Rattling Chains
\nBy Ray Humphreys
\nAuthor of \u201cPalmed Off,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s a funny one,\u201d said Sheriff Joe Cook of Monte Vista, picking up from his batch of morning mail a letter he had just opened. \u201cI\u2019ll read it to yuh. Shorty\u2014lissen:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sheriff, Monte Vista, Colorado.<\/p>\n
\u201cDear Sheriff: In a roundabout way, and while engaged on another case, we have learned that a man long a fugitive from the law is about to go to yuhr town to recover some buried treasure he has thar. We are wonderin\u2019 if yuh would be interested in employin\u2019 us to run down this man, recover the treasure, and thoroughly investigate the case? Our rates are ten dollars a day per operative. Respectfully yuhrs,<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dencolo Private Detective Agency, Denver.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShucks!\u201d said \u201cShorty\u201d McKay, the deputy sheriff.<\/p>\n
\u201cShucks is my candid opinion, likewise,\u201d said the grizzled sheriff, tossing the letter into the wastebasket. \u201cThem fool private detectives has been lissenin\u2019 to some cock-and-bull story from some hophaid or practical joker an\u2019 they has the nerve to ask us to pay \u2019em ten dollars a day to waste their time runnin\u2019 the hot air to earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I remarked \u2018Shucks!\u2019 a minnit ago, I didn\u2019t mean to shucks the whole matter entirely,\u201d put in Shorty complacently. \u201cWhat I meant was that we didn\u2019t need no private detectives to tell us who that fugitive was or to help us ketch him, boss. I guess they ain\u2019t a doubt in the world but that they refers to Jefferies Brofman an\u2019 the money he is said to have buried\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy gosh an\u2019 twinklin\u2019 stars!\u201d exploded Sheriff Joe Cook, pounding the table with a clenched fist. \u201cWhy, o\u2019 course they does, Shorty, o\u2019 course! An\u2019 me fergettin\u2019 that case entire! By golly, I\u2019m gettin\u2019 daffy in my ol\u2019 age! Jefferies Brofman, sure enough! The bird as built the haunted house an\u2019 then vamosed with the big pay roll o\u2019 the Squaw Mountain Mining Co., an\u2019 was never ketched?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYep!\u201d said Shorty. \u201cWho else but?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho else but!\u201d grunted the sheriff, and he started to reach into the wastebasket to retrieve the private detectives\u2019 letter he had thrown away. But Shorty stopped him.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet that letter lay, boss,\u201d said Shorty; \u201cI still say shucks to it as far as even answerin\u2019 it. We know enough to ketch our own meat, ef that Jefferies Brofman should show up to try to dig up any treasure he is supposed to have buried around here. Huh, he\u2019s sure took a long time to get up his nerve to come back after whatever he left!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d agreed the sheriff. \u201cWait a minnit\u2014I think I remember seein\u2019 some data on that case in the ol\u2019 file Sheriff Ed Moore left here years ago. Yeah, here it is. Jefferies Brofman, secretary an\u2019 treasurer o\u2019 the Squaw Mountain Mining Co., disappeared night o\u2019 August 6, seven years ago, leavin\u2019 his fine home on Gopher Hill fully furnished an\u2019 unlocked, but apparently takin\u2019 with him, or concealin\u2019, more\u2019n five thousand dollars in cash, the company\u2019s pay roll, an\u2019 cash receipts. Due search fer Brofman failed. House an\u2019 furnishin\u2019s turned over to mining company.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff looked at the date on the memorandum.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been gone more\u2019n thirty years,\u201d said the sheriff, shaking his head. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe that he could be comin\u2019 back now. He probably never buried that money nowhar, but took it, an\u2019 spent it, an\u2019 this buried treasure tale is all poppycock.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember ol\u2019 Sheriff Moore tellin\u2019 me years ago, afore he died, about that case,\u201d said Shorty. \u201cHe had a lot more details he didn\u2019t write down. He was a pore writer. But I distinctly recalls that one reason they always thought Brofman had buried the dough around Monte somewhars was because he borrowed railroad fare from the station agent the night he left on the Fairplay train, an\u2019 las\u2019 trace they ever had o\u2019 him was whar he mooched a meal in Alma, way over in the South Park district.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheriff Cook nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaal, mebbe so,\u201d he remarked softly. \u201cEf he comes we\u2019ll nail him, Shorty; we\u2019ll nail him darned quick! An\u2019 we might force him to kinda explain about that haunted house, too. Guess it is haunted all right\u2014fer I remember the ol\u2019-timers sayin\u2019 that even Brofman hisself was kinda scared o\u2019 livin\u2019 in it prior to his disappearance, an\u2019 the theory always was that they must have been a murder committed in it, years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the belief,\u201d said Shorty.<\/p>\n
