False face

Sheriff Bart McKenzie insists that storekeeper Dave Budd wear a deputy's badge just as hopeful settlers crowd into central Oregon. A rumor of a government irrigation scheme has filled the clearing outside Budd's store with wagons, tents and families looking for land. Reports of missing money give the sheriff another reason to enlist his reluctant friend, and a redheaded young man named Bill draws his suspicion.

Bill has troubles of his own, including a girl who arrives at the store with the reserved Sam. When a missing wallet turns up among Bill's belongings, camp gossip hardens into a dangerous demand for punishment. Budd steps between the angry crowd and its suspect, insisting on the authority of the law. Ernest Haycox builds this Western short story through sharp exchanges, watchful glances and competing impressions of character. The crowded camp gives its dispute over theft a larger concern: how quickly appearances can become evidence.