A Law Unto Himself

Summary

In the ochre dust of Circle City, two faces—one stamped with the badge of order, the other with theodolite dreams—mirror each other so perfectly that even the desert wind hesitates to choose between them. Sheriff Allan Dwight, granite-jawed sentinel of a graft-rotted grid, and Jean Belleau, the French cartographer who plots land he no longer trusts, share more than bone structure: they share a fracture running straight through the civic spine. When Dwight thrashes Holden, the political hyena who torments Jean’s feeble-minded brother Paul, the echo of fists sets off a chain of substitutions: a dog darts, a door cracks, a gun barks, and suddenly the town’s voracious id swarms to lynch the wrong child. Paul swings; the rope brands the sky; Jean’s grief mutates into a mask of pitchfork-brandished brimstone. Re-baptised as “The Devil,” he rides out of the moral map, robbing the robbers, writing taunts in ash, letting the vigilantes chase their own shadows while Holden—now turncoat apostle—feeds coordinates to the law. Mirrors multiply: Dwight courts Evelyn, daughter of Senator Thurston whose purse strings puppet the whole carnival; Jean, bleeding out his innocence, courts infamy to avenge innocence lost. Cars swap with horses, signatures forge themselves, and finally the cliffside algebra of guilt balances when Jean, bullet-bitten, releases Holden to the abyss, a confession written in recoil. The sheriff, once keeper of the story, ends exonerated in lover’s arms while the surveyor dies at the flank of the only creature who ever told his truth—a horse whose brand nobody bothered to read.

Synopsis

Allan Dwight, sheriff, and Jean Belleau, a young French surveyor, live in Circle City. They bear such a striking resemblance that they can hardly be distinguished one from the other. Jean has a half-wit brother, Paul, whom Holden, a political crook, teases and bullies. Dwight catches him in the act, thrashes him, and incurs the enmity of the bully. That night Holden and Pascal, a Mexican, meet McFadden to get from him their share of money contributed by Senator Thurston tor certain nefarious undertakings. McFadden does not turn over what Holden and Pascal consider their rightful share and they vow vengeance. Their opportunity comes when Paul, the half-wit, in trying to enter McFadden's outhouse to get his runaway dog, is menaced by McFadden. Pascal fires at McFadden, killing him, and then throws the gun and Paul beside the dead man. When the crowd, which is attracted by the shot, gathers around, Holden accuses Paul of the murder, and incites the mob to lynch him. Bob Clayton, a friend of Jean's, attempts to stay them, but, being unsuccessful, he hurries to notify Jean and Dwight. Dwight arrives first and tries to circumvent the mob's fury. A struggle follows in the course of which Dwight is thrown against the barrel upon which Paul is standing and the boy is hung. Jean arrives and swears vengeance upon those responsible for his brother's death. Dwight is in love with Evelyn, the daughter of Senator Thurston, who is in control of the party known as the Thurston gang. Dwight makes his feelings known in the matter of the gang's activities, and Evelyn feels that her father is the brunt of his remarks. Dwight, however, continues his course of attempting to stamp out the work of the gang. A month or so rolls by and a mysterious bandit appears. After each successful robbery he leaves a note signed "The Devil." He becomes so daring that a vigilante committee is organized to capture him. In his mountain lair it is seen that "the devil" is none other than Jean Belleau. His lieutenants are Clayton and Holden, the latter having confessed to Jean that Pascal was his brother's murderer, causing Jean to end the Mexican's existence. Holden has grown jealous of Jean and makes known the bandit's identity to two detectives, advising them that he may be known by his horse, which is branded with the form of a pitchfork. When Jean goes to town he is pursued by the officers, but escapes capture by hiding in Dwight's automobile. Dwight learns that he is in his car, and desirous to save the good that is in him, Dwight permits the bandit to take his car to escape while he takes charge of Jean's horse. Jean returns the car the next morning and leaves with it a note saying that he has decided to give up his lawless life. Soon after Jean leaves after extracting a promise from his friend, Clayton, that he, too. will also abandon the lite of an outlaw. Holden assumes the leadership of the gang and plans a bold daylight robbery, proposing to assume the character of "The Devil." Clayton overhears the plot and determines to frustrate it for the sake of "The Devil's" name. In the attempt Clayton is shot by Holden, who, with his gang, escapes to the mountain retreat. When Dwight hears of the robbery and is told that "The Devil" is responsible, he determines to seek out Jean and either make a man of him or bring him back a prisoner. He starts out on Jean's horse. Meanwhile the vigilante committee is also bent upon entering the bandit mountain stronghold. Holden was badly wounded in the affray at the bank. Holden wounds Dwight, and noting the remarkable resemblance between the sheriff and Jean, he places evidences of the bank robbery upon the man he has wounded. So the posse finds Dwight, and of course, their natural assumption is that Dwight has been the bandit. Dwight is taken back to town and arraigned before the authorities. An account of the bandit's career is printed in the papers and attributed to Dwight. Jean, speeding eastward on a train, reads the story, and realizing the situation, wires back to the Circle City authorities to stop prosecution until he arrives. He does return and Dwight is released from custody. The police are anxious to run down Holden and offer Jean certain clemency if he will lead them to the mountain stronghold, where Holden and his men are hidden. Jean consents to avenge the death of his friend Clayton, at Holden's bands. When Jean and the posse arrive a pitched battle takes place. At last Jean and Holden meet. After a terrific fight Jean succeeds in rolling Holden over to the edge of a cliff. Holden falls over it, but Jean, with a firm grip upon his wrists, holds him suspended in midair as he himself lies at the edge of the cliff on his breast. One of the bandits takes aim and fires at Jean. As the bullet enters his body Jean, with a convulsive movement, loosens his hold on Holden's wrists and the latter is dashed on the rocks thousands of feet below. Jean struggles to his feet and tries to make his way back to the posse, but only succeeds in reaching his faithful horse and at her side he falls. Meanwhile Dwight has recovered from his wounds and found a happy resting place in the arms of Evelyn.