Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

Full Download PDF of (Ebook PDF) Experiencing MIS 9th Edition All Chapter

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 43

(eBook PDF) Experiencing MIS 9th

Edition
Go to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-experiencing-mis-9th-edition-3/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Experiencing MIS 7th Edition (eBook PDF)

http://ebooksecure.com/product/experiencing-mis-7th-edition-
ebook-pdf/

(eBook PDF) Experiencing MIS, 7th Edition Global


Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-experiencing-mis-7th-
edition-global-edition/

Experiencing MIS 7th Edition GLOBAL edition (eBook PDF)

http://ebooksecure.com/product/experiencing-mis-7th-edition-
global-edition-ebook-pdf/

(Original PDF) Experiencing MIS Australia 4e By David


Kroenke

http://ebooksecure.com/product/original-pdf-experiencing-mis-
australia-4e-by-david-kroenke/
(eBook PDF) Experiencing MIS 7th Edition by David M.
Kroenke

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-experiencing-mis-7th-
edition-by-david-m-kroenke/

(Original PDF) Experiencing MIS 8th Edition by David M.


Kroenke

http://ebooksecure.com/product/original-pdf-experiencing-mis-8th-
edition-by-david-m-kroenke/

(Original PDF) Experiencing MIS, 5th Canadian Edition


by David M. Kroenke

http://ebooksecure.com/product/original-pdf-experiencing-mis-5th-
canadian-edition-by-david-m-kroenke/

(eBook PDF) Using MIS 9th Edition by David M. Kroenke

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-using-mis-9th-edition-
by-david-m-kroenke/

MIS 9: Management Information Systems 9th Edition


Hossein Bidgoli - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/mis-9-management-information-
systems-ebook-pdf/
To C. J., Carter, and Charlotte
—David Kroenke

To Courtney, Noah, Fiona, Layla, and Henry


—Randy Boyle
Contents Overview
Experiencing MIS offers basic topic coverage of MIS in its 12 chapters and more in-
depth, expanded coverage in its chapter extensions. This modular organization allows
you to pick and choose among those topics. Here chapter extensions are shown below
the chapters to which they are related. You will preserve continuity if you use each of
the 12 chapters in sequence. In most cases, a chapter extension can be covered any time
in the course after its related chapter. You need not use any of the chapter extensions
if time is short.

viii
Brief Contents
Part 1 Why MIS? 1 CE 10 Collaborative Information
Systems for Student Projects 499
1 The Importance of MIS 3
8 Processes, Organizations,
CE 1 Introduction to Microsoft and Information Systems 197
Excel 2019 347
CE 11 Enterprise Resource
2 Organizational Strategy, Planning (ERP) Systems 519
Information Systems, and
Competitive Advantage 29 CE 12 Supply Chain Management 533

3 Business Intelligence Systems 55 9 Social Media Information


Systems 227
CE 2 Artificial Intelligence
and Automation 369 CE 13 Enterprise Social Networks
and Knowledge Management 541
CE 3 Database Marketing 383

CE 4 Reporting Systems and OLAP 391


Part 4 Information Systems
Management 259
Part 2 Information Technology 81 10 Information Systems
Security 261
4 Hardware and Software 83
CE 14 Data Breaches 555
CE 5 Mobile Systems 403
11 Information Systems
5 Database Processing 117 Management 295
CE 6 Database Design 419 CE 15 International MIS 567

CE 7 Using Microsoft Access 2019 433 12 Information Systems


Development 319
CE 8 Using Excel and Access
Together 453 CE 16 Systems Development Project
Management 585
6 The Cloud 147
CE 17 Agile Development 597
CE 9 Network and Cloud Technology 481
CE 18 Business Process Management 607
Part 3 Using IS for Competitive
Advantage 175
7 Collaboration Information Systems for
Decision Making, Problem
Solving, and Project Management 177
ix
This page is intentionally left blank
Contents
Preface
About the Authors
xx
xxix
2 Organizational Strategy, Information
Systems, and Competitive Advantage 29
Part 1 Why MIS? 1 1. How Does Organizational Strategy Determine
Information Systems Structure? 31
1 The Importance of MIS 3 2. What Five Forces Determine Industry Structure? 31
3. How Does Analysis of Industry Structure
1. Why Is Introduction to MIS the Most Important
Determine Competitive Strategy? 33
Class in the Business School? 5
4. How Does Competitive Strategy Determine
The Digital Revolution 5
Value Chain Structure? 33
Evolving Capabilities 6
Primary Activities in the Value Chain 34
Moore’s Law 6
Support Activities in the Value Chain 35
Metcalfe’s Law 7
Value Chain Linkages 35
Other Forces Pushing Digital Change 7
5. How Do Business Processes Generate Value? 36
This Is the Most Important Class in the School
How Best Bikes Works 36
of Business 8
The Existing Best Bikes Process 36
2. How Will MIS Affect Me? 9
How Best Bikes Processes Must Change to
How Can I Attain Job Security? 9
Support 3D Printing 38
How Can Intro to MIS Help You Learn Nonroutine
6. How Does Competitive Strategy Determine
Skills? 9
Business Processes and the Structure of Information
3. Why Are MIS-Related Jobs in High Demand? 11 Systems? 39
What Is the Bottom Line? 13 7. How Do Information Systems Provide Competitive
4. What Is MIS? 13 Advantages? 40
■■ So What?: A Is for Alphabet 14 Competitive Advantage Via Products 41
Components of an Information System 15 ■■ So What?: Amazon Eats Whole Foods 42
Management and Use of Information Systems 15 Competitive Advantage Via Business Processes 44
Achieving Strategies 16 How Can an Organization Use IS to Create Competitive
5. What Is Information? 17 Advantages? 44
Definitions Vary 17 How Does This System Create a Competitive Advantage? 45
Where Is Information? 17 How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 45

6. What Data Characteristics Are Necessary ■■ Ethics Guide: The Lure of Love Bots 46
for Quality Information? 18 ■■ Career Guide 47
Accurate 18 Active Review 48 • Key Terms and Concepts 49 • End of
Timely 19 Chapter Questions 49 • Collaboration Exercise 2 50 • Case
Study 2 51 • Endnotes 53
Relevant 19
Just Barely Sufficient 19
3 Business Intelligence Systems 55
Worth Its Cost 19
How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 20 1. How Do Organizations Use Business
Intelligence (BI) Systems? 57
■■ Ethics Guide: Ethics and Professional Responsibility 20
How Do Organizations Use BI? 57
■■ Career Guide: Five-Component Careers 22
What Are Typical Uses for Business Intelligence? 58
Active Review 23 • Key Terms and Concepts 24 • End of Chapter
Questions 24 • Collaboration Exercise 1 25 • Case Study 1 26 2. What Are the Three Primary Activities in the BI Process? 60
• Endnotes 27 Using Business Intelligence to Find Candidate Parts 60

xi
xii Contents

3. How Do Organizations Use Data Warehouses Active Review 110 • Key Terms and Concepts 110 • End of
and Data Marts to Acquire Data? 63 Chapter Questions 111 • Collaboration Exercise 4 111 • Case
Study 4 112 • Endnotes 114
Problems with Operational Data 65
Data Warehouses Versus Data Marts 66 5 Database Processing 117
4. What Are Three Techniques for Processing BI Data? 67
1. Why Do You Need to Know About Databases? 119
Reporting Analysis 67
Reasons for Learning Database Technology 119
Data Mining Analysis 68
What Is the Purpose of a Database? 119
Big Data 69
2. What Is a Database? 121
5. What Are the Alternatives for Publishing BI? 71
Relationships Among Rows 122
Characteristics of BI Publishing Alternatives 71
Metadata 123
■■ So What?: Geofencing for Business? 72
3. What Is a Database Management System (DBMS)? 124
What Are the Two Functions of a BI Server? 73
■■ So What?: Slick Analytics 125
How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 74
4. How Do Database Applications Make Databases
■■ Ethics Guide: MIS-diagnosis 74
More Useful? 128
■■ Career Guide 76 Traditional Forms, Queries, Reports, and
Active Review 76 • Key Terms and Concepts 77 • End of Applications 128
Chapter Questions 77 • Collaboration Exercise 3 77 • Case
Browser Forms, Reports, Queries, and Applications 130
Study 3 78 • Endnotes 80
Multiuser Processing 131

Part 2 Information Technology 81 5. How Can eHermes Benefit from a Database System? 132
6. What Are Nontraditional DBMS Products? 133
4 Hardware and Software 83 Need to Store New Data Types Differently 133
Need for Faster Processing Using Many Servers 134
1. What Do Business Professionals Need to Know About
Computer Hardware? 85 Nontraditional DBMS Types 134
Hardware Components 85 Will These New Products Replace the Relational Model? 134
Types of Hardware 85 What Do Nonrelational DBMS Mean for you? 135
Computer Data 86 How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 135

2. How Can New Hardware Affect Competitive ■■ Ethics Guide: Mining at Work 135
Strategies? 89 ■■ Career Guide 137
The Internet of Things 89 Active Review 138 • Key Terms and Concepts 138 • End of
Digital Reality Devices 90 Chapter Questions 139 • Collaboration Exercise 5 140 • Case
Study 5 140 • Endnotes 145
Self-Driving Cars 93

6
■■ So What?: New from CES 2019 95
The Cloud 147
3D Printing 96
Cryptocurrencies 96 1. Why Is the Cloud the Future for Most Organizations? 148
3. What Do Business Professionals Need to Know About Cloud Computing 149
Software? 97 Why Do Organizations Prefer the Cloud? 150
What Are the Major Operating Systems? 99 When Does the Cloud Not Make Sense? 152
Virtualization 101 2. How Do Organizations Use the Cloud? 153
Owning Versus Licensing 103 Resource Elasticity 153
What Types of Applications Exist, and How Do Pooling Resources 154
Organizations Obtain Them? 103 Over the Internet 154
What Is Firmware? 104 Cloud Services from Cloud Vendors 155
4. Is Open Source Software a Viable Alternative? 105 Content Delivery Networks 157
Why Do Programmers Volunteer Their Services? 105 Using Web Services Internally 159
How Does Open Source Work? 106 3. How Can eHermes Use the Cloud? 160
So, Is Open Source Viable? 107 SaaS Services at eHermes 160
How does the knowledge in this chapter PaaS Services at eHermes 160
help you? 107
IaaS Services at eHermes 161
■■ Ethics Guide: Free Apps for Data 107 4. How Can Organizations Use Cloud
■■ Career Guide 109 Services Securely? 161
Contents xiii

