The Project Gutenberg eBook of When everybody knew
    
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.

Title: When everybody knew

Author: Raymond S. Spears

Release date: April 1, 2024 [eBook #73315]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: The Butterick Publishing Company, 1928

Credits: Roger Frank and Sue Clark


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN EVERYBODY KNEW ***





WHEN EVERYBODY KNEW

By Raymond S. Spears

Of course it was easy to understand Patient Bob’s handling of the bad man.


A swaggering monster of a man, with long, tangled black hair, a cascade
of blue steel whiskers and sunken caverns for eyes, thundered on thick
soled boots into the Many Moons Barroom where he surged with long and
eager strides to the center of the three man width of liquid counter. As
he approached, those between him and his apparent point of destination
spread swiftly to right and left.

“Set ’er up!” he growled, shaking his head, snorting, and turning from
side to side till he had surveyed the whole circumference of the
establishment with his sunken, glowing eyes.

He drank what looked to be a ridiculously little drink for so huge a
carcass; he wriggled all the way down as the tiny shot burned in his
throat. He gurgled and choked, as if the drink were in proportion to
him, and after four or five fillings of the barrel shaped little glass
he reached tentatively for the outflaring yellow handled revolver which
was of a size in proportion to his beef. He gave sidelong glances into
the big mirrors behind the bar after three or four false alarms with his
gun. And he had a drink after each half completed movement. Then
suddenly he pulled and let go a shot. He looked around. The bartenders
stood with their hands lifted, like squirrels’ paws, and other patrons
of the place were skittering without dignity out of the way, drawing
toward the front and rear entrances through which the ones who always
avoided trouble vanished like mist cloud shadows. The big fellow took
some more drinks, and at intervals in a tentative kind of way he let go
a booming shot. And presently, when he had reloaded his cylinder twice
from loose ammunition in his trousers pockets he threw a pinch of silver
on the bar, enough to pay for his drinks, and surged into the square.

There, with his big legs spreading, he weaved and swayed while he looked
around. Court House Square of Boxelder was a glow and a sparkle of
yellowish lights, with here and there the colors of red, green, blue and
sundry hues, the brighter places being saloons, dance halls, gambling
places, the most ornate of which had pool and billiard tables imported
at enormous cost. Large boxlike buildings were dull--the reputable
emporiums of trade, where hardware, food, dry goods and outfits were to
be bought.

Swing doors were flashing to the shadows of ingoing or outgoing figures.
As he looked around, the big fellow caught flashes of sparkling points,
the eyes of humans, shining in the gloom like those of dogs or cats,
some green, some golden, some purple.

               *       *       *       *       *

“I’m Bill of Buck Hill!” the man murmured in his throat, so that it
sounded like a growl; and then, louder, “I’m Rearin’ Bill of Buck Hill!”

He looked around rather expectantly, and raised his chin higher,
throwing back his head.

“I’m Rearin’ Bill of Big Buck Hill!” he shouted. “I’m two yards wide and
nine feet high--_Woo-who-o! Woo-who-o!_”

At that shout--“_Woo-who-o!_”--men, standing at every bar around the
square and all the way down to the Claybank Delight, turned and glanced
at one another.

“’Tain’t Texas!” One shook his head. “That’d be _e-yeow-w!_”

“’Tain’t Prairie--hit’d be _Hi-i-i-i!_”

“’Tain’t Rebel--’tain’t Yank.” An old veteran shook his head.

“’Tain’t old Mississip’ shanty boat landing whoop er soundin’ hail.”

“Ner mule skinnin’ cowboy--none of them!” another declared.

“That’s green timber!” a square shouldered, high headed man remarked as
he turned a sheet of a weekly paper in the lobby of Squint Legere’s
hotel.

“My lan’! He’s bad!” A bystander shook his head. “Y’ c’n tell that--the
way he growls-- My lan’!”

“Who is he?” some one asked, and another raised a warning hand.

“Cyarful, ol’ man! He’s from Buck Hill. I’ve been t’ Buck Hill. Hit’s
way yonder in the head of Snake Creek Bad Lands. My land’! I was glad
the sun didn’t set on me up theh; yes, indeedy! He’s Rearin’ Bill--my
lan’! Don’t ’tagonise ’im. He comes from a bad country!”

