· Two Good Men with Guns by Jeanette Angela McCarty Browning, sister of Francis Marion McCarty

· 1869 , around Fort Griffin, Texas

TWO GOOD MEN WITH GUNS Joe and I were so pleased when Marion and his Geriah built a large house a mile from us and invited Pa and Ruth to share this comfortable home with them. It was good to see my folks settled down and ready to enjoy old age. We all noticed how much more gentle and patient Pa was. That constant restlessness wasn't driving him to ends of the earth any more. I had to admit that old age was not becoming to Pa. I was so proud that he was actually a very good husband to my Ruth, though one old harpy we had all known for years clipped my wings a little when she remarked, "Yeah! Thomas McCarty is a good enough man, but he had to wear out three good women to make him that!"It was good to have our families within visiting distance, and I was so thankful that my brothers and my husband were all good friends.

It seemed to me that brother Marion and Joe were special pals. They both enjoyed good stories, good jokes, good music and plenty of company. Both however, were quick tempered, but as Geriah put it, "They didn't fly off the handle at the same time; so the storms soon blew over." One day my Joe rode in home at noon from a hard drive. I noticed that he was not his usual merry, teasing self, but I thought he must be very tired and hungry as a whole; so I was hurrying to get the meal on. He ate very little and said nothing. That did bother me; so I was watching him carefully. He got up suddenly and started for the door; then he turned to look at me with his eyes so sad, and he said in a very hurt tone, "I found a JAB calf with Marion's brand on it." "Oh, Joe! You must be mistaken! You know Marion wouldn't do a thing like that on purpose. You just know he wouldn't" Even the thought of it made me sick all over."Maybe not. I'm goin' over to see him about it...... now!"

I had read of people walking with fear as a constant companion, and of the tight bands settled around your heart because of fright. Now I knew what these high-flown words meant. It seemed like hours, but in a very short while I saw Pa riding toward our house with his horse in a high lope. I ran to the gate to meet him, and one look at his white face told me the story. "Come with me, Angie! Joe's shot and he's killed Marion!" "Why did I let him go?" That was all I could say, over and over as we rushed back to Marion and Geriah's house. My precious sister-in-law helped me from the horse and we were in each other's arms crying bitterly, "Why couldn't we have kept them apart?" Nobody could give me the particulars of the shooting. We surmised that both men went for their guns at the same time. Joe's shot hit the heart; Marion's struck the hip.

As for the calf that caused the tragedy, no one knows to this day whether it belonged to Joe or Marion. Right that minute we were too busy examining the awful wound in Joe's hip, and we knew we had to get him to Fort Griffin to the army doctor. The fort was twenty-five miles away. It was Pa, of course, who gathered four neighbor men to carry Joe on a rawhide litter, held by oak shafts. The men mounted their horses and rode two on each side of the litter. I took Diane and Della on my horse and we followed the litter. When I started to ride away, I looked back at all my people standing together. I don't know how many were crying, because I couldn't see so well through my tears. I learned then what that part of the wedding ceremony meant which says, "Forsaking all other, until death do your part."