Man with No Name- Decoy Figure

He trotted on to where a wire and plaster mannequin displayed a woman’s dress. It took only a moment to snake off the dress. A shelf behind the dry goods counter yielded a bolt of Osnaburgh Sheeting, the fine, tight-loomed canvas preferred as covering for prairie schooners bound for California. Its brownish gray color was not too unlike that of his poncho. A strip of this, slit in the center, draped the mannequin to its non-existent heels. A black Stetson, its crown crushed flat, completed a startling illusion.

As a final touch, he broke off a broom handle, blackened it from a can of stove polish and tied it to the mannequin at the angle a man might carry his rifle. He got a child’s coaster wagon from the toy counter, lashed the mannequin onto it and wheeled his creation to the front door.

His makeshift mirrors showed the situation apparently unchanged. He angled the coaster wagon to stay on the board sidewalk for a maximum distance, then sent it out with a hard shove.

As the counterfeit burst out the door, there was a startled yell from the bell tower. Three figures stood up above the wall and three rifles blasted. Three slugs ripped into the disguised mannequin.

The bounty hunter stepped out, his rifle at his shoulder. He got off two shots that sounded almost as one, then stayed his trigger finger because there was no longer a target in sight.

- The Devil’s Dollar Sign, chapter 14