The judge fined Ben and each of the drovers $10 and warned all of them not to disrupt Dodge City's peace again. It was a warning that Ben didn't always heed, but that kind of legal problem was nothing compared to an incident that was just a few weeks away and that would have a momentous impact on both our lives.
CHAPTER 4
Things stayed pretty calm for the next several weeks. We put out two editions of the Union each week, and even though Ben managed to find his way back into Mrs. Kimmelmann's good graces, he nevertheless, continued to reside in the shack south of the Deadline. As a result, I had a bed all to myself and was hoping against hope that maybe Aida would pay me an unexpected visit some night.
When I wasn't pining for Aida, I spent a lot of time with Bill Tilghman, who had turn