But the catching of Jefferies Brofman, once the respected secretary and treasurer of the Squaw Mountain Mining Co., was no easy job, it soon developed. In the first place, those who had known Jefferies Brofman in his dapper days of thirty years before, had either died, moved away, or had forgotten just what the man had looked like. There were no known pictures of Brofman in existence. That fact had hampered the sheriff of that time in sending out proper circulars for him. Not one of the old circulars which had given Brofman\u2019s description remained on file in the sheriff\u2019s office, it was found. The Squaw Mountain Mining Co., operating on a shoestring anyway, had failed after the theft of the money and the disappearance of Brofman; and though the county court awarded the company the Brofman home and its furnishings, they never took possession of the haunted house, and it had been left to the ravages of time.<\/p>\n
The house, a great mansion of red sandstone, two stories and attic, with a large stable in the rear, was on Gopher Hill, just above the railroad yards. For years after the mysterious disappearance of Jefferies Brofman it had been the nightly rendezvous of tramps. At some times of the year the place fairly swarmed with them and they became a nuisance. Shortly after Sheriff Cook and Shorty McKay had gone into office, however, the tramps disappeared from the \u201chaunted house,\u201d scared away, it was whispered, by the return of the dormant ghost to roam the bleak old mansion.<\/p>\n
There were those in Monte Vista, of course, who laughed at the idea of the place being haunted. But even the most skeptical had been convinced in time, for any one with good ears, approaching the house at midnight, could hear the clanking of chains through the upper rooms. Tramps shunned the place entirely now. It was known, and dreaded apparently, by every hobo in the West. Bats came to be its only occupants. The sheriff, in laying his plans to capture Jefferies Brofman on his return\u2014if he did return\u2014considered the old house carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cShorty,\u201d he said, two days after the Brofman matter had been first discussed, \u201cI been thinkin\u2019 this Brofman case over kinda careful. Ef that bird returns we ain\u2019t gonna have no cinch knowin\u2019 him, seein\u2019 we ain\u2019t got no description o\u2019 him. Ol\u2019 Grandma Ames is about the only one who kin remember a blessed thing about him, seein\u2019 he was once engaged to her daughter, Sally Ann Ames, who later eloped to Denver with a hoss doctor. Missus Ames says Brofman was a lovely gent, havin\u2019 a kind look in his eye, curly hair, an\u2019 bein\u2019 fond o\u2019 readin\u2019 Shakespeare out loud on winter evenin\u2019s\u2014but she don\u2019t remember the color o\u2019 his eyes nor hair, or whether he was tall or fat or what. She says he wasn\u2019t afraid o\u2019 nuthin\u2019; that once he nearly died with scarlet fever; an\u2019 he liked pancakes somethin\u2019 awful, havin\u2019 almost et her outta house an\u2019 home when he was there a-courtin\u2019 her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA lotta help that is!\u201d muttered Shorty.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, so without us havin\u2019 nuthin\u2019 to go on I figger we got to do two things\u2014one, watch the incomin\u2019 trains; an\u2019 two, keep a eye on that Chipmonk Gulch between here an\u2019 Squaw Mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy Chipmonk Gulch?\u201d asked Shorty.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommon sense,\u201d said the sheriff. \u201cEf he took that money from the minin\u2019 company safe up Squaw Mountain, as we know he did, whar would \u2019a\u2019 been a sweller place to ditch it\u2014to cache it\u2014than in one o\u2019 those twenty million caves along Chipmonk Gulch? A army never could search \u2019em all\u2014a lot o\u2019 folks has searched in vain\u2014but ef we see a strange hombre pokin\u2019 around thar now we kin safely bet that he may be Brofman, come back to git his loot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think much o\u2019 that idea,\u201d said Shorty, \u201cbecause\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever mind addin\u2019 insult to injury,\u201d said the sheriff; \u201co\u2019 course yuh don\u2019t think much o\u2019 the plan, seein\u2019 it\u2019s my plan. But them\u2019s my orders, an\u2019 yuh\u2019ll carry \u2019em out. I want yuh to meet the airly mawnin\u2019 train from Alamosa each day, an\u2019 the afternoon train from Salida each day, inspectin\u2019 any suspicious passenger as gits off here; further, at least a coupla times a day take a ride through Chipmonk Gulch. I\u2019ll ride through it a coupla times a day, too. Further, I\u2019ll keep tab on the livery barns fer hombres ridin\u2019 in here on hossback; an\u2019 I\u2019ll keep a eye on the ol\u2019 works at Squaw Mountain\u2014see?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah!\u201d said Shorty, without enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
