Pritchard rode right through them, with Rusty jumping the campfire, and shot another at point-blank range. Paul shot a fourth with his Spencer, and the fifth rustler dropped his pistol and raised his hands.

It would be the first of many encounters with rustlers, Indians, and outlaws the three Missourians would experience in Texas. But it would be Pritchard’s last before becoming a Texas Ranger.

Paul and Pritchard tied up the surviving rustler, loaded his dead companions onto their horses, and rode them all into the nearby town of Bristow. It was their intent to turn their prisoner, and the bodies, over to the marshal there.

They’d contemplated hanging the rustler, but the town was closer than the nearest tree. When they got to Bristow they were surprised to find a large crowd of people assembled in the street in front of the marshal’s office.

The marshal, a hard-faced old cuss named Bud Logan, stood in front of the jail with a shotgun across his bony chest. Standing next to him was a tall, lean, man with a mustache. Pritchard had never seen him before. He was wearing a star on his chest, a wide-brimmed Stetson Boss of the Plains hat, and a brace of Colt .44s.

“You boys are gonna wish you hadn’t come into town today,” their prisoner said to Pritchard and Paul as they rode in. He laughed. “This is my lucky day, that’s for sure.”

“Shut up,” Paul told him.

The crowd turned to gawk at the convoy of dead bodies, with one live prisoner, being led into town by Pritchard and Paul.

“Howdy, fellas,” the captive rustler called out to the crowd. Pritchard noticed that while most of the mob was composed of regular townsfolk, at the front of the pack stood a clump of about a dozen hard cases, all wearing pistols and spoiling for a fight.

“What gives?” the marshal called out to Pritchard and Paul as they reined their horses to a stop.

“Caught these five boys rebranding our cows,” Paul answered. “Four of ’em put up a fight. I’d ask you the same question, Marshal?”

“Got Wade Boone in my jail for back-shootin’ a clerk during a bank robbery in Waco,” the marshal replied. “This Texas Ranger is here to take him back to Waco for trial. Seems some of Wade’s friends aren’t particularly pleased about that.”