The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack Read online

  Table of Contents

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  KING SOLOMON’S THRONE

  FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

  SATAN’S WOOL-MERCHANT

  MASTER OF INDECISION

  A DESERT HIPPOCRATES

  THE HAUNTED TOWN

  PHANTOM CARGO

  WIZARD OF FORLORN GAP

  A PORTION TO SEVEN

  MARK OF THE WAMPUS CAT

  GOLDEN CITY

  LONG LIVE THE KING

  LANTERN IN THE SKY

  THE SALT WAGONS

  THE HONEY JUG

  TRAIL OF PAINTED ROCKS

  THE CUCKOO’S NEST

  THE WATER CARRIERS

  THE STRANGE PIPER

  MEN BURNING BRUSH

  THE BANSHEE SINGER

  THE DANCING TREES

  THE DEADLY SLOWPOKE

  THE THREE FATES

  THE MAGIC GRINDSTONE

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC. All rights reserved. Cover art copyright © 2014 by Poulsons Photography / Fotolia. For more information, contact the publisher.

  * * * *

  “King Solomon’s Throne” originally appeared in Real Western, October 1952.

  “Fountain of Youth” originally appeared in Real Western, December 1952.

  “Satan’s Wool-Merchant” originally appeared in Real Western, February 1953.

  “Master of Indecision” originally appeared in Real Western, April 1953.

  “A Desert Hippocrates” originally appeared in Real Western, October 1953

  “The Haunted Town” originally appeared in Real Western, October, 1953.

  “Phantom Cargo” originally appeared in Real Western, December, 1953.

  “Wizard of Forlorn Gap” originally appeared in Real Western, April 1954.

  “A Portion to Seven” originally appeared in Real Western, June 1954.

  “Mark of the Wampus Cat” originally appeared in Real Western, October, 1954.

  “Golden City” originally appeared in Real Western, December 1954.

  “Long Live the King” originally appeared in Real Western, April 1955.

  “Lantern in the Sky” originally appeared in Real Western, June 1955.

  “The Salt Wagons” originally appeared in Real Western, August 1955.

  “The Honey Jug” originally appeared in Real Western, October 1955.

  “Trail of Painted Rocks” originally appeared in Real Western, February 1956.

  “The Cuckoo’s Nest” originally appeared in Real Western, April 1956.

  “The Water Carriers” originally appeared in Real Western, August 1956.

  “The Strange Piper” originally appeared in Real Western, December 1956.

  “Men Burning Brush” originally appeared in Real Western, February, 1957.

  “The Banshee Singer” originally appeared in Real Western, April 1957.

  “The Dancing Trees” originally appeared in Real Western, August 1957.

  “The Deadly Slowpoke” originally appeared in Real Western, October 1957.

  “The Three Fates” originally appeared in Real Western, February 1958.

  “The Magic Grindstone” originally appeared in Real Western, October, 1958.

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  Lon Thomas Williams (1890 – 1978) was an American western author, teacher, and lawyer who lived in Andersonville, Tennessee. He is best known for writing a large number of traditional and weird western stories for the pulp magazines, especially Western Action and Real Western Stories. He also wrote a number of books, including Hill Hoyden, Hill Hellion, and Shack Baby. Williams’ most popular series were the Judge Steele stories (combining the western genre with the legal drama) and the Deputy Marshal Lee Winters stories (Weird Westerns) which are collected in this volume.

  Enjoy!

  —John Betancourt

  Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

  www.wildsidepress.com

  ABOUT THE MEGAPACKS

  Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has proved to be one of our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

  The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt, Mary Wickizer Burgess, Sam Cooper, Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, Robert Reginald. A. E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!).

  A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

  The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

  RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

  Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

  Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

  TYPOS

  Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

  If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  MYSTERY

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Charlie Chan Megapack*

  The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack

  The Detective Megapack

  The Father Brown Megapack

  The Girl Detective Megapack

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack

  The First Mystery Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Philo Vance Megapack*

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Raffles Megapack

  The Victorian Mystery Megapack

  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  GENERAL INTEREST

  The Adventure Megapack

  The Baseball Megapack

  The Cat Story Megapack

  The Second Cat Story Megapack

  The Third Cat Story Megapack

  The Third Cat Story Megapack

  The Christmas Megapack

  The Second Christmas Megapack

  The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.

