The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western by Richard Brautigan Page A

said.
    “Yes,” Mr. Morgan said.
    “Good,” Miss Hawkline said. “Oh, before you go, Mr. Morgan. My sister is back from Portland and she brought some guests with her who will be staying here with us for a while.”
    She brought Mr. Morgan into the parlor.
    He ducked his head when he stepped through the door and into the room.
    Mr. Morgan was 7 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed over 300 pounds. He was sixty-eight years old and had white hair and a carefully trimmed white mustache. He was an old giant.
    “Mr. Morgan, this is Mr. Greer and Mr. Cameron. They have come all the way from Portland and have graciously agreed to kill the monster in the ice caves.”
    “I’m pleased to meet you both,” the old giant butler said.
    Greer and Cameron told the giant they were glad to meet him, too. The Miss Hawklines stood there watching the meeting, looking quite beautiful.
    “This is truly good news,” Mr. Morgan said. “That thing down there is a regular nuisance, pounding on the door and making such terrible noises. Sometimes it’s hard to get a good night’s sleep around here. The demise of that beast would greatly help in making this house a bit more tolerable to live in.”
    Mr. Morgan had never really approved of Professor Hawkline’s move from Boston to the Dead Hills of Eastern Oregon. He also did not like the site that the professor had chosen to build the house on.
    He excused himself and left very slowly, because he was so old, ducking his head again to get through the door. They could hear him walking slowly down the hall to his room. The heavy sound of his footsteps was very tired.
    “Mr. Morgan has been with our family for thirty-five years,” Miss Hawkline said.
    “His previous employment involved working with a circus,” the other Miss Hawkline said.

• Getting Ready to Go to Work •
    “Let’s go kill the monster and be done with it.” Cameron said. “I’ll get the guns.”
    “As soon as you get the equipment that you need, we’ll take you down there,” Miss Hawkline said.
    Cameron went out into the hall and got the long narrow trunk full of guns that was beside the elephant foot umbrella stand. He came back into the parlor and put the trunk down on a couch and opened it.
    “We’ll need the shotgun for certain,” Cameron said. He took out the sawed-off twelve-gauge shotgun and a box full of shells. They were 00 buckshot. He loaded the gun and then he put a handful of shells in his coat pocket.
    Greer reached into the trunk and took out a .38 revolver. He loaded the pistol and put it into his belt.
    Cameron took out the .38 caliber automatic pistol that had previously been used to kill Filipino insurgents. He put a clip of bullets in the butt of the gun and then he snapped back and pushed forward the receiver sending a shell into the chamber. He put the gun on safety and slipped it into his belt.
    “How big are those caves?” Greer said to the nearest Miss Hawkline.
    “Some of them are big,” she said.
    Cameron put an extra clip of bullets for the automatic in his coat pocket.
    “Let’s take a rifle with us,” Greer said, reaching down into the trunk for the Krag. “We’ve never tried to stop a monster before. He might give us some extra work, so let’s be prepared for it.”
    He loaded the box magazine of the Krag with shells and then he pulled the bolt back and slammed a shell into the chamber with a very quick motion. It surprised the Hawkline women and then it pleased them, knowing that Greer and Cameron were very experienced at their work.
    Greer put another shell into the magazine, replacing the one that had just gone like a-cat-catching-a-mouse into the chamber.
    The Krag had a leather strap on it and Greer slung the rifle over his shoulder. Then he put a handful of shells in his pocket. He was ready to earn his living.
    “One of us is going to have to carry a lantern,” Cameron said. “So he’s only going to have one hand free if something happens real quick with that