Famous in the West Page: 9 of 36

"JIM" GILLETT
FRONTIERSMAN - COWBOY - TEXAS fANJUE2
CITY MARSHAL OF EL PASO
THE rangers' camp was on the North Llano-half a dozen tents housTing
N. 0. Reynolds' "E" Company of the Frontier Battalion. It
was nearing mid-January and the month, in this year of '78, was a
cold one. But Reynolds' powerful six feet were evidently too heated by
inner fires to let him heed Kimble County frost.
"By George, seh!" he was protesting to First Sergeant Nevill. "I'm
damned if I see how four crack rangers-out of 'E' Company, too!could
let that dam' Dick Dublin ride right over 'em, then lope off!"
He tugged furiously at his blond mustache. Picked men only were
in "E" Company, given to Reynolds the previous September to gather
in the assorted criminals who had been making Kimble County their
refuge, finding security in its tangled wildernesses of pecan, cedar
and mesquite. Dell Dublin, Dick's brother and, like him, a murderer,
had been taken a few days before, but Dick defied the rangers.
Sergeant Nevill had just returned from recovery of some stolen
San Angelo cattle. Dick Dublin, riding unsuspectingly down upon
Nevill's detachment, had jumped his horse into a cedar-brake and got
clean away. It was a really miraculous escape.
"Send me Corporal Gillett!" cried Reynolds impatiently.
Presently, up to Reynolds' tent came a lithe ranger of twenty-one,
walking awkwardly in high-heeled punchers' boots. Jim Gillett had
been a ranger for more than thirty months and before enlistment he
had punched cows in Kimble and Menard Counties. Reynolds-with
whom he had served when both were privates-knew him for a ranger
fearless, dependable, educated, above the average.
"Jim," grunted Reynolds, "I want you to take a scout and see if
you can't light a fire under Dick Dublin. You know hiim and if anybody
can put the cuffs on him, you can."
"Any particular instructions?" Gillett's tone was properly expressionless.

"Nary one! You know this country better than I ever will and I
rely on your judgment as I would on mine. If you run into him-put
salt on his tail!"
THE seven-man "scout" was in the saddle at dawn, a couple of little
T bronco mules trailing with camp-gear. The two Banisters, John
and Will, had punched cattle with Gillett when all were in their
'teens. Now they pushed up alongside the corporal, after a half-mile
of jogging, to inquire the purpose of the scout. Will Banister whistled
liquidly at the reply, pushed back his Stetson and grinned.
"Dick, he's tellin' folks how he aims to quirt me an' you an' John,
soon's he sees us. I reckon he figgers we ain't growed none since he
knowed us."
Gillett was heading for the Potter Ranch on Pack Saddle Creek.
Old Man Potter and his two grown sons were old friends of the Dublin
clan. Moving with the skill of much experience, the rangers performed
that evolution termed expressively "rounding up the ranch".
But when they closed in from four sides upon the one-room cabin, it
was empty.
The next possibility was an old stock-pen far beyond any settlement.
But this, too, was a blank. They turned back, having been out
two days, heading for Potters' again. They were within a mile of it
by sundown of the fourth day out. At Gillett's order, they swun)g
down and each man unsaddled his horse. John Banister and Dave
Ligon remained with the animals, while Gillett, with WVill Banister,
Tom Gillespie and Ben Carter, slipped toward the house.
RODEO CLOTHES ARE ALSO "FAMOUS IN THE WEST"