The hoarse, rumbling growling of the man thus identified came around the
square in the middle of the street. Horses hitched along the rails
turned their heads to look at the phenomenon going by, twitching their
tails and snorting a little under their breaths. A dog ran out in the
dark from the sidewalk, wagging its tail, yipping as it pranced. Rearing
Bill turned and growled at the vagrant beast, and the dog stood on its
hind legs in an enthusiastic invitation to come on and play!

Some one laughed in the gloom of a passageway between two saloons.
Rearing Bill threw a bullet into that shadow insult and then slammed two
shots which sent the dog squealing in creased terror the other way
around the square. A man’s yell of alarm rose frantically from the
passageway and the clatter of loose boards and the fall of a stack of
booming empty kegs reverberated around.

“_Woo-who-o!_” Rearing Bill whooped, and the echoes returned from faces
of Bad Land cliffs.

“Lawse, he c’n shore yell!” listeners said in low voices.

               *       *       *       *       *

As the big fellow shambled nearer, the gamblers around the tables
hesitated, the drinkers at the bars held their liquor poised, looking
over their shoulders at the front doors; and those with nothing special
to divide their attention withdrew to the rear or side entrances. The
bartenders, who must perforce stay and take it, wiped their hands on
their aprons, their fingers twiddling, all except Flat Face Dink of
Squint Legere’s liquid annex. Flat Face Dink lifted the corner of his
lips; then he gave the long, red, cherry wood bar an extra dry polish.

“My gracious!” the observing Tid Ricks whispered. “Dink don’t care f’r
anybody in the world! He’s all nerve, Dink is! Come the devil himself
and Flat Face’d say to him, ‘Name yer pisen, old boy--how’s hell t’day?’
He would, honest! I bet he would.”

A heavy footfall out in front of Legere’s shook the planks till they
boomed and creaked. Rearing Bill of Big Buck Hill surged into the middle
of the barroom. Tid Ricks shrank into a corner. Patrons along the bar
watched anxiously through the mirror reflections. Flat Face Dink
deliberately turned his back and stacked up a pyramid of glasses.

“I want pisen!” the newcomer declared, shambling toward the bar, where
they gave him ten feet width according to his size, looks and actions.

Flat Face Dink flipped up a quart bottle, tall, straight sided and long
necked, and set up a thick, fluted glass to hold two good liquor drinks.
Rearing Bill looked at the glass, picking it up.

“Put ’r thar, mister!” Rearing Bill said, enthusiastically. “You got a
measure ’cording to the man here--put ’r thar!”

Flat Face Dink colored happily under that praise, and drank with Rearing
Bill, something he never did except with the most distinguished of
patrons.

Rearing Bill holstered his gun with the stained ivory handles. He was a
gentleman among gentlemen, in Squint Legere’s, all on account of the
appreciation of Flat Face Dink of the appropriateness of measures for a
man, serving glasses according to one’s size. Rearing Bill surged forth
into the street again, popped away a couple of times and went on his
way.

He began to sing:

    “I’m Rearing Bill of Big Buck Hill.
        Snake pisen is my cure.
    Of human flesh I eat my fill;
        An’ I takes my whisky pure.”

He ended the verse with a chorus of shots. He aimed at lights, which
crashed in broken glass, for he could shoot pretty straight. His gunfire
made the horses nervous, and they pranced around. When he was on one
side of the square men scurried on the opposite side to remove their
mounts, either racing out to the livery barn and corral or down toward
Strollers’ Campground on the creek bottom.

Rearing Bill’s horse was built on his own generous scale, but he had
begun to ride it when it was too young; and now the beast, which would
have been a good draft horse, was a swayback with a tired look in the
lop of its ears. When Rearing Bill came by, however, the animal pranced
and shook nervously.

               *       *       *       *       *

Word had been sent to City Marshal Pete Culder, who was out in his home
cabin. The messenger said that Rearing Bill from Buck Hill had come to
town. At least, the fellow had said he was Rearing Bill and acted as bad
as they make them. Culder promised to come right down, but he wasn’t
seen by any one on that hectic night.

