Contents
COPYRIGHT INFO
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series
SQUARE DEAL SANDERSON
THE RANCHMAN
THE RANGE BOSS
“FIREBRAND” TREVISON
THE TRAIL HORDE
‘DRAG’ HARLAN
THE COMING OF THE LAW
THE TRAIL TO YESTERDAY
THE TWO-GUN MAN
THE BOSS OF THE LAZY Y
SEVEN-UP’S CHRISTMAS
COPYRIGHT INFO
The Charles Alden Seltzer Western MEGAPACK™ is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press, LLC. Cover art copyright © Masopias / Fotolia. All rights reserved.
* * * *
The MEGAPACK™ ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Charles Alden Seltzer (1875–1942) was a prolific author of western novels, had writing credits for more than a dozen film titles, and authored numerous stories published in magazines, most prominently in Argosy.
Seltzer was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, the son of Lucien B. Seltzer and Oceania Hart of Columbus, Ohio. Before becoming a successful writer, he was variously a newsboy, telegraph messenger, painter, carpenter and manager of the circulation of a newspaper, building inspector, editor of a small newspaper, and an appraiser.
He married Ella Seltzer, and they had three sons and two daughters. His son Louis, later editor of the Cleveland Press, recalled that the family was quite poor when his father was struggling to break into the writing profession (he wrote two hundred stories before receiving an acceptance). During this time, Seltzer’s wife brought him wrapping paper from the butcher to write on.
In addition to Argosy, Seltzer’s work also appeared in Adventure, Short Stories, Blue Book, Giant Western, The Outing Magazine, Western Story Magazine, and the US edition of Pearson’s Magazine.
Seltzer wrote his westerns from the experience of five years living in New Mexico. Towards the end of his life, he was also elected mayor of his home-town, North Olmsted, Ohio.
Enjoy the ten novels and one short story collected here!
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
ABOUT THE SERIES
Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK™ ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (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 MEGAPACK™ ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)
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™ ebook 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™ Ebook Series
MYSTERY
The First Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Second Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
The Bulldog Drummond MEGAPACK™*
The Carolyn Wells Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Charlie Chan MEGAPACK™*
The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective MEGAPACK™
The Detective MEGAPACK™
The Father Brown MEGAPACK™
The Girl Detective MEGAPACK™
The Second Girl Detective MEGAPACK™
The First R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™
The Second R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*
The Third R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*
The Jacques Futrelle MEGAPACK™
The Anna Katharine Green Mystery MEGAPACK™
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The Third Cat Story MEGAPACK™
The Christmas MEGAPACK™
The Second Christmas MEGAPACK™
The Classic American Short Stories MEGAPACK™, Vol. 1.
The Classic Humor MEGAPACK™
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The Doll Story MEGAPACK™
The Horse Story MEGAPACK™
The Military MEGAPACK™
The Pirate Story MEGAPACK™
The Sea-Story MEGAPACK™
The Utopia MEGAPACK™
THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION
1. Winston K. Marks
2. Mark Clifton
3. Poul Anderson
4. Clifford D. Simak
5. Lester del Rey
6. Charles L. Fontenay
7. H.B. Fyfe
8. Milton Lesser (Stephen Marlowe)
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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 Ninth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Edward Bellamy MEGAPACK™
The First Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™
The Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™
The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™
The First Theodore Cogswell MEGAPACK™
The Ray Cummings MEGAPACK™
The Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™
The Dragon 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 Jack London Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Lost Worlds MEGAPACK™
The Mad Scientist MEGAPACK™
The Martian MEGAPACK™
The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*
The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™
The Andre Norton MEGAPACK™
The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™
The Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK™
The Milton A. R
othman Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
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The Science-Fantasy MEGAPACK™
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The Space Opera MEGAPACK™
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The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™
The First Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Second Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Willam P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™
The Wizard of Oz MEGAPACK™
HORROR
The Horror MEGAPACK™
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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 Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™
The M.R. James MEGAPACK™
The Macabre MEGAPACK™
The Second Macabre MEGAPACK™
The Third Macabre MEGAPACK™
The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**
The Mummy MEGAPACK™
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The Vampire MEGAPACK™
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The Werewolf MEGAPACK™
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WESTERN
The Western MEGAPACK™
The Second Western MEGAPACK™
The Third Western MEGAPACK™
The Andy Adams Western MEGAPACK™
The B.M. Bower MEGAPACK™
The Max Brand MEGAPACK™
The Buffalo Bill MEGAPACK™
The Cowboy MEGAPACK™
The Zane Grey MEGAPACK™
The Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™
The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™
YOUNG ADULT
The Bobbsey Twins MEGAPACK™
The Boys’ Adventure MEGAPACK™
The Dan Carter, Cub Scout MEGAPACK™
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The Doll Story MEGAPACK™
The G.A. Henty MEGAPACK™
The Girl Detectives MEGAPACK™
The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™
The Penny Parker MEGAPACK™
The Pinocchio MEGAPACK™
The Rover Boys MEGAPACK™