  The Classic Humor Megapack

  The Dog Story Megapack

  The Doll Story Megapack

  The Horse Story Megapack

  The Military Megapack

  The Sea-Story Megapack

  SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Fredric Brown Megapack

  The Ray Cummings Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

  The C.J. Henderson Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Second Murray Leinster
Megapack

  The Martian Megapack

  The Andre Norton Megapack

  The H. Beam Piper Megapack

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Mack Reynolds Megapack

  The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

  The Science-Fantasy Megapack

  The First Science Fiction Megapack

  The Second Science Fiction Megapack

  The Third Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack

  The Eighth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Robert Sheckley Megapack

  The Steampunk Megapack

  The Time Travel Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  HORROR

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Second Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack

  The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

  The Ghost Story Megapack

  The Second Ghost Story Megapack

  The Third Ghost Story Megapack

  The Haunts & Horrors Megapack

  The Horror Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

  The Macabre Megapack

  The Second Macabre Megapack

  The Arthur Machen Megapack**

  The Mummy Megapack

  The Occult Detective Megapack

  The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

  The Vampire Megapack

  The Werewolf Megapack

  WESTERNS

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The Buffalo Bill Megapack

  The Cowboy Megapack

  The Zane Grey Megapack

  The Western Megapack

  The Second Western Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  YOUNG ADULT

  The Boys’ Adventure Megapack

  The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack

  The Doll Story Megapack

  The G.A. Henty Megapack

  The Girl Detectives Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Pinocchio Megapack

  The Rover Boys Megapack

  The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack

  The Tom Swift Megapack

  AUTHOR MEGAPACKS

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Fredric Brown Megapack

  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  The Ray Cummings Megapack

  The Guy de Maupassant Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Megapack

  The Zane Grey Megapack

  The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

  The Dashiell Hammett Megapack

  The C.J. Henderson Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

  The Selma Lagerlof Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack***

  The Second Murray Leinster Megapack***

  The Arthur Machen Megapack**

  The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack

  The Talbot Mundy Megapack

  The Andre Norton Megapack

  The H. Beam Piper Megapack

  The Mack Reynolds Megapack

  The Rafael Sabatini Megapack

  The Saki Megapack

  The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

  The Robert Sheckley Megapack

  The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

  * Not available in the United States

  ** Not available in the European Union

  ***Temporarily Unavailable.

  OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY

  The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)

  The Wildside Book of Fantasy

  The Wildside Book of Science Fiction

  Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

  More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

  X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries

  KING SOLOMON’S THRONE

  Real Western Stories, October 1952

  Deputy Marshal Lee Winters, headed for home-base in Forlorn Gap, rode by starlight onto Alkali Flat. It was too late now to backtrack, but he wished he’d gone by Elkhorn Pass instead.

  Alkali Flat at night was a weird place. Its winds carried noises foreign to its character. Wolves howled there, coyotes barked and yodeled, owls clinked like steel upon musical gongs—and that in a vast, whitish barren where life theoretically could not subsist at all. Ghosts! That was what they are, thought Winters. Ghosts of dead animals, dead men, and dead ages.

  Mile after mile he let his tired horse walk, his eyes alert for night-prowlers, real or unreal. Then there came a sound that made his flesh crawl. It winged up from southwestward, wind-whipped and eerie. There was no mistaking its nature; somewhere across there, male voices were singing. How many there were, he could not tell. Nor could he determine what song, or songs, they sang. For awhile, driving winds mourned a dirge. It was followed by a paean of victory that flung itself fiercely around his tingling ears. Transcending strained, high-pitched measures, a discordant cry came shrieking. It was a man’s scream, a death scream. It gave Winters’ throat a tight feeling; sweat popped in profusion, proof positive that he was scared stiff.

  Winters wanted no truck with ghosts. He lifted bridle leather and gigged deep. His horse, also eager to put miles behind, set its hoofs down hard and fast. Forlorn Gap’s distant, dim lights grew brighter.