After shooting up Court House Square the disturber went into saloons and
took tentative shots at bottles and glasses. Keen observers noticed that
he shot with accuracy. He held his biggest of revolvers with a free,
powerful grip which on the pull landed the lead slugs in whatever he
aimed at, whether tin lamp base or peak glass on a pyramid of glasses.

Rearing Bill shambled from saloon to saloon. On each circuit he became
more uproarious, more exacting in his demands; and when in the Happy
Medium a frightened bartender put out a half size whisky glass instead
of a double size according to the fashion set by Flat Face Dink, Rearing
Bill with a grizzly-like swipe of the muzzle of his gun knocked the
unfortunate liquor clerk senseless. He then stood, amused for an instant
by the spectacle of the poor devil sprawled limp on the floor.

“Heh!” Rearing Bill snarled. “Cheat me on m’ liquor, eh! Heh!”

He turned, surging to glare from sunken eyes at the white faced
onlookers. As he stared at them one by one they all shrank, watchful of
the swinging of the carelessly handled revolver, the drunken man’s
unsteady finger on the trigger, the hammer drawn back at full cock and
the big, powerful paw holding the barrel as steady as a mounted cannon.

               *       *       *       *       *

There was in Boxelder a shiftless, shaky, friendless hanger-on known as
Odd Jobbing Det Linver, a huddled up, raggedly dressed fellow who was
kicked around by every one. There had been an interval of ten or fifteen
minutes’ quiet when Odd Jobbing Det appeared in Squint Legere’s barroom.
The man who had been reading the weekly paper in the lobby laid it on
the hotel clerk’s desk and entered the barroom from the lobby just as
Det entered from the rear alley, looking anxiously behind him.

Rearing Bill had catfooted, as softly as a grizzly bear on the sneak,
into the front entrance. Flat Face Dink looked up with a genial smile of
welcome, so the bully grinned widely as he started for the bar. Thus Odd
Jobbing Det backed right into the very big fellow he was scared to meet.
It was an abrupt collision.

Rearing Bill grunted. He glanced around, stopped and saw the cringing,
shrinking wretch who looked up at him with utterly abject fear. For an
instant Rearing Bill stared and glared; then he began to grin as he
surged at the victim thus thrown in his way. Odd Jobbing Det backed till
he was stopped by the wall. Then Rearing Bill cuffed and kicked, abusing
the wretched weakling, who blubbered, whimpered, choked and begged. The
more he pleaded for mercy the more the bully slapped and poked him with
the big revolver.

“I’ve a notion to kill you,” Rearing Bill suggested tentatively,
“’sultin’ me thataway. I’ve a notion to cut yer heart out an’ eat it!
I’ve a notion to shoot ye--’sultin’ me. Me--bumping into me--walkin’ all
over me. I’ve a notion to kill an’ eat ye f’r breakfast--”’

The spectators, shrinking along the walls, edging away, froze with
expectancy as they saw the tentative suggestion of murder congealing
into determination to kill. Rearing Bill had worked himself up to a
fury. He was weaving in savage ferocity. He glanced around, covertly
from under his bushy brows, taking in the white faces and the fears in
the eyes of the beholders.

“Yes, sir, I’m going t’ kill you!” he suddenly snarled.

But, like a cat playing with a victim Rearing Bill deliberately delayed.
Here was a worthless, terror stricken, utterly helpless and friendless
victim. Odd Jobbing Det looked his sorry misery and his voice went up in
a shrill breaking wail of hopeless terror, for he felt the drunken
brute’s determination to “get a man”, establishing a reputation as bad,
killing to see a victim kick.

The man who had been reading the paper gazed curiously at the spectacle.
He had recognized the whoop of Rearing Bill as that of a green timber
woodsman, a logger from the pine, spruce or hemlock belt somewhere. Now
he saw the big fellow clearly and, staring at him in surprise,
recognized him.

“Why, you damned skunk!” he muttered, just like that, and started
straight across the barroom, bare handed.

There was a gasp of amazement among the other spectators. Rearing Bill
heard or felt the difference in the echo. He froze for an instant as he
cunningly turned his eyes to look out of their corners. He discovered
the swift approach of the spectator and turned to look.