The Second Carolyn Wells MEGAPACK™
The Space Patrol MEGAPACK™
The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet MEGAPACK™
The Tom Swift MEGAPACK™
The Wizard of Oz MEGAPACK™
SINGLE-AUTHOR
The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Edward Bellamy MEGAPACK™
The E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™
The Second E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™
The Henri Bergson MEGAPACK™
The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson MEGAPACK™
The Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™
The Second Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™
The B.M. Bower MEGAPACK™
The Max Brand MEGAPACK™
The First Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™
The Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™
The Second Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™
The Wilkie Collins MEGAPACK™
The Stephen Crane MEGAPACK™
The Ray Cummings MEGAPACK™
The Guy de Maupassant MEGAPACK™
The Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™
The Frederick Douglass MEGAPACK™
The Erckmann-Chatrian MEGAPACK™
The F. Scott Fitzgerald MEGAPACK™
The First R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™
The Second R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*
The Third R. Austin Freeman 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 William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™
The M.R. James MEGAPACK™
The Selma Lagerlof MEGAPACK™
The Harold Lamb MEGAPACK™
The Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
The Second Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
The Jonas Lie MEGAPACK™
The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**
The Katherine Mansfield MEGAPACK™
The George Barr McCutcheon MEGAPACK™
The William P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™
The First William P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Second William P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*
The Talbot Mundy MEGAPACK™
The E. Nesbit 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 Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™
The Robert Sheckley MEGAPACK™
The Bram Stoker MEGAPACK™
The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™
The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™
The Virginia Woolf MEGAPACK™
The Arthur Leo Zagat Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
* Not available in the United States
** Not available in the European Union
***Out of print.
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 StorieyX is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries
SQUARE DEAL SANDERSON
Originally published in 1922.
CHAPTER I
THE NORTH RAID
An hour before, Deal Sanderson had opened his eyes. He had been comfortably wrapped in his blanket; his head had been resting on a saddle seat. His sleep over, he had discovered that the saddle seat felt hard to his cheek. In changing his position he had awakened. His face toward the east, he had seen a gray streak widening on the horizon—a herald of the dawn.
Sanderson found what seemed to be a softer spot on the saddle, snuggled himself in the blanket, and went to sleep again. Of course he had not neglected to take one sweeping glance around the camp while awake, and that one glance had convinced him that the camp was in order.
The fire had long since gone out—there was a heap of white ashes to mark the spot where it had been. His big brown horse—Streak—unencumbered by rope or leather, was industriously cropping the dew-laden blades of some bunch-grass within a dozen yards of him; and the mighty desolation of the place was a
s complete as it had seemed when he had pitched his camp the night before.
Sanderson reveled in the luxury of complete idleness. He grinned at the widening streak of dawn as he closed his eyes. There would be no vitriolic-voiced cook to bawl commands at him this morning. And no sour-faced range boss to issue curt orders.
In an hour or so—perhaps in two hours—Sanderson would crawl out of his blanket, get his own breakfast, and ride northeastward. He was a free agent now, and would be until he rode in to the Double A to assume his new duties.
Judging by the light, Sanderson had slept a full hour when he again awakened. He stretched, yawned, and grinned at the brown horse.
“You’re still a-goin’ it, Streak, eh?” he said, aloud. “I’d say you’ve got a medium appetite. There’s times when I envy you quite considerable.”
Reluctantly Sanderson sat up and looked around. He had pitched his camp at the edge of a thicket of alder and aspen near a narrow stream of water in a big arroyo. Fifty feet from the camp rose the sloping north wall of the arroyo, with some dwarf spruce trees fringing its edge. Sanderson had taken a look at the section of country visible from the arroyo edge before pitching his camp. There were featureless sand hills and a wide stretch of desert.
Sanderson started to get to his feet. Then he sat down again, stiffening slowly, his right hand slipping quickly to the butt of the pistol at his right hip. His chin went forward, his lips straightened, and his eyes gleamed with cold alertness.
A horseman had appeared from somewhere in the vast space beyond the arroyo edge. Sanderson saw the outlines of animal and rider as they appeared for an instant, partly screened from him by the trees and undergrowth on the arroyo edge. Then horse and rider vanished, going northward, away from the arroyo, silently, swiftly.
Schooled to caution by his long experience in a section of country where violence and sudden death were not even noteworthy incidents of life, and where a man’s safety depended entirely upon his own vigilance and wisdom, Sanderson got up carefully, making no noise, slipped around the thicket of alder, crouched behind a convenient rock, huge and jagged, and waited.
Perhaps the incident was closed. The rider might be innocent of any evil intentions; he might by this time be riding straight away from the arroyo. That was for Sanderson to determine.
The rider of the horse—a black one—had seemed to be riding stealthily, leaning forward over the black horse’s mane as though desirous of concealing his movements as much as possible. From whom?
It had seemed that he feared Sanderson would see him; that he had misjudged his distance from the gully—thinking he was far enough away to escape observation, and yet not quite certain, crouching in the saddle to be on the safe side in case he was nearer than he had thought.
The Charles Alden Seltzer Megapack Page 1