The next day Shorty failed to report for duty, sending word that he was sick in bed. When the second day found Shorty still in bed, the sheriff hustled out to his house, and found Eddie Owens, the druggist, there. Eddie answered the sheriff\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cShorty, he\u2019s a purty sick boy. Has a high fever, away up over 104 las\u2019 time I took it. He has chills, too. An\u2019 he is jus\u2019 exhausted completely. He\u2019s been outta his haid, sheriff. We has had one awful time with him but we think that he is comin\u2019 around now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has he got?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChicken pox mebbe, or it might be colic,\u201d said the druggist; \u201cyuh never kin tell how these diseases act. It could be mumps. He ain\u2019t coughin\u2019, so it couldn\u2019t be whooping cough. I wish it was. I got a dandy remedy fer it. However\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHas Shorty seen a doctor, Eddie?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s seen me. I\u2019m a druggist\u2014ain\u2019t that enough?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff backed off. No use in offending Eddie Owens, who was high in Monte Vista politics and who might prove annoying to the sheriff if the latter wasn\u2019t careful. The sheriff went away, grumbling, without having seen Shorty. Eddie had declared that Shorty was asleep and could not be disturbed. The sheriff, therefore, met the early train from Alamosa, likewise the late train from Salida, and also he rode up and down Chipmonk Gulch, keeping his eyes peeled; kept tab on the livery barns for stray wayfarers, and managed to check up on the abandoned mining property on Squaw Mountain. He repeated his tedious routine daily as Shorty failed to return, but there was no trace of the elusive Jefferies Brofman. The fugitive did not appear.<\/p>\n
The sheriff dragged into town and met the late train on the fifth day of Shorty\u2019s illness. No suspicious character alighted. The sheriff went to Shorty\u2019s home, and this time he was able to see the patient. Shorty was in bed, having just awakened from a long sleep. He shook hands limply with his superior.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowdy, boss.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow yuh feelin\u2019, Shorty?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBetter,\u201d said the patient, pulling the bedclothes round him, but the sheriff, frowning, bent over the bed. He stared at Shorty in amazement. Shorty pulled the covers closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat in heck, Shorty, yuh got yuhr clothes on in bed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI been delirious,\u201d mumbled Shorty vaguely.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaal, I declare!\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff went away, shaking his head. Shorty was in a bad way apparently. The sheriff noticed that fully two dozen bottles\u2014all empty\u2014stood on the little table near Shorty\u2019s bed. The poor boy had evidently been trying everything that Eddie Owens, the druggist, suggested. The sheriff shivered in apprehension.<\/p>\n
\u201cOwens had a big early autumn sale o\u2019 household remedies,\u201d recollected the sheriff; \u201can\u2019 I\u2019ll bet he palmed off a lot o\u2019 that ol\u2019 junk on Shorty. To-morrow, by golly, I send Doc Healey over to see the pore boy, no matter what anybody thinks o\u2019 it!\u201d<\/p>\n
But Fate ruled otherwise. The sheriff, after a light supper\u2014he was too weary to eat much\u2014retired, but not for long. A pistol shot soon brought him upright in bed, and when the second shot echoed through the night the sheriff was at his bedroom window. He saw the flashes of the third and fourth shots almost before he heard the reports. The flashes were across the railroad tracks, fairly well up Gopher Hill and close to the haunted house. The sheriff hurriedly lit a lamp and pulled on his clothes, growling a worried explanation to his wife as he dressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething wrong up the hill, ma. I gotta go see\u2014some one hurt mebbe. Thar\u2019s a heap o\u2019 shootin\u2019. Don\u2019t worry. I\u2019ll be back soon as I kin. Mebbe it was jus\u2019 firecrackers\u2014left over from the Fourth. I\u2019ll jus\u2019 take a look around fer a few minnits.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff, stepping out into the night, had his gun in his right hand. He knew that the reports he heard and the flashes of flame he had seen did not come from exploding firecrackers. He advanced carefully down through the bushes toward the railroad track. A light blinked in the depot a quarter of a mile away, but the drowsy operator there had either not heard the shooting or else had been afraid to venture out. The sheriff wondered what time it was, and if the eleven o\u2019clock Denver freight had gone through. But he plodded on, crossed the tracks, and started up Gopher Hill, determined to investigate fully.<\/p>\n