Rearing Bill’s face convulsed. A regular gorilla expression of ugliness
and cruelty crossed his features. He had clicked his teeth and shaken
his tangled mane, fluffing up his steel black whiskers. At sight of the
interrupter he shrank in precisely the same way that Odd Jobbing Det had
done, and lines of cruel satisfaction changed to the same quivering of
terror and pleading.

“I didn’t mean nothing! I didn’t mean nothing! I were jes’ foolin’!”
Rearing Bill’s voice rose higher and shriller. “I wa’n’t really goin’ to
hurt ’im, Mister Benson! Hones’--honest!”

“You lie!” the other exclaimed, cuffing the big face backhandedly. Under
cover of the stinging blow, Benson snatched the huge revolver from the
loose grasp of the bully’s hand.

Then with the barrel of the weapon Benson pounded the big fellow across
the floor, backward. Rearing Bill yelped, cried out, choked and at last
turned to run. Contemptuously, Benson gave him a kick; and then as the
bully yelled he fired the big gun at the floor under him so that the
huge boots bobbed high and thumped to frantic efforts at escape,
crashing out into the night. Outside Rearing Bill raced, plunging to the
swayback drayhorse, and he rode furiously away in the dark, heading up
Snake Creek.

               *       *       *       *       *

When he was out of hearing, his nervous yelps lost away in the Bad Land
distance, the crowd came back into Squint Legere’s barroom to see what
miracle had changed the echo of Rearing Bill’s whoops. They found the
other stranger, Benson, unloading Rearing Bill’s revolver of the yellow
stained ivory handles. Bystanders whispered excitedly at what this
fellow had done, barehanded, right after calling Rearing Bill a skunk.

“My lan’!” Tid Ricks gasped. “I never hoped to see anybody brave as
that--my, gracious! He just acted like he wa’n’t ’fraid of nothing in
the world, yes, sir! Why, he slapped that big feller ’fore he even took
his gun away! It was the nerviest thing anybody eveh did get to see!”

Squint Legere did the honors. Benson just must take a drink.

“I’ll take one,” he assented, “and no more.”

He meant it. No one urged, or even suggested, a second drink. Benson
went to the night clerk for his room key. Legere checked him at the foot
of the stairs.

“Excuse me,” Legere said. “’Course, I mind my own business--but you knew
him?”

“Oh, yes! Went to school together.”

“That so! Back East, I expect?”

“Yes, Minnesota.”

“That makes me think. You’re Benson--Robert Benson,” Legere said, “I see
by the register.”

“Oh, yes!”

“Not--uh--not Patient Bob--uh?”

“Why--” the flicker of a reminiscent smile crossed his face--“I’ve been
called that--”

“Shu-u!” Squint exclaimed, softly. “’Course, I mind my own business,
Mister Benson!”

“’Course, know that. Well, goodnight!”

Squint Legere returned to the bar where he was awaited with interest by
a curious crowd.

“He’s Patient Bob,” Squint remarked in a low voice.

“Not ---- Say, Patient Bob Benson! Shu-u-u-u!” voices gasped.

“An’ I seen ’im settin’ theh all the ev’ing, reading the paper, cool as
you please!” Tid Ricks broke the silence. “Why, he neveh even looked up
when that old fourflusher come shootin’ by, no, suh! I seen it with my
own eyes. I knowed he was _good_. Same time I neveh dreamed he was
Patient Bob--but when he got to goin’--’course--”

“’Course!” others assented. “Anybody’d knowed, then, he was _good_!”


[Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the July 15, 1928 issue of
Adventure magazine.]





*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN EVERYBODY KNEW ***


    

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.


START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
    other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
    whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
    of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
    at www.gutenberg.org. If you
    are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
    of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
  
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:

    • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
        the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
        you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
        to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
        agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
        Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
        within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
        legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
        payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
        Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
        Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
        Literary Archive Foundation.”
    
    • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
        you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
        does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
        License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
        copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
        all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
        works.
    
    • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
        any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
        electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
        receipt of the work.
    
    • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
        distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
    

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.