  * * * *

  Lamps in Doc Bogannon’s saloon burned clean. Guests from Goodlett Hotel had dropped in, had their drinks, chatted awhile, and departed.

  One customer remained, Spicewood Lilloughby, a runty, mouse-faced miser who sat, dry and wretched, torn between thirst for wine and affection for a silver coin clutched in skinny fingers.

  Doc Bogannon dried and polished glasses. He was tall, black-haired and heavy, statesman rather than barkeep in appearance and bearing. He possessed philosophical eyes, too, hence regarded his miserly guest not with merited distaste, but as a human creature entitled to his principles.

  “Spicewood,” said Bogie, “your luck has run thin tonight; nobody’s been generous.”

  Lilloughby stiffened. “Sir, I’ll have you know I’m no beggar; I’ve money, and I’ll drink when I’m ready.”

  Bogannon’s batwings swung inward, and lean, middle-aged Deputy Lee Winters strode in, dusty, spirit-drained. “A drink, Doc, and make it stiff.”

  Bogie set up a glass and filled it. “Seen another ghost, eh?”

  Winters downed his liquor. “You guessed it, Doc; where’s that vinegar dish for alkali sufferers?”

  Bogie brought up bowl and cloth. “This means you’ve come across Alkali Flat.”

  Winters swabbed his burning face and felt better. “Why I done it, Doc, I wouldn’t know; too spooky out there for me.”

  Bogie leaned against a b
ack shelf and folded his arms. “Spooks,” he declared, “are creatures of over-stimulated minds. I’d say you’d hit a squall before you hit Alkali Flat, that a quick-draw artist nearly got you, and that you emerged as sole survivor only by some quirk of luck.”

  Winters measured Bogie with approval. “Doc, you know me like a book. I oughtn’t pretend to be a lawman; every time I see a gun-toter I’ve an urge to run and hide. It’s a good thing these wandering toughies don’t know what a coward I am.” Suddenly Winters had a crawly feeling. He whirled and stared, and a mouse-faced varmint stared back. “Spice Lilloughby, as I live. Waitin’ for some free-hearted sucker to buy you a drink, eh? Well, Spicey, I’m your man; Doc, a full glass for a world’s champion tightwad.”

  Lilloughby got up and ambled forward. “Now, you look here, Winters—you can’t make me out a beggar. If I wanted a drink, I could buy one; I’ve got money, and I’ve got pride.”

  “That you have, Lilly,” said Winters. “Here; this is my token of respect.” He slid a wine glass toward Lilloughby, whose eager fingers closed around it.

  “You needn’t think you’re being generous with me, Winters. I take this as a favor to you. Anybody’d know you’re just trying to make Doc think you’re big-hearted.”

  Winters grinned, paid, and watched a stagecoach dust by from Pangborn Gulch. “Reckon I’ll drift along, Doc. Want to see who’s dropping off. Never know when some wanted monkey’ll show up.”

  * * * *

  Winters left. Lilloughby finished his drink and put down his glass. “No, sir, Doc, I accept no charity. As for Lee Winters, I could buy him out and have money left; I took his offering to please him—that’s all.”

  Bogie leisurely dried a glass. “Spicewood, you are, indeed, a born-and-bred man of quality. I’d say, too, that when you’ve become a fossil on time’s whitening shore, men will look at you and say, Here was a gentleman.”

  “You needn’t try to be funny, Doc Bogannon. Someday, when I’ve left this dried-up stink of a town, you’ll be proud you knowed me.”

  Doc’s comeback was interrupted. His saloon’s batwing doors squeaked, and a customer entered. And here was a character, if ever was, thought Bogie. He’d been in before. Piper Crane, he’d said his name was—a man in shiny black boots, ivory colored trousers, dirty white vest, cutaway blue coat and cocked hat, of medium height, slender, erect.

  Piper Crane removed his hat, swept it low, and restored it to his long-haired, noble head. “Greetings, gentlemen.” He advanced, paused, and bowed toward Spicewood Lilloughby. “Distinguished friend, join me in a drink, as a favor to your humble servant.”