The hand of Providence by W. C. Tuttle
QR code
The hand of Providence by W. C. Tuttle is a humorous Western short story written in the early 20th century. Set in a rough-and-ready cow town, it comically explores what happens when a “horseless wagon” collides with frontier life, stirring panic among broncs and people alike. The tale opens as Scenery Sims rattles into Piperock in his new automobile, terrifying teams, scattering wagons, and outraging citizens. Later, after horse thieves leave Sheriff
Magpie Simpkins and his deputy narrator afoot, they flag down Scenery for a ride home, only to lose the brake and career through town in a whirlwind of near-misses, flying ropes, a shattered fence, and a makeshift roadblock. The chaos peaks when the runaway machine finally halts over Sam Holt’s hidden cache of dynamite and is blown to pieces—Providence, the town decides, has spoken. Chastened but alive, Scenery shakes hands with Sam and sensibly vows to return to horseflesh, while the town counts itself lucky and settles back into its old ways. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Download for free
For your e-reader or reading app — Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Calibre etc.
Kindle → Use Send-to-Kindle
Kobo, Nook etc. → Transfer via USB
Phone, tablet or computer → Open in a reading app
Other formats & older devices
There may be more files related to this item.
About this eBook
| Author | Tuttle, W. C. (Wilbur C.), 1883-1969 |
|---|---|
| Title | The hand of Providence |
| Original Publication | New York, NY: The Ridgway Company, 1918. |
| Series Title | Produced from the November 3, 1918 issue of Adventure magazine. |
| Credits | Prepared by volunteers at BookCove (bookcove.net) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Western stories |
| Subject | Automobiles -- Fiction |
| Subject | Simpkins, Magpie (Fictitious character) -- Fiction |
| Subject | Harper, Ike (Fictitious character) -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78735 |
| Release Date | May 23, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 537 downloads in the last 30 days. |
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!