Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{“Longarm! I couldn’t have. Ladies do not snore.” “Breathing deep?”}

_{“Much better,” she said.}

_{“Anyhow, when I thought of it again I thought you were asleep.”}

_{“Thank you.”}

_{“The question ... if you’ll give me time t’ ask it now ... is this. When you and that woman were talking about the police chief, you both said something about ‘the’ robbery. Like you should both know what robbery was being discussed. An’ you can call me a pessimist if you like, but I’d find it real hard t’ accept the idea that there’s only ever been one robbery in a town the size of this one.”}

_{Aggie laughed, and reached over to find his hand and squeeze it. “Of course we have our fair share of crime, dear. We aren’t a bunch of backward hayseeds, you know. As for ‘the’ robbery, well, that one was special.”}

_{“Mmm?” He did a quick-shuffle stomp with both feet to set his boots comfortably, and checked the position of the big Colt in its cross-draw holster. It needed an adjustment to the right of a quarter inch or so before he could consider it perfect.}

_{“Our train was robbed,” she said.}

_{“Hell, woman, you don’t hardly have a train for anybody to rob.”}

_{“There are a few miles of track, you know. From Brightwater through Snowshoe and a little ways further.” Longarm was aware of that. He’d walked in along the roadbed when he’d come to Snowshoe. Apparently the narrow- gauge railroad here was operating much like the Silver Creek, Tipson, and Glory line did, trying to run cars along what little track they had to raise some working capital while they finished building track.}

_{“Anyway,” Aggie went on, “we had our first train robbery the other day. It was quite exciting.”}

_{“What’d they do, hit the passengers for pocket money?” “Oh, no, much more exciting than that. This was a serious robbery. They took a gold shipment.”}