Virtual Private Network (VPN) 161 How Do Processes Vary by Organizational


Using a Private Cloud 162 Scope? 200
Using a Virtual Private Cloud 164 2. How Can Information Systems Improve
■■ So What?: IRS Systems Overtaxed 164 Process Quality? 202
How Can Processes Be Improved? 203
5. What Does the Cloud Mean for Your Future? 165
How Can Information Systems Improve
How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 167
Process Quality? 203
■■ Ethics Guide: Reverse Engineering Privacy 168
3. How Do Enterprise Systems Solve the Problems
■■ Career Guide 169 of Departmental Silos? 204
Active Review 170 • Key Terms and Concepts 171 • End of
What Are the Problems of Information Silos? 204
Chapter Questions 171 • Collaboration Exercise 6 171 • Case
Study 6 172 • Endnotes 173 How Do Organizations Solve the Problems
of Information Silos? 206
An Enterprise System for Patient Discharge 207
Part 3 Using IS for Competitive 4. How Do CRM, ERP, and EAI Support Enterprise
Advantage 175 Processes? 207

7 Collaboration Information Systems The Need for Business Process Engineering 208
Emergence of Enterprise Application Solutions 208
for Decision Making, Problem
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 209
Solving, and Project Management 177
■■ So What?: Digital Dining 210
1. What Are the Two Key Characteristics of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 211
Collaboration? 179
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) 212
Importance of Constructive Criticism 179
5. What Are the Challenges of Implementing
Guidelines for Giving and Receiving Constructive and Upgrading Enterprise Information Systems? 213
Criticism 181
6. How Do Inter-Enterprise IS Solve the Problems
Warning! 181 of Enterprise Silos? 215
2. What Are Three Criteria for Successful Collaboration? 182 How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 217
Successful Outcome 182 ■■ Ethics Guide: Paid Deletion 217
Growth in Team Capability 182
■■ Career Guide 218
Meaningful and Satisfying Experience 183
Active Review 219 • Key Terms and Concepts 220 • End
3. What Are the Four Primary Purposes of Collaboration? 183 of Chapter Questions 220 • Collaboration Exercise 8 220 •
Becoming Informed 184 Case Study 8 223 • Endnotes 225
Making Decisions
Solving Problems
184
186
9 Social Media Information Systems 227
Managing Projects 186 1. What Is a Social Media Information System (SMIS)? 229
■■ So What?: Future of the Gig Economy 188 Three SMIS Roles 229
4. What Are the Components and Functions of a SMIS Components 232
Collaboration Information System? 189 2. How Do SMIS Advance Organizational Strategy? 234
The Five Collaboration System Components 189 Social Media and the Sales and Marketing
Primary Functions: Communication and Content Activity 234
Sharing 190 Social Media and Customer Service 235
How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 191 Social Media and Inbound and Outbound Logistics 235
■■ Ethics Guide: Big Brother Wearables 191 Social Media and Manufacturing and Operations 236
■■ Career Guide 192 Social Media and Human Resources 236
Active Review 193 • Key Terms and Concepts 193 • End of ■■ So What?: Enhanced Golf Fan 237
Chapter Questions 194 • Collaboration Exercise 7 194 • Case 3. How Do SMIS Increase Social Capital? 238
Study 7 194 • Endnotes 196
What Is the Value of Social Capital? 239

8 Processes, Organizations, and How Do Social Networks Add Value to


Businesses? 240
Information Systems 197
Using Social Networking to Increase the Number
1. What Are the Basic Types of Processes? 199 of Relationships 240
How Do Structured Processes Differ From Dynamic Using Social Networks to Increase the Strength
Processes? 199 of Relationships 240
xiv Contents

Using Social Networks to Connect to Those Systems Procedures 284


with More Resources 242 Security Monitoring 285
4. How Do (Some) Companies Earn Revenue 8. How Should Organizations Respond to
from Social Media? 243 Security Incidents? 286
You Are the Product 243 How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 287
Revenue Models for Social Media 244 ■■ Ethics Guide: Web Recording Everything 287
Does Mobility Reduce Online Ad Revenue? 245 ■■ Career Guide 289
5. How Can Organizations Address SMIS Active Review 290 • Key Terms and Concepts 290 •
Security Concerns? 246 End of Chapter Questions 291 • Collaboration
Managing the Risk of Employee Communication 247 Exercise 10 291 • Case Study 10 292 • Endnotes 293
Managing the Risk of Inappropriate Content 247
11 Information Systems Management 295
6. Where Is Social Media Taking Us? 250
How does the knowledge in this chapter 1. What Are the Functions and Organization
help you? 251 of the IS Department? 297
■■ Ethics Guide: Synthetic Friends 251 How Is the IS Department Organized? 297
■■ Career Guide 252 Security Officers 299
Active Review 253 • Key Terms and Concepts 254 • End of What IS-Related Job Positions Exist? 299
Chapter Questions 254 • Collaboration Exercise 9 254 • 2. How Do Organizations Plan the Use of IS? 301
Case Study 9 255 • Endnotes 257 Align Information Systems with Organizational
Strategy 301
Part 4 Information Systems Communicate IS Issues to the Executive Group 302
Management 259 Develop Priorities and Enforce Them Within
the IS Department 302
10 Information Systems Security 261 Sponsor the Steering Committee 302
1. What Is the Goal of Information Systems 3. What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages
Security? 263 of Outsourcing? 303
The IS Security Threat/Loss Scenario 263 Outsourcing Information Systems 303
What Are the Sources of Threats? 265 ■■ So What?: Poor Data Management at Facebook 304

What Types of Security Loss Exist? 266 International Outsourcing 306


Goal of Information Systems Security 268 What Are the Outsourcing Alternatives? 307
2. How Big Is the Computer Security Problem? 268 What Are the Risks of Outsourcing? 308
3. How Should You Respond to Security Threats? 270 4. What Are Your User Rights and Responsibilities? 310
4. How Should Organizations Respond to Security Your User Rights 310
Threats? 272 Your User Responsibilities 311
■■ So What?: Largest! Data! Breach! Ever! 273 How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 312
5. How Can Technical Safeguards Protect ■■ Ethics Guide: Training Your Replacement 312
Against Security Threats? 274
■■ Career Guide 313
Identification and Authentication 274 Active Review 314 • Key Terms and Concepts 315 • End of
Single Sign-on for Multiple Systems 275 Chapter Questions 315 • Collaboration Exercise 11 315 • Case
Encryption 275 Study 11 316 • Endnotes 318

Firewalls
Malware Protection
277
277
12 Information Systems
Development 319
Design for Secure Applications 279
6. How Can Data Safeguards Protect 1. What Is Systems Development? 321
Against Security Threats? 279 2. Why Is Systems Development Difficult
Legal Safeguards for Data 280 and Risky? 322
7. How Can Human Safeguards Protect The Difficulty of Requirements Determination 322
Against Security Threats? 280 Changes in Requirements 323
Human Safeguards for Employees 281 Scheduling and Budgeting Difficulties 323
Human Safeguards for Nonemployee Personnel 283 Changing Technology 324
Account Administration 283 Diseconomies of Scale 324
Contents xv

Is It Really So Bleak? 324 Procedure Design 332


3. What Are the Five Phases of the SDLC? 325 Design of Job Descriptions 333
4. How Is System Definition Accomplished? 326 7. How Is an Information System Implemented? 333
Define System Goals and Scope 326 System Testing 333
Assess Feasibility 327 System Conversion 334
Form a Project Team 327 8. What Are the Tasks for System Maintenance? 335
5. What Is the Users’ Role in the Requirements 9. What Are Some of the Problems With the SDLC? 336
Phase? 328 The SDLC Waterfall 336
Determine Requirements 328 Requirements Documentation Difficulty 337
Approve Requirements 329 Scheduling and Budgeting Difficulties 337
Role of a Prototype 329 How does the knowledge in this chapter help you? 337
6. How Are the Five Components Designed? 330 ■■ Ethics Guide: Engineered Slowdown 338
Hardware Design 330 ■■ Career Guide: Developing Your Personal Brand 339
■■ So What?: Banking on IoT 330 Active Review 341 • Key Terms and Concepts 341 • End of
Software Design 332 Chapter Questions 342 • Collaboration Exercise 12 342 • Case
Study 12 343 • Endnotes 345
Database Design 332

Chapter Extensions

Chapter Extension 1: Machine Learning 378


IBM’s Watson 379
Introduction to Microsoft Active Review 381 • Key Terms and Concepts 381 • End of
Excel 2019 347 Chapter Questions 381 • Endnotes 382

1. What Is a Spreadsheet? 347


2. How Do You Get Started with Excel? 348 Chapter Extension 3:
3. How Can You Enter Data? 351 Database Marketing 383
Key in the Data 351
1. What Is a Database Marketing Opportunity? 383
Let Excel Add the Data Using a Pattern 352
2. How Does RFM Analysis Classify Customers? 384
4. How Can You Insert and Delete Rows and Columns
3. How Does Market-Basket Analysis Identify
and Change Their Size? 356
Cross-Selling Opportunities? 385
5. How Can You Format Data? 359
4. How Do Decision Trees Identify Market
6. How Can You Create a (Simple) Formula? 360 Segments? 386
7. How Can You Print Results? 364 A Decision Tree for Student Performance 387
Active Review 366 • Key Terms and Concepts 367 • End
of Chapter Questions 367
A Decision Tree for Loan Evaluation 388
Active Review 389 • Key Terms and Concepts 390 • End of
Chapter Questions 390 • Endnotes 390
Chapter Extension 2:
Artificial Intelligence and Automation 369 Chapter Extension 4:
1. Why Is Artificial Intelligence Important? 369 Reporting Systems and OLAP 391
Advances in AI 370
1. How Do Reporting Systems Enable People
2. How Will AI and Automation Affect Organizations? 371 to Create Information? 391
Benefits of Automated Labor 372 2. What Are the Components and Characteristics
3. How Will AI Affect Me? 374 of Reporting Systems? 394
Unwanted Dirty Jobs 374 Report Type 394
Retraining and Retooling 375 Report Media 395
Surviving a Shifting Workplace 375 Report Mode 396
4. What Is the Goal of AI? 376 3. How Are Reports Authored, Managed, and
Integrated Enabler of Other Technology 376 Delivered? 396
5. How Does AI Work? 378 Report Authoring 396
xvi Contents

Report Management 396 Active Review 431 • Key Terms and Concepts 432 • End of
Report Delivery 397 Chapter Questions 432 • Endnote 432

