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Show Flying - 194 Atascadero," says Tucson John. "They say the officers' mess got raided." "It wasn't anything much," says John Henry. "Couple of aggressors got through and messed up their dinner a little, that's all. .Nothin' big." But the urge to confess is there. What would they say? O'Connell would applaud the deed. But then he would also have applauded my bringing them in at the point of my carbine. "Hey, sarge," says Arkwright, "is it true you were a sheriff once?" The old sergeant sits up a little straighter. "I was sheriff of Tucumcari, New Mexico. Did a good job, too, by God," he says, John Henry looks at him. A law nan. A nan of order. A peace officer. Did you ever do what I did last night, Tucson John? Did you ever let the eneny slip through? Were you always sure who the enemy was? Did a bad man fron Bodi. ever slip through your fingers? Did you ever have the drop on one and let him through because you were kith and kin to him and not to the fat merchants on Main Street. "When I left," says Tucson John, "the Tucumcari Chambcr of Commerce give me a memorial dinner and a plaque to thank "I used to know a whore once." says O'Connell, "who cal it her chamber of commerce. She used to say it was her |