\u201cThem flashes were danged near the ol\u2019 haunted house,\u201d he grunted, as he picked his way along. \u201cI ain\u2019t hankerin\u2019 to get too near that confounded place\u2014but dog-gone it all, ghosts don\u2019t shoot revolvers! Danged funny, that shootin\u2019 up here this time o\u2019 night.\u201d<\/p>\n
A shadow rose out of a bush just ahead of the sheriff.<\/p>\n
\u201cCareful thar!\u201d cried the sheriff, who had not been taken by surprise. \u201cI got a gun on yuh\u2014whoever yuh are. What\u2019s the idear o\u2019 all this racket an\u2019 raisin\u2019 Cain up here, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff advanced cautiously. The shadow, taking the form of a man with lifted hands, answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cNuthin\u2019. Who are yuh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the sheriff,\u201d said Cook, poking closer to his quarry; \u201can\u2019 I might ask who are yuh, brother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAw, I\u2019m jus\u2019 a bo,\u201d exclaimed the stranger wearily. \u201cI was tired an\u2019 I drapped off that freight through here a hour ago. I thought I\u2019d flop in this ol\u2019 house but somebody kept disturbin\u2019 me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, makin\u2019 a lot o\u2019 noise. So finally I got kinda scared, an\u2019 I beat it; but I took a coupla shots.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot o\u2019 good them shots did yuh!\u201d said the sheriff, in a hushed tone. \u201cThat\u2019s a haunted house, man, an\u2019 tramps generally avoid it as they does work. Yuh heard chains rattlin\u2019, mebbe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes\u2014sounded like that; but I ain\u2019t scared o\u2019 no ghost, ef that\u2019s what it is. I\u2019ll go back thar an\u2019 flop.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff put a detaining hand on the man\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be foolish,\u201d said the sheriff. \u201cThey say that joint has been queer fer years. I don\u2019t want no more shootin\u2019, an\u2019 yuh kin find a place down the hill to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI gotta bum foot,\u201d whined the man, \u201can\u2019 I planned to lay over here coupla days. Don\u2019t mind me, I\u2019m sorry I disturbed yuh\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t either o\u2019 yuh move or I shoot!\u201d came a sudden sharp warning from behind a tree not five feet from where the sheriff and the tramp stood. The hobo almost jumped out of his skin, but the sheriff, scared as he was, recognized the voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cShorty! What in thunder\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, that yuh, sheriff?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. What in holy smoke\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNuthin\u2019,\u201d said Shorty, stepping out from behind the tree. \u201cI was jus\u2019 up here ketchin\u2019 a breath o\u2019 fresh air, an\u2019 I heard yuh two fellers talkin\u2019, so I came along to investigate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYuh\u2019re delirious, Shorty!\u201d cried the sheriff. \u201cYuh up here ketchin\u2019 some fresh air at this time o\u2019 night! Yuh\u2019ll ketch yuhr death o\u2019 cold instead, that\u2019s what! Yuh\u2019ve been in bed five days with a high fever, an\u2019 here yuh\u2019re foolin\u2019 around in the cool air! Yuh\u2019d better skip fer home, Shorty, right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAw, in a minnit. Who is yuhr friend here, boss?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA tramp, Shorty. Yuh better start fer home\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA tramp, eh?\u201d said Shorty. \u201cOh, sure, I remembers him now. He was in the haunted house, a-prowlin\u2019 all around.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas yuh thar, Shorty?\u201d asked the amazed sheriff.