4. How Are OLAP Reports Dynamic? 398


Active Review 400 • Key Terms and Concepts 401 • End of Chapter Extension 7:
Chapter Questions 401
Using Microsoft Access 2019 433
Chapter Extension 5: 1. How Do You Create Tables? 433
Mobile Systems 403 Starting Access 434
Creating Tables 434
1. What Are Mobile Systems? 403
2. How Do You Create Relationships? 438
2. Why Are Mobile Systems Important? 403
3. How Do You Create a Data Entry Form? 441
Hardware 404
4. How Do You Create Queries Using the Query
Software 404 Design Tool? 444
Data 405 5. How Do You Create a Report? 446
Procedures 406 Active Review 451 • End of Chapter Questions 452
People 406
3. How Do Native and Web-based Mobile Chapter Extension 8:
Applications Compare? 407
Using Excel and Access Together 453
Developing Native Mobile Applications 407
Developing Web Mobile Applications 408 1. Why Use Excel and Access Together? 453
Which Is Better? 409 2. What Is Import/Export? 454
4. What Characterizes Quality Mobile User Import/Export of Text Data 454
Experiences? 409 Import/Export of Excel and Access Data 457
Feature Content 410 3. How Can You Create Charts with Excel? 458
Use Context-Sensitive Chrome 410 Creating a Pie Chart 458
Provide Animation and Lively Behavior 411 Creating a Column Chart 460
Design to Scale and Share 411 4. How Can You Create Group Totals in Access? 460
Use the Cloud 412 5. How Can You Use Excel to Graph Access Data? 466
5. What Are the Challenges of Personal Mobile 6. How Can You Use Access to Report Excel Data? 469
Devices at Work? 413 7. How Can You Combine Excel and Access to
Advantages and Disadvantages of Employee Use Analyze Data? 474
of Mobile Systems at Work 414 Active Review 478 • Key Terms and Concepts 479 • End of
Survey of Organizational BYOD Policy 415 Chapter Questions 479 • Endnote 479
Active Review 416 • Key Terms and Concepts
Chapter Questions 417 • Endnotes 417
417 • End of
Chapter Extension 9:
Network and Cloud Technology 481
Chapter Extension 6: 1. What Is a Computer Network? 481
Database Design 419 2. What Are the Components of a LAN? 482
1. Who Will Volunteer? 419 Connecting Your LAN to the Internet 484
2. How Are Database Application Systems 3. How Does the Internet Work? 485
Developed? 420 The Internet and the U.S. Postal System 485
3. What Are the Components of the Entity-Relationship Step 1: Assemble Package (Packets) 485
Data Model? 421 Step 2: Put Name on Package (Domain Names) 486
Entities 421 Step 3: Look Up Address (IP Address) 486
Relationships 422 Step 4: Put Address on Package (IP Address
4. How Is a Data Model Transformed into a Database on Packet) 487
Design? 424 Step 5: Put Registered Mail Sticker on
Normalization 424 Package (TCP) 488
Representing Relationships 426 Step 6: Ship Package (Packets Transported by
5. What Is the Users’ Role? 428 Carriers) 488
6. Who Will Volunteer? (Continued) 429 4. How Do Web Servers Support the Cloud? 489
Contents xvii

Three-Tier Architecture 490 3. How Are ERP Systems Implemented


Watch the Three Tiers in Action! 490 and Upgraded? 526
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) 491 4. What Types of Organizations Use ERP? 527
Internet Protocols 494 ERP by Industry Type 527
TCP/IP Protocol Architecture 494 ERP by Organization Size 527
Active Review 497 • Key Terms and Concepts 497 • End of International ERP 528
Chapter Questions 498 • Endnote 498
5. How Do the Major ERP Vendors Compare? 528
ERP Market Leaders 528
Chapter Extension 10: ERP Products 529
ERP in the Future 531
Collaborative Information Systems Active Review 531 • Key Terms and Concepts 532 • End of
for Student Projects 499 Chapter Questions 532 • Endnotes 532

1. What Are the IS Requirements for Student


Project Collaborations? 499 Chapter Extension 12:
Required Features 499 Supply Chain Management 533
Nice-to-Have Features 500
1. What Are Typical Inter-Enterprise Processes? 533
Collaboration Tool Characteristics 500
2. What Is a Supply Chain? 534
2. How Can You Use Collaboration Tools to
Improve Team Communication? 501 3. What Factors Affect Supply Chain
Performance? 535
3. How Can You Use Collaboration Tools to
Share Content? 503 4. How Does Supply Chain Profitability Differ
from Organizational Profitability? 536
Shared Content with No Control 505
5. What Is the Bullwhip Effect? 537
Shared Content with Version Management
on Google Drive 505 6. How Do Information Systems Affect Supply
Chain Performance? 538
Shared Content with Version Control 507
Active Review 539 • Key Terms and Concepts 539 • End of
4. How Can You Use Collaboration Tools to Chapter Questions 540 • Endnotes 540
Manage Tasks? 510
Sharing a Task List on Google Drive 511 Chapter Extension 13:
Sharing a Task List Using Microsoft
SharePoint 512 Enterprise Social Networks and
5. Which Collaboration Information System Is Knowledge Management 541
Right for Your Team? 513 1. How Do Organizations Develop an
The Minimal Collaboration Tool Set 513 Effective SMIS? 541
The Good Collaboration Tool Set 513 Step 1: Define Your Goals 542
The Comprehensive Collaboration Tool Set 514 Step 2: Identify Success Metrics 542
Choosing the Set for Your Team 515 Step 3: Identify the Target Audience 543
Don’t Forget Procedures and People! 515 Step 4: Define Your Value 543
Active Review 516 • Key Terms and Concepts 517 • End of
Step 5: Make Personal Connections 544
Chapter Questions 517 • Endnotes 517
Step 6: Gather and Analyze Data 544

Chapter Extension 11: 2. What Is an Enterprise Social Network (ESN)? 545


Enterprise 2.0 545
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Changing Communication 546
Systems 519 Deploying Successful Enterprise Social
Networks 546
1. What Is the Purpose of ERP Systems? 519
3. What Are the Benefits of Knowledge
2. What Are the Elements of an ERP Solution? 522
Management? 547
Hardware 522
4. What Are Expert Systems? 548
Software: ERP Application Programs 523
5. What Are Content Management Systems? 549
Data: ERP Databases 523
What Are the Challenges of Content Management? 550
Procedures: Business Process Procedures 524
What Are Content Management Application
People: Training and Consulting 524 Alternatives? 550
xviii Contents

Active Review 551 • Key Terms and Concepts 552 • End of Cultural Norms 579
Chapter Questions 552 • Endnotes 552 5. What Are the Challenges of International IS

Chapter Extension 14:


Management? 579
Why Is International Information Systems
Data Breaches 555 Development More Challenging? 579
What Are the Challenges of International
1. What Is a Data Breach? 555
Project Management? 580
Why Do Data Breaches Happen? 556
What Are the Challenges of International IS
2. How Do Data Breaches Happen? 557 Management? 582
Hitting Target 557 Active Review 583 • Key Terms and Concepts 583 • End of
How Did They Do It? 557 Chapter Questions 584 • Endnotes 584

The Damage 558


3. How Should Organizations Respond Chapter Extension 16:
to Data Breaches? 559
Respond Quickly 559 Systems Development Project
Plan for a Data Breach 560 Management 585
Be Honest about the Breach 560
1. Why Is Formalized Project Management Necessary? 585
4. What Are the Legal Consequences of
2. What Are the Trade-Offs in Requirements,
a Data Breach? 560
Cost, and Time? 586
5. How Can Data Breaches Be Prevented? 562
3. What Are the Dimensions of Project Management? 587
6. What Is Your Role in IS Security? 563
4. How Does a Work Breakdown Structure
Strong Passwords 563 Drive Project Management? 589
Password Etiquette 564 5. What Is the Biggest Challenge for Planning
Active Review 564 • Key Terms and Concepts 565 • End of
a Systems Development Project? 592
Chapter Questions 565 • Endnotes 565
6. What Are the Biggest Challenges for Managing

Chapter Extension 15: a Systems Development Project?


7. What Is the Single Most Important Task
593

International MIS 567 for Users on a Systems Development Project? 594


Active Review 595 • Key Terms and Concepts 596 • End of
1. How Does the Global Economy Affect Chapter Questions 596 • Endnotes 596
Organizations and Processes? 567
How Does the Global Economy Change the Chapter Extension 17:
Competitive Environment? 568
How Does the Emerging Global Economy Change Agile Development 597
Competitive Strategy? 569 1. Why Is the SDLC Losing Credibility? 597
How Does the Global Economy Change Value 2. What Are the Principles of Agile Development
Chains and Business Processes? 571 Methodologies? 598
2. What Are the Characteristics of International 3. What Is the Scrum Process? 600
IS Components? 571
Scrum Essentials 600
What’s Required to Localize Software? 572
When Are We Done? 601
IBM’s Watson Learns Korean 573
Key Roles 602
What Are the Problems and Issues of Global Databases? 573
4. How Do Requirements Drive the Scrum Process? 602
What Are the Challenges of International
Creating Requirements Tasks 603
Enterprise Applications? 574
Scheduling Tasks 603
3. How Do Inter-Enterprise IS Facilitate
Globalization? 575 Committing to Finish Tasks 604

How Do Global Information Systems Affect Hocus-Pocus? 604


Active Review 604 • Key Terms and Concepts 605 • End of
Supply Chain Profitability? 575
Chapter Questions 605 • Endnotes 605
What IS the Economic Effect of Global Manufacturing? 576
How Does Social Media Affect International Business? 576
Chapter Extension 18:
4. What Are the Security Challenges of
International IS? 577 Business Process Management 607
Legal Environment 577 1. Why Do Organizations Need to Manage
Physical Security 578 Business Processes? 607
Contents xix

A Sample Ordering Business Process 607 5 How Is BPM Practiced in the Real World? 616
Why Does This Process Need Management? 608 Defining the Process Problem 616
2. What Are the Stages of Business Process Designing the New Process 618
Management (BPM)? 610 Create Process Components 618
3. How Do Business Processes and Information Implement New Processes 618
Systems Relate? 611 Active Review 619 • Key Terms and Concepts 619 • End of
4. Which Come First: Business Processes Chapter Questions 620
or Information Systems? 613
Business Processes First 613 Application Exercises 621

