d
have run Rivers out of the old-arms business."

"I notice that Rivers isn't advertising in the _American Rifleman_ any
more," Rand observed.

"No; the National Rifle Association stopped his ad, and lifted his
membership card for good measure," Gresham said. "Rivers sold a rifle to
a collector down in Virginia, about three years ago, while you were still
occupying Germany. A fine, early flintlock Kentuck, that had been made
out of a fine, late percussion Kentuck by sawing off the breech-end of
the barrel, rethreading it for the breech-plug, drilling a new vent, and
fitting the lock with a flint hammer and a pan-and-frizzen assembly, and
shortening the fore-end to fit. Rivers has a gunsmith over at Kingsville,
one Elmer Umholtz, who does all his fraudulent conversions for him. I
have an example of Umholtz's craftsmanship, myself. The collector who
bought this spurious flintlock spotted what had been done, and squawked
to the Rifle Association, and to the postal authorities."

"Rivers claimed, I suppose, that he had gotten it from a family that had
owned it ever since it was made, and showed letters signed 'D. Boone' and
'Davy Crockett' to prove it?"

"No, he claimed to have gotten it in trade from some wayfaring
collector," Gresham replied. "He convinced Uncle Whiskers, but the
N.R.A. took a slightly dimmer view of the transaction, so Rivers doesn't
advertise in the _Rifleman_ any more."

"Wasn't there some talk about Whitneyville Walker Colts that had been
made out of 1848 Model Colt Dragoons?" Rand asked.

"Oh Lord, yes! This fellow Umholtz was practically turning them out on
an assembly-line, for a while. Rivers must have sold about ten of them.
You know, Umholtz is a really fine gunsmith; I had him build a deer-rifle
for Dot, a couple of years ago--Mexican-Mauser action, Johnson
barrel, chambered for .300 Savage; Umholtz made the stock and fitted a
scope-sight--it's a beautiful little rifle. I hate to see him prostitute
his talents the way he does by making these fake antiques for Rivers. You
know, he made one of these mythical heavy .44 six-shooters of the sort
Colt was supposed to have turned out at Paterson in 1839 for Colonel
Walker's Texas Rangers--you know, the model he couldn't find any of in
1847, when he made the real Walker Colt. That story you find in Sawyer's
book."

"Why, that story's been absolutely disproved," Rand said. "There never
was any such revolver."

"Not till Umholtz made one," Gres