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, sure, I was prowlin\u2019 around thar, too. I guess mebbe I kinda scared the gent here. Anyway, he ran out an\u2019 took a coupla sets o\u2019 shots at the house as he blowed\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cShorty, yuh\u2019re delirious. Yuh prowlin\u2019 around that cold ol\u2019 house, sick as yuh are! Yuh go on home right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d said Shorty, \u201cI\u2019ll go home directly, but fust I gotta painful duty to perform, boss. I gotta tell yuhr friend thar that I puts him under arrest. Oh, keep yuhr hands up, brother, I got yuh covered nice. Here, let me slip the bracelets on yuh. That\u2019s the ticket! Now we\u2019re off fer jail\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWait a minnit,\u201d interposed Sheriff Cook. \u201cI don\u2019t git this, Shorty; this man is jus\u2019 a tramp.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, sure,\u201d said Shorty, \u201cbut he\u2019s the man I jus\u2019 scared outta the haunted house! He\u2019s the fust tramp that has had nerve to go in thar in a long time. I oughter know. I keep purty close tab on it. Yuh see, when we took office, boss, yuh told me to keep the tramps outta the ol\u2019 rendezvous, an\u2019 I figgered I would have to stay up every night o\u2019 the year to do that ef I didn\u2019t work out a better scheme, so I got some ol\u2019 trace chains an\u2019 I entered the ol\u2019 house by a tunnel from the big barn in the rear, an\u2019 I\u2019d walk around the upper floor, draggin\u2019 an\u2019 jinglin\u2019 the chains, an\u2019 purty soon tramps quit comin\u2019 thar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYuh mean yuh was the ghost, Shorty?\u201d cried the amazed sheriff.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes\u2014jus\u2019 that; an\u2019 I ain\u2019t sick neither, boss. That sick business was all a sham to give me time to work at nights. I been workin\u2019 the last five nights, waitin\u2019 up here in the haunted house fer a visitor. I couldn\u2019t see yuhr idear o\u2019 ketchin\u2019 Jefferies Brofman at the station, seein\u2019 we didn\u2019t know him; an\u2019 I couldn\u2019t figger why the bird would \u2019a\u2019 hid anything in Chipmonk Gulch ef he had a big house like he did an\u2019 could o\u2019 buried it deep in the basement an\u2019 no one likely to disturb him or ever find it. I figgered ef Brofman ever did come back, he\u2019d come back to the haunted house\u2014an\u2019 he did!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u2014that\u2019s Brofman thar with my handcuffs on him. I caught him to-night as he was diggin\u2019 in the basement with a shovel an\u2019 usin\u2019 a shrouded lantern fer light. He ran as I come along jinglin\u2019 my chains an\u2019 I scared him so bad he lost his haid an\u2019 took a few shots at me. Later, I guess\u2014as I heard him tell yuh\u2014he decided he\u2019d stick around a few days an\u2019 git a chance at the buried loot ag\u2019in. Brofman, whatever made yuh bury that loot in the fust place?\u201d<\/p>\n
The shadow answered readily, in a sad voice:<\/p>\n
\u201cI dunno. I was scared. Yuh see, I built the house expectin\u2019 to marry Sally Ann Ames. She jilted me. I stole the money later, after careful plannin\u2019. It was all in silver an\u2019 too heavy fer me to git away then. I had planned to return later\u2014in a year or two\u2014to git it. I had started the ghost story about the place purposely beforehand to keep folks away. I buried the stuff deep\u2014away down seven feet or more\u2014whar I knowed it would be safe. I got to Denver, got in a little jam thar, an\u2019 went to the pen\u2014fer murder\u2014fer life. I jus\u2019 got paroled a coupla weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheriff Cook cleared his throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess yuh\u2019ll go back to the pen fer robbery purty soon, Brofman,\u201d said the sheriff, \u201can\u2019 ef I had my say I\u2019d send Eddie Owens, a druggist, along with yuh. It\u2019s bad enough to have yuhr own deputy fibbin\u2019 to yuh an\u2019 puttin\u2019 one over on yuh, but to have a dog-gone druggist pullin\u2019 the wool over yuhr eyes at the same time is jus\u2019 too much! Eddie tellin\u2019 me Shorty was bad sick an\u2019 recountin\u2019 all the diseases he might have! Kin yuh imagine that, Mister Brofman, an\u2019 me fallin\u2019 fer the whole bamboozle?\u201d<\/p>\n
Brofman did not answer. His thoughts were elsewhere.<\/p>\n
NOTES ON THE TEXT
\nThis story appeared in Western Story Magazine, September 14, 1929. It is believed to be in the public domain in the United States; copyright status may differ in other countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A recurring-character Western pulp story featuring deputy sheriff Shorty McKay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[5,161],"tags":[113,162,163,164,165],"class_list":["post-900013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pulp-classics","category-western","tag-public-domain","tag-ray-humphreys","tag-shorty-mckay","tag-shorty-mckay-series","tag-western-pulp"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900013"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900027,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900013\/revisions\/900027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}