Information System First 614 Glossary 639


Another Factor: Off-the-Shelf Software 614 Index 653
And the Answer Is ... 615
Preface
In Chapter 1, we claim that MIS is the most important class The reviews for digital reality devices from early adopt-
in the business curriculum. That’s a bold statement, and ev- ers are glowing. These devices will create entirely new types
ery year we ask whether it remains true. Is there any dis- of companies and could change the way people live, work,
cipline having a greater impact on contemporary business shop, and entertain themselves.
and government than IS? We continue to doubt there is. In addition to changing the ways individuals live and
Every year brings important new technology to organiza- gather data, recent innovations are changing the way com-
tions, and many of these organizations respond by creating panies work, too. For example, over the past year Amazon
innovative applications that increase productivity and help experienced tremendous success using Kiva robots in its ful-
them accomplish their strategies. fillment centers. It expanded use of these robots to dozens
Over the past year, we’ve seen long-discussed innova- of warehouses around the world. These 200,000 Kiva robots
tions take big leaps forward. Self-driving vehicles made have reduced operating costs by 20 percent ($22 million per
huge strides over the past year. Uber, Tesla Motors, and warehouse); they have also reduced click-to-ship times by
Waymo (Google) logged millions of autonomous miles. 75 percent.2 If Amazon rolls out these robots to all of its 110
Nearly all other automobile manufacturers are running warehouses, it could save billions. Technology—in this case,
full-tilt to turn their traditional cars into fully autonomous an automated workforce—is fundamentally changing the
smart cars. A recent study by Intel estimates self-driving ve- way organizations operate. It’s enabling them to be more
hicle services will be worth $7 trillion by 2050.1 Consider productive, innovative, and adaptable.
what will happen when Amazon starts formal adoption of Of course, not all of this year’s technology news has
the self-driving trucks they’re currently testing. It could re- been good. Large-scale data breaches continue to be a ma-
duce shipping costs by 80 percent! jor problem. In 2018, some of the largest data breaches
At the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in included Marriot International (500M accounts), Under
2018, Toyota announced an autonomous concept vehicle Armour (150M accounts), and Twitter (330M accounts).
named the e-Palette that the company believes will fulfill And 2019 looks to be even worse. We’ve already seen losses
a role in an emerging mobility as a service (MaaS) market. by First American Corp (885M accounts), Facebook (540M
By mid-2019, Subaru, Suzuki Motor Corp., Mazda Motor accounts), Exactis (340M accounts), and Quora (100M ac-
Corp., Isuzu Motors, and Toyota had all invested in a joint counts).3 Overall, businesses accounted for 66 percent of
venture to utilize the e-Palette platform. stolen accounts. And these are just a fraction of the total
This year, roll-up TVs were a hit at CES. Harley- number of organizations affected this year.
Davidson showed off its new all-electric motorcycle This edition of the text has been updated for these
named LiveWire; it can go 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds, travel developments as well as normal revisions that address
200 miles on a single charge, and use a power regenera- emergent technologies like artificial intelligence, machine
tion mode to slow the motorcycle. There were also a gag- learning, cloud-based services, and so on.
gle of smart devices like Jabra’s smart headphones. The All of these changes highlight the fact that more so-
adaptive headphones are powered by an AI that adapts phisticated and demanding users push organizations into
to the environment they’re in. They analyze the sounds in a rapidly changing future—one that requires continual
the environment and adjust their noise-canceling abilities adjustments in business planning. In order to participate
automatically. Businesses see the potential value in smart in this business environment, our graduates need to know
devices such as these. They also recognize the need to col- how to apply emerging technologies to better achieve their
lect, store, and analyze the data these devices generate. As organizations’ strategies. Knowledge of MIS is critical to
a result, jobs in analytics, business intelligence, and Big this endeavor. And this pace continues to remind us of
Data are all in high demand right now. Carrie Fisher’s statement, “The problem with instantaneous
Digital reality (sometimes called virtual reality) has re- gratification is that it’s just not fast enough.”
ally taken off. Microsoft showed off its second-generation
device named Hololens 2, which will be released in late 2019.
Google also showed off a demo of its device named Magic Why This Ninth Edition?
Leap, but received a lukewarm reception. Expectations are To reiterate the preface of earlier editions, we believe it is
high for Magic Leap considering that investors have put a exceedingly important to make frequent adaptations to this
record-breaking $4.5 billion into this secretive startup. text because of the delays associated with long textbook

xx
Preface xxi

Table 1 Changes in the Ninth Edition


Chapter Description of Change
1 New eHermes introduction
New and updated charts for CPU and data storage growth
New job sector comparison statistics
Discussion of the MIS skills gap
Updated BLS job statistics for business and MIS occupations
New collaboration exercise (creating a collaboration system)
New section on Information (1-5)
New section on data characteristics (1-6)
New case study (Pluralsight)
2 New eHermes introduction
Chapter content moved up from Chapter 3
New So What? Guide (Amazon Eats Whole Foods)
Added discussion of first and second mover advantages
Added discussion of business processes, BPM, repositories, and activities
Updated Amazon case study
New Career Guide (Senior Learning and Development Specialist)
New Collaboration Exercise (Singing Valley Resort)
New discussion about business process modeling (2-5)
3 New eHermes introduction
Chapter content moved up from Chapter 9
New So What? Guide (Geofencing for Businesses)
Updated Access 2019 images
4 New eHermes introduction
New So What? Guide (New from CES 2019)
New Career Guide (Senior Software Engineer)
Added discussion about cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, blockchain, and phablets (4-2)
Updated industry statistics throughout the chapter
5 New eHermes introduction
New Ethics Guide (Mining at Work)
New Career Guide (Principal Data Engineer)
New section 5-7 discussing databases at eHermes
Updated images and statistics throughout the chapter
Updated Excel and Access 2019 images
6 New eHermes introduction
New So What? Guide (IRS Systems Overtaxed)
New Ethics Guide (Reverse Engineering Privacy)
Updated industry statistics throughout the chapter
Updated section 6-3 discussing eHermes using the cloud
New Case Study (Salesforce.com)
Updated discussion about telemedicine
New MyLab MIS question about AWS offerings and eHermes
7 New Chapter on Collaboration Information Systems
7-1 What Are the Two Key Characteristics of Collaboration?
7-2 What Are Three Criteria for Successful Collaboration?
7-3 What Are the Four Primary Purposes of Collaboration?
7-4 What Are the Components and Functions of a Collaboration Information System?
New So What? Guide (Future of the Gig Economy)
New Career Guide (Senior Product Manager)
New Ethics Guide (Big Brother Wearables)
xxii Preface

Table 1 Changes in the Ninth Edition (continued )


Chapter Description of Change
New Case Study (Airbnb)
New collaboration exercise
8 New ARES Systems introduction
New discussion on structured versus dynamic processes (8-1)
New discussion of workgroup, enterprise, and inter-enterprise processes (8-1)
New discussion of process efficiency versus process effectiveness (8-2)
New discussion of enterprise application solutions (8-4)
New So What? Guide (Digital Dining)
New Career Guide (Platform Engineer)
9 New Career Guide (Social Media Marketing)
New Case Study (LinkedIn)
New discussion about Geofencing
Updated collaboration exercise
Updated industry statistics and charts throughout the chapter
Updated discussion about the future of social media (9-6)
10 New So What? Guide (Largest! Data! Breach! Ever!)
New Ethics Guide (Web Recording Everything)
New industry statistics and charts throughout the chapter
New discussion about legal safeguards for data including PCI DSS, GLBA, and HIPAA
11 New So What? Guide (Poor Data Management at Facebook)
New Career Guide (Data Governance Officer)
Updated industry statistics and charts throughout the chapter
12 New Ethics Guide (Engineered Slowdown)
New charts and statistics about agile and scrum use
Chapter
Extensions Description of Change
Appl Ex Updated data files
Updated Microsoft Office 2019 compliant files and chapter images
New exercise about Microsoft AI applications Fetch! and How-Old
New exercise about networking commands ping and ipconfig
New exercise about Recuva file recovery
New exercise about Microsoft MakeCode application development
CE1 Chapter content and images updated to Microsoft Excel 2019
CE2 Updated chapter statistics and charts
CE5 Updated mobile statistics
Removed references to depreciated Microsoft charms
CE6 Chapter content and images updated to Microsoft Access 365
CE7 Chapter content and images updated to Microsoft Access 365
CE8 Chapter content and images updated to Microsoft Access 365 and Microsoft Excel 2019
Updated chapter project instructions
CE9 Updated discussion about ICANN and net neutrality
Updated chapter statistics
CE10 New Microsoft Whiteboard example
Updated Google Drive images
Updated SharePoint images
CE11 Updated chapter statistics about ERP leaders and ERP adoption
CE13 Updated chapter statistics and ESN example using Cummins
CE14 Updated data breach statistics and charts
New section on user role in IS security (CE14-6)
New chart showing the most commonly used weak passwords
Preface xxiii

Chapter Description of Change


CE15 Updated statistics about international Internet access (fixed and mobile)
New discussion of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law
Updated statistics related to spoken languages
Updated examples of bribery and asset seizure
CE18 Updated images for Microsoft Project Professional 2019

