A LONE MAN
by
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Oliver
was contentedly gnawing his bone when Fred and Mary came outside. “We might as well walk back to the jail and
ask the sheriff if he knows where the judge went,” Fred said.
But
the jail was empty, and looking around, Fred and Mary
saw the gold they had left there for safe-keeping was gone.
They
ran outside, looking wildly up and down the street. There was no sign of the sheriff or the
judge, but a man was walking down the road towards them. Fred ran up to him and asked, breathlessly,
“Have you seen the judge or the sheriff?”
The
man seemed surprised by the question.
“The sheriff was shot five days ago, and the judge left town sometime
back. Leasburg doesn’t have a sheriff or
a judge right now.”
“But
that’s not right! We met them. The sheriff was tall, he wore a gun on his
left hip, and the judge wore a black suit and looked very important.”
The
stranger laughed. “Those two men are
drifters. They’re card sharks who gamble
every night at one of the saloons in town.”
That
night Fred, Mary and Oliver made the rounds.
They went to each of the saloons – there were three in town – asking
about the two men. One man told Fred
they were too young to be in a saloon.
Another said he’d seen Slim, the tall man, leaving town just before
dark, riding a horse and leading a packhorse with saddlebags.
“We’ve
been robbed of our gold, Fred,” Mary said.
“I don’t think we’re going to get it back.”
Mary,
Fred and Oliver walked slowly back to the jail where Sam and Sally were tired
to the hitching rail. The mules had
already drunk from the trough, so Fred found some hay behind the jail, and fed
them. Inside the jail, Mary found some
matches on the desk and lit the coal oil lamp.
Looking through the desk she found some keys. Fred locked the jail door and they spent the
night on cots inside the cell.
The
next morning, Fred tried once more to find Slim and the “judge.” Fred’s explanation to a storekeeper in town
was met with a laugh. “He’s no sheriff.”
The storekeeper said. “He’s as crooked
as they come. The sheriff’s been dead
and buried for days.”
“What
about the judge?” Fred asked, his heart
sinking.
“The
judge left town almost two months ago.
You might want to head over to
Fred
and Mary left the store and walked back towards the jail. “Two people have told us now that Leasburg
doesn’t have a sheriff or a judge,” Mary said sadly. “I guess it must be so.”
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About the Book
He
didn’t know his name. He couldn’t
remember his parents. He wasn’t even
sure how old he was.
A
Lone Man is based on the true story of a man who rose from nearly hopeless
conditions to become a multi-millionaire.
Orphaned in an Indian attack in the 1860’s, Fred survived years in the
arid
The
author met Fred when Fred was in his 90’s.
He was a simple man whose fascinating life had taught him to give more
and expect less, to free his mind from worries and free his heart from
hate. This book is the story of his
life, the accounts of his rise from a bleak and lonely beginning to a life
filled with peace, prosperity and love.
About the Author
Jim
Browning was born and raised in a rural community in
After
discharge from the hospital, he was assigned to the Japanese Logistical Command, (JLC) with
headquarters at
After
serving four years in the pacific, he returned to
In
1953 he was accepted as a student in the Army Guided Missile School, stationed
at
He
was honorably discharged after six years in the regular army and began his
civilian career. He worked six years as an inspector for one of the nations largest steel manufacturing companies.
He
then took a position with an international company as a “Product Development
Manager” with customers worldwide. In
this position he was required to travel extensively meeting with many of the
top 100 manufacturing and development companies in the world.
His
entrepreneurial spirit led him to incorporate five separate companies, with
four of the five companies being very successful.
He
has written his own biography, a book of genealogy for his family, two quality control
manuals, and a military training manual.
The
author is married and has five sons, and twenty-three grandchildren.