”
Dime Western Magazine
, January 1953

“Three-Ten to Yuma,”
Dime Western Magazine
, March 1953

“Long Night,”
Zane Grey's Western
, May 1953

“The Captives,”
Argosy
, February 1955

“Jugged,”
Western Magazine
, December 1955

“The Kid,”
Western Short Stories
, December 1956

About the Author

ELMORE LEONARD
has written more than forty novels during his highly successful career, including the bestsellers
The Hot Kid, Mr. Paradise
,
Tishomingo Blues
,
Be Cool
,
Get Shorty
, and
Rum Punch
, and the critically acclaimed collection of short stories,
When the Women
Come Out to Dance
, which was named a
New York Times
Notable Book of 2003. Many of his books have been made into movies, including
Get Shorty
and
Out of Sight
. He was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife, Christine, in Bloomfield Village, Michigan.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Resounding
praise
for the incomparable western fiction of
New York Times
bestselling Grand Master

ELMORE LEONARD

“Leonard began his career telling western stories. He knows his way onto a horse and out of a gun fight as well as he knows the special King's English spoken by his patented, not-so-lovable urban lowlifes.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“In cowboy writing, Leonard belongs in the same A-list shelf as Louis L'Amour, Owen Wister, and Zane Grey.”

New York Daily News

“Leonard wrote westerns, very good westernsâ¦the way he imagined Hemingway, his mentor, might write westerns.”

Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate

“A masterâ¦Etching a harsh, haunting landscape with razor-sharp prose, Leonard shows in [his] brilliant stories why he has become the American poet laureate of the desperate and the boldâ¦In stories that burn with passion, treachery, and heroism, the frontier comes vividly, magnificently to life.”

Tulsa World

“[Leonard's stories] transcend the genre to work as well as any serious fiction of the eraâor any era.”

Chicago Tribune

Books by Elmore Leonard

Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories

Blood Money and Other Stories

Moment of Vengeance and Other Stories

The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard

Mr. Paradise

When the Women Come Out to Dance

Tishomingo Blues

Pagan Babies

Be Cool

The Tonto Woman & Other Western Stories

Cuba Libre

Out of Sight

Riding the Rap

Pronto

Rum Punch

Maximum Bob

Get Shorty

Killshot

Freaky Deaky

Touch

Bandits

Glitz

LaBrava

Stick

Cat Chaser

Split Images

City Primeval

Gold Coast

Gunsights

The Switch

The Hunted

Unknown Man No. 89

Swag

Fifty-two Pickup

Mr. Majestyk

Forty Lashes Less One

Valdez Is Coming

The Moonshine War

The Big Bounce

Hombre

Last Stand at Saber River

Escape from Five Shadows

The Law at Randado

The Bounty Hunters

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

THREE
-
TEN TO YUMA AND OTHER STORIES
. Copyright Â© 2006 by Elmore Leonard, Inc.
The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard
copyright Â© 2004 by Elmore Leonard, Inc.

Map designed by Jane S. Kim

Collection editor, Gregg Sutter

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Â© Edition NOVEMBER 2006 ISBN: 9780061981043

The stories contained in this volume appeared in The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard, published in December 2004 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

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