Updated statistics and charts related to agile and scrum usage

revision cycles. Text materials we develop in April of one edition’s Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. Content in Chapter 8 was
year are published in January of the next year and are first also expanded to include more discussion about processes in
used by students in September—a minimum 17-month systems. We hope this new organization of chapters will make
delay. the presentation of the chapters flow more naturally.
For some areas of study, a year and a half may not seem Chapters 1 through 6 begin with a new discussion of
long because little changes in that amount of time. But in MIS, eHermes, a startup that provides mobile shopping expe-
entire companies can be founded and then sold for billions of riences using self-driving vehicles. Chapters 7 through
dollars in just a few years. YouTube, for example, was founded 12 continue to be introduced by the discussion of ARES
in February 2005 and then sold in November 2006 to Google Systems, a cloud-based augmented-reality exercise startup.
for $1.65B (21 months). And that wasn’t just a one-time fluke. In addition to motivating the chapter material, both case
Facebook Inc. started in 2004, led the social media revolution, scenarios provide numerous opportunities for students to
and became a public company currently (as of mid-2019) val- practice one of Chapter 1’s key skills: “Assess, evaluate, and
ued at $551B. That’s a whopping $36B in growth per year for apply emerging technology to business.”
15 years! MIS changes fast—very fast. We hope this new edi- This edition also continues to focus on teaching ethics.
tion is the most up-to-date MIS textbook available. Every Ethics Guide asks students to apply Immanuel Kant’s
The changes in this ninth edition are listed in Table 1. categorical imperative, Bentham and Mill’s utilitarianism,
The chapter on Business Intelligence Systems was pulled or both to the business situation described in the guide. We
forward to Chapter 3 because of the increased importance hope you find the ethical considerations rich and deep with
of these systems to all businesses. Every large tech com- these exercises. The categorical imperative is introduced in the
pany has spent considerable resources acquiring artificial Ethics Guide in Chapter 1 (pages 20–21), and utilitarianism is
intelligence (AI) companies in the past ten years, including introduced in the Ethics Guide in Chapter 2 (pages 46–47).
Google ($3.9 billion), Amazon ($871 million), Apple ($786), As shown in Table 1, additional changes were made to
Intel ($776), and Microsoft ($690).4 And that’s not counting every chapter, including eight new So What? features, five
additional internal investments. AI and machine learning new Ethics Guides, seven new Career Guides, and four new
are becoming core parts of these companies’ competitive chapter cases. Numerous changes were made throughout
advantage. Some of the highest-paying jobs are in AI, busi- the chapters in an attempt to keep them up-to-date. MIS
ness analytics, Big Data, and data mining. moves fast, and to keep the text current, we checked every
Even consumers are being affected. Consumers are inter- fact, data point, sentence, and industry reference for obso-
acting with AIs like Alexa, Google, and Siri in their homes on lescence and replaced them as necessary.
a daily basis. Machine learning is being used to make person-
alized recommendations for online shoppers. It’s also being
used to create automated Gmail replies, optimize Uber ar- Structure, Organization,
rival times, and identify which songs you’ll want to listen to.
A new chapter on Collaboration Information Systems and Appearance of This Text
(Chapter 7) was added to Part 3 (MIS in Organizations) Teaching today is a very different endeavor than it was
because it focuses on systems in organizations, much like years ago. Students have many more distractions and de-
Chapters 8 and 9 do. MIS professors who reviewed the book mands on their time. They are quick to tune in and quick
said they assign a lot of group work and that they wanted to tune out, so much so that someone compared their atten-
content to help their students work more effectively within tion spans to those of Labrador Retriever puppies. We can
their groups. Chapter Extension 10 covers collaboration lament that fact, but we can’t change it. What we can do is
software options that students can use to manage their as- to meet students where they are and creatively attempt to
signed projects. obtain their engagement.
To make room for the new chapter, the content from the We designed this text with that hope and goal in mind.
previous edition’s Chapter 2 was split and integrated into this Every feature of this book is designed to make it easy for
xxiv Preface

students to engage with the content, not by watering it make it easier for students to open this book and continue to
down but rather, we hope, by making it interesting and rel- read it, interesting and engaging art and photos have been
evant to them. This text is not an encyclopedia; it attempts used. In every instance, however, we have insisted that the photo
to teach essential topics well. It does so by providing op- or art be related to the topic under discussion; these photos are not
portunities for students to actively engage with the content, simply eye candy. Pearson allows us to personally review and
by providing features to help students better manage their approve every photo and art exhibit in this text. We believe
study time, and by having an appearance that makes it easy a good book does not have to appear boring, but all art must
for students to pick up and start. be relevant.

Active Engagement Features for Engaging


The structure of this edition of Experiencing MIS provides
many opportunities for active engagement. Each chapter in-
the Student
cludes a So What? feature that contains exercises and ques- Experiencing MIS was written to make it impossible for read-
tions for students to answer to demonstrate the relevancy of ers of this text to miss the importance of MIS in business.
the chapter’s material to them. Each chapter also contains The text is designed to be approachable, easy to use, some-
an Ethics Guide that looks at the ethical implications of the times humorous, with an upbeat and in-your-face attitude,
chapter content. These can be used for small in-class exer- but always with the goal of underlining the importance of
cises. Finally, this edition contains 39 application exercises. MIS to all businesspeople in the 21st century.
An important part of making the text approachable was
choosing a modular design. The text consists of 12 short
Facilitate Student Study chapters along with 18 supplemental discussions, called
chapter extensions.
Today’s students were reared in an environment of constant
The modular nature of this text is discussed in more de-
stimulation and channel surfing, and it seems nearly impos-
tail later in this preface.
sible for many students to focus on a single topic for more
than a few minutes. Again, we can wish it otherwise, but
short attention spans are students’ and our reality. And re- Emphasis on Collaboration
cent research does seem to substantiate students’ claim that, As with previous editions, this text emphasizes collabo-
except for texting in class, students can multitask in class ration. It is one of Reich’s key skills for the 21st-century
without problem.5 professional, as described in Chapter 1. We believe we
This text is structured to accommodate today’s stu- need not only to require our students to collaborate but
dents’ learning styles. First, to help students manage their also to teach them key skills for doing so. Chapter 7 and
time, it is organized around questions. The learning objec- Chapter Extension 10 present collaboration techniques
tives for each chapter or chapter extension are presented as and collaboration information systems, respectively. Each
a list of questions. Each major heading of the material is one chapter also includes a collaboration exercise at the end
of those questions, and the end of the chapter or extension of the chapter.
includes an Active Review in which students are asked to Additionally, Pearson Education is sponsoring
demonstrate their learning of the answer to each question. Microsoft SharePoint for student use. At your request,
Students should study until they can answer the questions; Pearson will set up a SharePoint site collection that your
that may be 5 minutes or 5 hours, but their job is to answer students can use when responding to the collaboration ex-
those questions. This technique, from Marilla Svinicki’s re- ercises at the end of each chapter. Students need nothing
search, vastly helps students manage their study time.6 more than a browser to participate. See your Pearson sales
You can also use the questions to structure class sessions representative for more information.
or at least parts of those sessions. You can open class by ask-
ing students to “do the questions.” Go around the room and
Opening Scenarios for Parts
call on someone to answer a question or part of one.
Second, students learn more when they are emotion- and Chapters
ally engaged in the material. The purpose of the vignettes Each part and each chapter opens with a scenario intended
that introduce each chapter is to raise student emotion; to get students involved emotionally. We want students to
their purpose is to cause students to care about the chapter mentally place themselves in the situation and to realize
material. that this situation—or something like it—could happen to
Third, 82 percent of students in the business school pre- them. Each scenario sets up the chapter’s content and pro-
fer visual learning to auditory (voice or word) learning.7 To vides an obvious example of why the chapter is relevant to
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
“Ain’t home, eh?” queried Hashknife.
“He ain’t,” said Briggs flatly. “Whatcha want?”
“Nothin’ much. We was ridin’ up this way, so we thought we’d drop
in and talk with Langley.”
“All right; I’ll tell him yuh called.”
“That’s fine of yuh. If yuh think he’ll be back pretty soon, we’ll wait
for him, Briggs.”
“Oh, hell, yuh can’t tell when he’ll be back. Might be pretty late.”
“I see. You been here quite a while, ain’t yuh?”
“Yuh mean, on the JML? Oh, about three year.”
“You was workin’ here while Kid Glover was here?”
“Shore was.”
“Where’d he come from?”
“Montana, I reckon. Anyway, he talked about that State quite a lot.”
“Railroaded up there,” offered One-Eye. “Passenger brakeman. I
used t’ railroad on the G.N. I could have had an engine years ago if
I’d stuck.”
“He told yuh he used to be a passenger brakeman?” asked
Hashknife.
“Shore. Me and him—say, whatcha want to know for?”
“I just wondered. I used to know a Glover over in the eastern part
of the State, and I wondered if this was the same feller.”
I dunno; mebby was. I know he worked out of Missoula f’r a long
time; so he said. I’ve been there.”
“I heard he left the Half-Box R,” said Briggs.
Hashknife nodded. Down in the nearest corral were three horses,
and Hashknife could almost swear that two of them were the horses
ridden that morning by Langley and Angel McCoy. Briggs glanced
down that way and shot a quick glance at Hashknife, who was
calmly taking his tobacco and papers from his pocket.
“Well, I suppose we might as well be goin’, Sleepy,” said
Hashknife. “No use waitin’ for Langley.”
“No use, gents,” agreed Briggs, visibly relieved. “He might be
pretty late.”
“McCoy with him?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, much obliged, anyway. See yuh later.”
Briggs walked around the house with them, and he was still there
when Hashknife and Sleepy swung out of sight around a brushy
curve on the road.
“Well, that didn’t amount to much,” said Sleepy.
Hashknife laughed softly.
“Mebby not; mebby yes. All depends.”
“What put the idea into yore head to ask where that horse thief
Glover came from?”
“Merely curious.”
“I didn’t even know Glover ever worked for the JML.”
“Lotsa things you don’t know, cowboy.”
“You never knew a Glover in eastern Montana.”
“I guess not, Sleepy.”
“Oh, all right.”
They rode back to Red Arrow and stabled their horses, after which
Hashknife walked to the depot and sent a telegram to the Wells
Fargo, asking for certain information on Paulsen, the messenger,
who had been in charge of the express car the night of the robbery.
Slim had some news for Hashknife. Dell Blackwell and “Boomer”
Weed had quit the Half-Box R. The murder of Ed Corby caused them
to draw what they had coming, and they were now in Red Arrow.
This left only Einar Sorensen, a tall, colorless Swede, at the ranch
with Butch.
“And I’ll betcha Butch would like to quit, too,” said Chuck Ring.
“He’s gettin’ jumpy.”
“Did the boys say anythin’ about somebody gunnin’ for ’em?”
asked Hashknife.
“They didn’t say,” laughed Chuck. “But they wasn’t takin’ any
chances. Somebody’s gone crazy, I think.”
“Looks thataway.”
Later on in the day Hashknife told Slim about what he had seen in
the hills that morning, describing the man as near as he could.
“That’s Kid Glover all right,” said Slim. “Why didn’t yuh collect yore
horse when yuh had a chance?”
“That would be the natural thing to do, Slim; but I’m the greatest
person yuh ever seen to act unnatural. That black hat we found on
the bridge that mornin’ would just about fit Kid Glover.”
“By God!” exploded Slim. He opened his safe and took out the
black sombrero.
“That’s where I’ve seen it!” he exclaimed. “Right on the head of Kid
Glover! What do yuh know about that? Hashknife, do yuh suppose
he had anythin’ to do with the killin’ of DuMond?”
“Looks as though he did.”
“Well, I’ll be damned! Let’s go and get him.”
“Why would he kill DuMond?”
“That don’t matter. We’ve got his hat and——”
“Yeah, we’ve got the hat. But yuh can’t hang a man for losin’ a hat,
can yuh? That don’t prove anythin’.”
“We’ll get him for horse-stealin’ and make him admit the rest of his
crimes. Why, it might have been him who killed Corby!”
“Why would he kill Corby?”
“Mistook him for Butch Reimer.”
“Why kill Butch Reimer?”
Slim shrugged his shoulders wearily. “You’re the worst ‘why’ asker
I ever knew.”
“There’s got to be reasons for everything, Slim. Men don’t commit
murder for the fun of it. Only a crazy man would kill without cause.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Why would he kill DuMond and Corby?”
“I can’t answer that question—yet. And I’m afraid if we arrest Kid
Glover for horse-stealin’, we’ll never know the answer. It’s worth
waitin’ for, Slim.”
“Do yuh think Glover ransacked the Circle Spade?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“Remains to be seen, as the undertaker said when the hearse
team ran away and smashed the casket. What would old Rance
have in his house that anybody around here would want, Slim?”
“The express loot,” quickly.
“Mebby you’re right.”
“But where’s old Rance?”
“Don’t ask me. Yuh goin’ to be around here this evenin’?”
“Right here—why?”
“Oh, I might get an idea between now and dark, Slim. See yuh
later. Oh, yeah; if there’s a telegram comes to yuh—somethin’ yuh
don’t know a thing about, just hang onto it, will yuh? I signed yore
name to one I sent today.”
“Sure, I will.”
Hashknife found Sleepy at the Red Arrow with Chuck Ring, Scotty
McKay, Dell Blackwell, and Boomer Weed. The two men from the
Half-Box R had absorbed plenty of liquor, but were not parading their
valor.
“I pulled out because I was scared,” confessed Dell. “Mebby
somebody mistook old Ed Corby for somebody else, but we don’t
know who that somebody else was. Me and old Boomer wasn’t in
what you’d call a dyin’ mood; so we jist asked for our time. Yuh can’t
blame us, can yuh?”
“Prob’ly be a few hundred men killed around here before it’s over,”
said Chuck. “Things like that kinda run in bunches. Eppy-demic, they
call it.”
Hashknife managed to get Dell Blackwell away from the rest of the
crowd, and while Sleepy was trying to lead them in song, Hashknife
asked Dell about the quarrel between Butch Reimer and Kid Glover.
“Quarrel?” Dell was slightly owl-eyed.
“Yeah—the reason Glover left the ranch.”
“Uh-huh.”
Blackwell scratched his nose thoughtfully.
“Reimer swore he’d kill Glover, yuh know,” explained Hashknife.
“And Glover high-tailed it out of the country.”
“He did, eh?” Blackwell grinned foolishly. “First time I ever heard of
it, Hartley. What did they quarrel over?”
“Butch didn’t say.”
“And he swore he’d kill Glover, eh? Sa-a-a-ay! Lemme tell yuh
somethin’, cowboy; Glover ain’t scared of no man. I ain’t got no use
for him m’self; but I’m here to tell yuh, he’s no runner. If Butch ever
scared Kid Glover, he—a-a-aw, he never did!”
“All I know is what Butch told me.”
“Don’t believe him, Hartley; he was kiddin’ yuh.”
“Did Glover ever have any trouble with DuMond?”
“Na-a-a-aw! The only man DuMond ever had any trouble with was
Rance McCoy. Old Rance shore made Billy show yaller. Let’s have a
drink.”
“You know Glover used to be a railroad man, don’tcha?”
“Yeah; a brakeman. What’ll yuh have?”
Hashknife had a drink with them and left the place. He had
definitely established Glover as a former brakeman and Reimer as a
liar. Ordinarily Hashknife would have paid no attention to the fact that
Reimer had lied to him, but that he had lied about the reasons
Glover had for leaving the Half-Box R made a lot of difference.
As he went back to the sheriff’s office he saw Jim Langley and
Angel McCoy riding in from the south end of the town. Langley
waved at Hashknife, who returned the salute. They drew up at the
Red Arrow hitch-rack and went in to the saloon.
Hashknife grinned at the two horses, which were not the same
ones he had seen Langley and McCoy riding that morning, nor were
they the ones he saw in the corral at the JML.
Slim was lying on a cot in the back of the office when Hashknife
came in.
“Be all set to pull out as soon as it gets dark,” said Hashknife
softly. “We may find out somethin’ tonight. I hope that telegram
comes before we leave.”
“I’d like to find out somethin’,” agreed Slim wearily. “I had a visit
from the county commissioners and the prosecutin’ attorney today.
They tell me I’m layin’ down on the job. We shore said things to each
other.”
“That Wells Fargo man didn’t stay long,” observed Hashknife.
“Well, we had a prisoner. He said there wasn’t anythin’ for him to
do as long as we thought we had the guilty man. Hashknife, the
more I think about it, the more I’m of the opinion somebody
ransacked the Circle Spade tryin’ to find old Rance’s cache.
“I don’t blame ’em. My God, that’s a lot of money. Just think of a
hundred and thirty-two thousand in one grab! Who wouldn’t try to get
their hands on it? And that’s why Kid Glover came back. He wanted
to get a crack at it. But I’ll bet old Rance is hidin’ out, waitin’ for a
chance to grab the money and head out of the country.
“He’d know that a lot of folks would be lookin’ for him, so he
merely hides out until it kinda blows over. The Wells Fargo
detectives are watchin’ every exit to this Valley. He’s got to be here.
There ain’t a place he can get out unless he flies out.”
“What’s yore opinion on all this killin’, Slim?”
“Personal grudge. I think Rance McCoy killed DuMond. The more I
think of it, the more certain I am. As far as Kid Glover’s hat is
concerned, I don’t sabe it. I’m not even makin’ a guess who shot
Corby, except I think it was a mistake. They might have mistaken
him for Butch. Dell Blackwell is no saint. Neither is Weed. It might
have been either of them that Corby was mistaken for.”
“That’s all very fine,” agreed Hashknife. “You think Kid Glover
came back to try and find the money, eh? Then why is he hidin’ out
down there in the breaks?”
“He stole your horse, Hashknife.”
“All right. Remember he was headin’ away from this country so
fast that he couldn’t wait on a lame horse. Just at that time he
grabbed the first horse he got his hands on. Would he care whose
horse it was? He didn’t know which way we were going. I’ll bet he
don’t know yet whose horse he’s ridin’. And yuh must remember he
came back here, Slim. Kid Glover is down there in the breaks, hidin’
out. He ain’t hidin’ out because he stole my horse.”
“That’s the worst of talkin’ with you,” sighed Slim. “I get an idea
that I’m kinda proud about, and along you come and shoot it full of
holes. Why don’tcha tell me a few, so I can argue yuh out of ’em?”
“I never express mine,” grinned Hashknife. “At least, not until
they’re hole-proof. Suppose we go and eat? I’m shore hungry and
it’s almost dark.”
Chuck and Sleepy were in front of the Red Arrow when Hashknife
and Slim came out, and Chuck went over to take care of the office,
while Sleepy followed the other two men up to the restaurant.
Chuck was standing in the doorway of the office when Butch
Reimer and Sorensen rode in. Reimer reined his horse over to the
sheriff’s office, where he dismounted and came in where Chuck was
lighting the lamp.
“Thought I’d stay in town tonight,” said Butch. “Lost two of my
hired men today, and I’m kinda leary over what has already
happened.”
“I don’t blame yuh,” grinned Chuck. “Set down. Things like that
kinda make yuh jumpy. I know I’d be jumpy.”
While they were talking a man came in, carrying a telegram, which
he handed to Chuck.
“Thought yuh might want it,” he said, laughing. “See if there’s any
answer.”
Chuck opened the envelope and took out the telegram, which
read:
PAULSEN WITH US EIGHTEEN MONTHS WAS WITH N. P. SEVERAL
YEARS HAS GOOD RECORD WORKED OUT OF MISSOULA FOR YEAR.
WELLS FARGO EX. CO.

The telegram was addressed to the sheriff of Red Arrow. Chuck


frowned over it. He hadn’t the slightest idea what it was all about, so
he told the telegraph operator that Slim would have to answer it
himself.
When the operator left the office, Chuck showed the telegram to
Butch Reimer.
“Paulsen?” said Butch seriously. “Who’s he?”
“That was the name of the messenger who got held up in that train
robbery, Butch.”
“Oh, yeah; I remember now. Where’s Slim?”
“Eatin’ supper with Hartley and Stevens.”
“I reckon I’ll eat, too.”
Butch left the office, but he didn’t go to the restaurant. At least he
hadn’t been there when the three men left. As soon as they got back
to the office, Chuck gave Slim the telegram, who passed it on to
Hashknife.
“That must be the answer to the one you sent,” he said.
“That’s the one,” smiled Hashknife.
“Did Butch Reimer come over to the restaurant?” asked Chuck.
“Is he back in town?” queried Hashknife quickly.
“He is. Said he was too jumpy to stay on the ranch tonight. I
thought he went over to the restaurant.”
“Did he happen to be here when this telegram came?”
“Sure. The agent told me to read it and see if there would be an
answer; so I did. But I didn’t know what in hell it was all about.”
“Did Butch read it?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know it was anythin’——”
“It’s all right,” said Hashknife. “Just take a little run around, Chuck,
and see if Butch is still here.”
Chuck was back in ten minutes with the information that Butch
Reimer, if he was still in town, was not visible.
“His horse is gone. Sorensen, Blackwell, and Weed are all over at
the saloon, but there’s no sign of Butch. And he ain’t at the hotel.”
Some one was coming along the sidewalk, and a moment later
Jim Langley came in.
“What’s new, Slim?” he asked. “Any news of old Rance?”
“Not a thing, Jim,” replied Slim. “We’re stuck.”
“Pshaw. Me and Angel have been down in the country below the
Half-Box R all day, so I thought I’d stop and see what was new.”
He looked directly at Hashknife as he spoke to Slim, but Hashknife
said nothing about being out at the JML that day.
“Somebody ransacked the Circle Spade ranch-house while the
folks was all in town this mornin’,” offered Chuck.
“The hell they did! What for, do yuh suppose?”
“Some enterprisin’ person tryin’ to find where Rance cached the
loot,” grinned Slim.
“Prob’ly. But do yuh still think Rance pulled that job?”
“Who else?”
“Well, that’s the way I look at it.”
“What does Angel think about it, Jim?”
“He don’t say much. Well, we’ve got to be driftin’, and it’s a long
ways home when you’re tired. So-long, gents.”
After Langley left the office, Hashknife wrote out a telegram, which
he folded up and handed to Chuck Ring.
“Take that to the depot before yuh eat, Chuck. It’s dark enough
now, Slim. Saddle yore horse and meet us at the livery stable.”
Slim hadn’t the slightest idea where they were going, but he was
willing to follow anybody who might help him make good on the job.
Ten minutes later they met on the side street, and Hashknife led the
way toward the Half-Box R. It was very dark, with no hint of a moon.
“That’s our salvation,” said Hashknife. “If it was moonlight, I’d
never ride this road tonight. Travel fast and keep still. There’ll be
plenty of time to talk later on—if we’re able.”
It seemed a long way to the Half-Box R, riding blindly along the old
dirt road, trusting to their mounts to keep the road. In single file they
thundered across the bridge where Billy DuMond had lost his life,
and the rather frail structure trembled under the thudding hoofs.
About a quarter of a mile from the ranch, as near as Hashknife
could judge, they slowed to a walk.
“Got to be careful now,” warned Hashknife. “Don’t talk.”
“I wish I knowed what it’s all about,” whispered Slim.
“Yuh won’t know,” replied Sleepy. “After it’s all over, he’ll tell yuh—
and you’ll wonder why yuh didn’t think of it before.”
“Don’t talk,” warned Hashknife.
Hashknife remembered that just before reaching the ranch-gate
there was a culvert about four feet wide. As soon as they crossed it,
he drew up his horse.
“You stay here, Sleepy,” he said. “Block the road with yore horse,
and don’t let anybody get past yuh.”
“Not anybody?” asked Sleepy.
“Not a dam’ body!”
“Suits me fine. And you better talk nice when yuh come back,
long-fellow. Good luck.”
Hashknife and Slim disappeared in the darkness, leading their
horses. Hashknife led the way around the fence and came in beside
the corrals, where they tied their horses.
“Can yuh find the stable?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” softly.
“Get down there, Slim. Mebby you’ll find somebody’s horse
planted down there. Stop anybody that comes, even if yuh have to
bend a gun over his head.”
“Who will it be, Hashknife?”
“You take a chance on that. If yuh hear a shot at the house, you
come runnin’.”
Slim crawled through the corral fence and faded out in the night.
From where Hashknife stood he could see the dark bulk of the
ranch-house, with no lights showing. Slipping through the fence he
cautiously made his way to the rear of the house, traveling almost as
silently as a shadow in spite of his high-heeled boots. There was not
a sound to be heard except the sleepy calling of a night-bird and the
incessant chirp of a cricket.
Hashknife was not familiar with the interior of the ranch-house, but
he remembered that there was a back porch, which was unusual in
ranch-houses. He made his way silently around to the porch, slid in
under the railing, and stood up against the back door, which was
closed.
Hashknife felt sure that Butch Reimer had come back to the ranch,
although there was no sign of him. It was so dark that objects were
practically invisible at a few feet distance. The house was as still as
a tomb. Cautiously he tested the door and found it unlocked. This
was not at all unusual, as few doors in the cattle country were ever
locked. Sneak thieves were unknown.
Hashknife’s next move was a foolish one. He slowly opened the
door, thrust his head and shoulders just inside the house and
listened intently.
And it was then that his brain registered a soundless explosion; a
burst of flame which gave off no sound—and for a time, at least, he
lost all interest in anything that might happen at the Half-Box R.
Then he felt himself jerked back to consciousness, in which he
was conscious of a heavy nausea and a throbbing pain in his head.
He opened his eyes wearily and looked around. He was lying on the
floor of a room, his head and shoulders propped against the wall,
and on a box near him was an oil lamp, turned low enough to make
the other objects in the room indistinct.
His eyesight gradually cleared, and he saw a man, squatting on
his heels a few feet away, looking at him intently. It was Kid Glover.
His thin, dark features were sharply etched in the yellow lamplight,
and his mop of black hair hung low over his forehead. In his right
hand dangled a six-shooter, which Hashknife immediately
recognized as his gun.
Hashknife sighed and closed his eyes.
“Don’t play ’possum with me,” growled Glover. “What in hell do you
want here, feller?”
It was evident to Hashknife that Glover did not know him; which
was fortunate for Hashknife. He opened his eyes and looked at
Glover wearily.
“What do I want?” he said slowly. “I just stopped here, thinkin’ I’d
get a meal.”
“Yeah?” Glover was not convinced. “Where you from?”
“Milk River, Montana.”
“Yeah. Stranger, eh?”
“What happened to me?” queried Hashknife, feeling of his head
and finding a swelling which compared favorably in size with a
doorknob.
“You horned in where yuh wasn’t wanted, feller.”
“Evidently. Sorry to cause yuh all this trouble.”
“No trouble.” Glover grinned widely, and evidently with great
satisfaction. “I jist popped yuh over the head and packed yuh up
here.”
He lifted a lariat rope off the floor and got to his feet.
“I’m goin’ to tie yuh up for a while,” he said. “You horned in on
somethin’ that don’t concern yuh at all, so I’ll jist fix yuh up with this
string. Kinda want yuh to stay put for a while.”
“Well, I’d rather be gettin’ along,” said Hashknife. “If you’d tell me
where the nearest town is, I’d——”
“You ain’t goin’ to no town. And if you make any crooked move, I’ll
even up the two sides of yore head.”
“Oh, I ain’t goin’ to do nothin’,” assured Hashknife meekly. “I’m
neutral.”
“You better be.”
Swiftly he roped Hashknife, who barely repressed a chuckle.
There were many things that Kid Glover did not know about hog-
tying a man. The slight bracing of a leg, an arm, an elbow, meant
nothing to the Kid; but it meant that Hashknife could relax and almost
slide out of the ropes.
Then he whipped out a dirty handkerchief, forced Hashknife’s jaws
open, and gagged him.
“I reckon you’ll stay put,” he said grimly. Then he blew out the light,
crossed the floor, and Hashknife heard him going softly down the
stair.
Relaxing his muscles Hashknife began releasing the ropes. It was
ridiculously easy. He untied the gag, and stretched out on the floor.
The exertion had caused his head to throb sickeningly. After a few
minutes he began crawling to the head of the stairs. Just before he
reached the stairs his hands came in contact with an old kitchen
chair of considerable weight.
Downstairs a door closed softly, and in a few moments Hashknife
saw the glow from a lamp. Came a sharp exclamation, silence; and
then a harsh laugh.
“I thought you’d come back, you dirty sneak.” It was the voice of
Kid Glover.
“Keep yore hands still, you dam’ fool! That’s the idea. Mebby yuh
better unbuckle that belt. Just let it fall.”
Came the thud of a belt and gun striking the floor.
“What do you want?” Butch Reimer’s voice was not very steady.
“That’s a hell of a question, you crooked pup.”
“I never played crooked with you,” denied Butch, hotly, it seemed.
“By God, you tried to play crooked with me.”
Kid Glover laughed mockingly.
“Yeah, and you knew I would, Butch. But I’m back now, and I’ll
take it all.”
“The hell yuh will!”
“Yeah—the hell I will. You see if I don’t. I told yuh I’d kill yuh if yuh
ever played crooked with me, and I’m goin’ to keep my word.”
“You killed Billy DuMond.”
“Did I? Try to prove it.”
“And you killed Ed Corby.”
“Thasso? I never had any trouble with that fool.”
“You thought he was me.”
Glover laughed sneeringly.
“Well,” he said, “yuh know I’ll keep my word. Now, where is the
stuff?”
“You’ll never know,” defiantly.
“Won’t I? Butch, you better tell me. I came to get it. You know me.
I’ll cut yore ears off if yuh don’t talk.”
“No, yuh won’t, Kid. The only way you’ll ever get anythin’ out of it
will be to throw in with me again. Laugh, if yuh want to. Why, you
fool, everybody knows yuh came back. You traded horses with a
man in Welcome, and you’re still ridin’ that horse. Know who owns
that animal?”
“Aw, I don’t give a damn who owns it.”
“Don’tcha? Well, he’s the slickest range detective in the West.
He’s been watchin’ yuh, Kid. I seen a telegram to the sheriff today.
By God, they’ve spotted Paulsen! Don’t ask me how they got wise.
They’ll get you, too. Me and you can pack up enough grub to carry
us through, and we can cut out through the lava country. I’ve got the
stuff, but you’ll never know where it is. Go ahead and kill me if yuh
think it’ll save yore neck.”
“How could they spot Paulsen? You’re lyin’, damn yuh! There ain’t
no way they can spot him. You’re tryin’ to get off cheap, Butch. I
don’t trust yuh, I tell yuh. What about this detective? How do yuh
know he’s been watchin’ me?”
“Told me he was. Oh, he knows yuh. Why, he saw yuh with his
horse, you ignorant fool. He’s got you on the run right now.”
“I’m not on any run. Who is he? What does he look like?”
Hashknife listened to Butch’s description of him, and it was fairly
accurate. When Butch finished, Kid Glover laughed chokingly.
“Butch, yuh may be right, at that. I’ve got to trust yuh a little, I
suppose; but the first crooked move yuh make will be the last one
yuh ever make. Lem me tell yuh somethin’, Butch: yore wonderful
detective is upstairs, roped tight and gagged tighter. He tried to
sneak in on me a while ago, and I thought he was you; so I slammed
him over the head with my gun and packed him upstairs. By God, he
made me think he was a stranger. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”
“You mean to tell me you’ve got——”
“I’ve got a man of that description, Butch.”
“My God, that’s luck! He was after me and you, Kid. What’s our
next move? If he’s upstairs he can hear every word we say.”
“What do we care,” laughed Glover callously. “He ain’t goin’
nowhere. We’ll shut his mouth pretty quick, and then we’ll head for
the lava beds.”
“You mean—we’ll bump him off, Kid?”
“Why not? You fool, it’s him or us.”
“Mebby he didn’t come alone, Kid. He’s workin’ with Slim Caldwell,
and Hartley’s got a pardner. Better let me have my gun again. Two
guns are better than one.”
“I’ll never be anythin’ but a fool, I suppose,” growled the Kid, and
Hashknife guessed that Glover gave Butch his gun and belt.
“Better douse that light,” said Butch. “We can light the lamp
upstairs. Better wait until I fasten the doors. We don’t want anybody
sneakin’ in on us right now.”
Hashknife heard Butch working with the doors, and finally he came
back to Glover. Hashknife picked up the old chair, grasping it by the
back, as he knelt close to the stairs. There was no railing around the
stairway, and he saw the black bulk of the two men, as their head
and shoulders came above the floor level.
The next instant the heavy chair crashed down upon them, swung
with every ounce of strength in Hashknife’s arms and shoulders.
Rungs splintered out of it, and Hashknife swayed sharply sideways
to keep from falling down on them, when his hands held nothing but
the back of the chair.
He heard a sharp grunt, the bumping crash of a falling body, a
wondering curse, and then he flung himself over the edge of the
stairway, landing on a yielding bulk, which he knew was the body of
one of the men.
As he reached frantically down, searching for the man’s holster,
his hand came in contact with a revolver, lying on a step. Swiftly he
sprang down the remaining steps and into the front room of the
ranch-house just as the front door was jerked open.
Hashknife fired one shot, but he was sure it missed. The man had
darted to the right, and Hashknife ran through the doorway after him,
vaulting the railing, running halfway to the rear of the house, where
he paused to listen.
“Hashknife!” called Slim’s voice softly from toward the stable.
“Up here,” replied Hashknife, and in a moment Slim had joined
him. Hashknife was thankful that Slim did not ask questions.
“I got yore gray horse and another one,” he whispered. “The gray
was behind the stable, so I moved it away. Then a man rode in and
tied to the corral. I kept down, and as soon as he left the horse, I
swiped it.”
“Good boy! Where did that feller go, Slim?”
“I heard him runnin’, and I think he went around the house.”
“Around the house, eh? By golly, I bet he went back in. Look out
for him, Slim.”
They sneaked back to the front porch and found the door closed.
Hashknife knew it was wide open when he came out and there had
been no breeze to close it.
Suddenly came the sound of a muffled shot inside the house.
“Get to the back door!” said Hashknife.
Slim raced around the house, while Hashknife sprang to the porch
and flattened himself against the wall beside the door. He heard
somebody in the house. It sounded as though somebody had struck
a piece of furniture. Then he heard heavy footsteps near the door.
Hashknife gripped his gun tightly and swung up his hand as the
door opened and a man surged out. But Hashknife did not strike him.
Instead, he dived forward, wrapping his long, muscular arms around
the man, and together they plunged off the few steps to the ground.
The man did not offer any resistance. In fact, it was as though
Hashknife had tackled a dummy. Quickly he twisted the man’s right
arm behind his back, holding him down with his knees, and called to
Slim, who came on the run.
“Hold this whipperwill,” said Hashknife. “I think he’s all raveled out,
but yuh never can tell.”
They exchanged places and Hashknife went into the house.
Moving slowly back to the stairway, he halted at the sound of a groan
and scratched a match.
Lying near the foot of the stairs was Butch Reimer, flat on his face,
arms outspread. As quickly as possible Hashknife lighted the lamp
and called to Slim, who came in, carrying the limp form of Kid Glover.
Hashknife turned Butch over. The bullet had struck him over the
right eye, knocking away a generous chunk of his head, and from
there it cut a nasty-looking furrow along the side of the head to a
point just above his ear. He was bleeding freely, and while the shock
had knocked him out, there was nothing serious about it.
Kid Glover was a sight. As far as Hashknife could determine, the
Kid had borne the brunt of the heavy chair. But he had evidently
recovered sufficiently to shoot Butch and to stagger outside, trying to
get away.
CHAPTER XIX—PART OF THE TRUTH
Hashknife stood up from his examination and grinned at Slim, who
didn’t know yet what it was all about.
“Where does Butch figure in this?” he asked. “Was he tryin’ to
protect Glover?”
They turned at a sound and saw Sleepy at the doorway, gun in
hand.
“I heard some shootin’,” he said simply, and came in to look at
Butch and the Kid.
“I crowned the Kid with a chair,” said Hashknife. “He got me first.
Knocked me down and tied me up, but he don’t know much about
ropes. Then him and Butch decided to throw in together, put me out
of my misery and clear out; but I got loose and smashed a chair on
the Kid’s head. I think Butch decided to get back in the house and
recover his gun, and the Kid shot him in the dark, not knowin’ who he
was.”
The Kid blinked his eyes and sat up, rubbing his head. He
squinted painfully at Hashknife, shifted his eyes to Slim and Sleepy,
and then looked at Butch. The Kid was not shamming—he was very
sick.
“You shot Butch,” said Hashknife.
The Kid grimaced painfully at Hashknife.
“I guess I didn’t tie yuh very tight,” he said.
“Not tight enough, Glover. Butch ain’t hurt much, and as soon as
he recovers I think he’ll tell where the plunder is cached.”
“What plunder?”
“The stuff you came back to get. You tried to play crooked with
Reimer and DuMond, didn’t yuh? But they shifted the cache and left
a dummy package for you to skip away with. Oh, I’ve got you
cinched, Glover. By this time the Wells Fargo have arrested Paulsen.
You was a brakeman on the same train that Paulsen worked on in
Montana.
“You framed it with Paulsen, you and Butch and DuMond. It was a
cinch. Paulsen opened the door and let Reimer in. You broke the
train in two at Curlew Spur, Reimer pulled the job lone-handed, while
DuMond handled the horses. Oh, we’ve got yuh where the hair is
short.”
“Prove it,” snarled the Kid. “You can’t, damn yuh!”
Butch was beginning to make funny noises and trying to sit up.
Hashknife nudged Sleepy and whispered:
“Take Glover into the kitchen, Sleepy. Watch the little snake. Slim
will light a lamp for yuh.”
They went away with Glover, while Hashknife squatted on his
heels, watching Butch fight his way back to consciousness. Butch
had lost considerable blood, and the shock of the heavy bullet had
dazed him badly. But he finally opened his eyes, and gradually a
look of understanding overspread his face. His right hand, hanging
limp at his side, twisted over against his empty holster.
Slim came back to the front room and Butch scowled at him.
“The Kid shot yuh, Butch,” said Hashknife.
Butch started to speak, but changed his mind.
“Oh, we’ve got him,” assured Hashknife. “He hasn’t done anything
but talk since we tied him up. He seemed to think we’d turn him
loose if he spilled the whole plot, but he’s such a liar that we don’t
believe him.”
“What’s he say?” groaned Butch.
“He said it was you and DuMond that framed the scheme with
Paulsen. I think he lied, myself, because him and this crooked
messenger used to work together. He said he merely introduced
Paulsen to you, and that——”
“He’s a dirty liar!” snarled Butch.
“We thought so,” said Hashknife seriously.
“And then he told us that you killed DuMond, in order to increase
yore size of the pot.”
Butch raised himself up on one elbow.
“Where is that dirty liar?” he demanded hoarsely. “By God, he
killed Billy himself. He came back here to kill me, too. He’s a
sneakin’ little crook. He raided the cache and tried to get away with it
all, I tell yuh. We knowed he’d do it; so we made up a dummy
bundle. That’s how he happened to cripple his horse, gettin’ away
fast—and that’s why he traded horses with yuh.”
“I felt that for a long time, Butch. And he killed Corby, didn’t he?”
“Sure as hell, he did! He thought he could kill me and find the
cache. None of the rest of my boys know anythin’ about it. Bring in
that dirty little sidewinder and I’ll make him eat every word he said
about me.”
“That was his hat we found on the bridge, Butch.”
“I knew it. I was scared you’d work somethin’ out of it.”
“It sure helped,” grinned Hashknife. “And another thing, Reimer.
The night of that holdup, which one of yuh knocked old Rance
McCoy down and robbed him?”
“DuMond,” said Butch readily. “He hated the old man. Billy saw a
chance to get him right. He wanted to kill McCoy, and thought he did,
but I reckon it was a glancin’ blow.”
“And was it DuMond’s idea to take McCoy’s horse down there
where yuh held up the train and shoot it?”
“Yeah—his and Glover’s. Glover mentioned it, and the Kid carried
it out. He shot the horse before we went to Curlew Springs.”
“Whose idea was it to skin out the brand?” asked Slim.
“I dunno. The Kid and Billy saw you and yore two men ride out
there that mornin’, and then they trailed yuh over to the Circle
Spade, to see if yuh arrested Rance. After yuh left there and headed
back for town, Billy said they got the idea of skinnin’ out the brand
and stealin’ the saddle—tryin’ to make it look worse for Rance.”
“I thought that was the way of it.”
“But how did you know it wasn’t a bullet from the car that killed the
horse?”
“That was a cinch. The cut is pretty deep there, Reimer, and any
bullet fired from the car door at a horse outside the right-of-way
fence would naturally range upward. The bullet that killed the horse
was fired from slightly above the animal, ranging downward. And
what holdup man would ever leave his horse in full view of the train?”
Butch rubbed his sore head and groaned a few times.
“That’s the hell of makin’ it too strong,” he said.
Hashknife walked to the kitchen door, opened it, and said to
Sleepy:
“Bring in yore company.”
The Kid and Butch glared at each other.
“Butch says you’re a liar,” grinned Hashknife.
“The hell I am! What about?”
“He says it was you that framed the deal with Paulsen.”
The Kid started toward Butch, but Sleepy yanked him back.
“And you know damn well it’s the truth!” rasped Butch.
“You fool!” screamed the Kid, trying to tear loose from Sleepy.
“What have you told?”
“Told?” queried Butch blankly. “Why, you told ’em——”
“Oh, you poor fool! I never told anythin’!”
Butch slumped back on the floor, glaring his hate at Hashknife,
who grinned over his cigarette.
“Try and find the money!” snarled Butch.
“By God, you’ll never find it.”
“No?” Hashknife looked pityingly at Butch. “Listen to me, pardner.
You’re close to fifty, ain’t yuh? They’ll give yuh close to twenty-five
years for this job. Twenty-five years in the penitentiary is a long time.
You’ll be an awful old man when yuh come out. The money won’t
help yuh none. Mebby we can find it ourselves. But if yuh give it all
up and tell the prosecutor the truth about the whole deal, yuh might
cut that sentence down to where you’ll still be worth killin’ when yuh
get out.”
Butch laughed harshly, shaking his head.
“What would I get off?” asked Glover.
“They’d only hang you once.”
“That’s a hell of a lot.”
“You ought to be hung once a week,” growled Butch. Then he
sobered suddenly and looked at Slim.
“I’ve got to have more than the word of that Hashknife
bloodhound, Slim.”
“I can’t promise anythin’,” said Slim. “You’ll have to make yore deal
with Merkle.”
Slim went after the horses, and came back leading three. The tall
gray horse nuzzled Hashknife violently, and acted as if he’d found a
long-lost friend.
“Damn that horse!” snorted Kid Glover. “If I’d left it alone,
everythin’ would have been all right.”
“If you hadn’t been born a horse-thief, we’d have been all right,
yuh mean,” retorted Butch.
They roped the two prisoners to their horses and started back to
Red Arrow. There were three aching heads, a jubilant sheriff, and
one sour cowboy—the latter being Sleepy, who had shared in none
of the action.
“You’ll get into it,” assured Hashknife.
“Yea-a-ah—next time! Next time, you watch yore own back trail. I
spend a week or so watchin’ you build up to a big climax, and then
don’t even shoot off a roamin’—candle.”
“I swear, I can’t hardly realize it yet,” declared Slim. “I heard yuh
tell it all, Hashknife. Oh, I don’t get any of the credit. I didn’t know
what was goin’ on half the time.”
“Yuh never will—around him,” complained Sleepy.
“Well, he’ll get that five thousand,” said Slim.
“And give it to some orphin’ asylum, prob’ly.”
“Five thousand!” snorted Glover. “Why didn’t yuh throw in with us,
Hartley?”
“You made me mad when yuh stole my horse.”

You might also like