The Man on the Ground

Introduction

“The Man on the Ground” is a short story by Robert Ervin Howard where two men are fighting a final duel. First published in Weird Tales 1933 July. Howard earned $20 for the story. The story was probably written many months before its appearance. An untitled early draft also exists. In this draft, “Esau Brill” is “Saul Brill” and some phrasing is different; otherwise, the two are the same.

It is a brief short story (under 2200 words) set in Texas about two men (Cal Reynolds & Esau Brill) who have been feuding for so long that no one really knows how their feud began. 

The story begins like this:

Cal Reynolds shifted his tobacco quid to the other side of his mouth as he squinted down the dull blue barrel of his Winchester. His jaws worked methodically, their movement ceasing as he found his bead. He froze into rigid immobility; then his finger hooked on the trigger. The crack of the shot sent the echoes rattling among the hills, and like a louder echo came an answering shot. Reynolds flinched down, flattening his rangy body against the earth, swearing softly. A gray flake jumped from one of the rocks near his head, the ricocheting bullet whining off into space. Reynolds involuntarily shivered. The sound was as deadly as the singing of an unseen rattler.

From the letters

In a letter (#253) to August Derleth, ca. after July 9, 1933, he mentions the story:

Thanks for your comments concerning “The Man on the Ground”; I rather like the yarn, myself, because of its efforts at realism.

To Carl Jacobi (letter #297), ca. Summer 1934, we learn:

You ask me why I do not use Texas settings more in my stories. I really should, since Texas is the only region I know by first hand experience. Three of my yarns in Weird Tales have been laid in Texas: “The Horror From the Mound”, “The Man on the Ground” and “Old Garfield’s Heart”. Sometimes too thorough a knowledge of a subject is a handicap (not that I claim to be an authority on the Southwest, or anything like that; but I was born here and have lived here all my life.) for fiction writing.

The story - spoiler alert

The story centers on a feud between two cowboys, Cal Reynolds and Esau Brill, who have hated each other most of their lives. They encounter one another while out riding and a gunfight ensues. They stalk one another from hiding places among the boulders, firing occasional shots over a long period.

Finally, Brill breaks cover and Reynolds manages to shoot him. As Brill staggers back, Reynolds is unnerved by the strange, stunned expression on his face. Brill collapses, apparently dead. Reynolds gets up to approach his fallen enemy, but then sees his own body lying lifeless nearby.

Reynolds realizes he has been killed at some point in the fight and that Brill was reacting with shock to seeing his enemy’s dead body rise up to shoot him. Reynolds has been imagining himself still alive, not realizing he is now just a spirit. Upon this revelation, Reynolds feels a sense of oblivion consume him.

In concise language, Howard builds tension between the bitter rivals as they try to outwit one another. The supernatural twist at the end plunges the reader into the nightmarish position of Reynolds, whose spirt persists past death but who is unaware of his own demise. This moment crystallizes the depth of his hatred, which transcends mortal bounds.

Characters

  • Cal Reynolds – One of the main characters, a cowboy engaged in a long-standing feud with Esau Brill. He stalks and ultimately kills Brill.
  • Esau Brill – Reynolds’ foe in the feud, another cowboy. He seems triumphant when he thinks he has shot Reynolds, but is shocked when a presumed-dead Reynolds shoots him.

These are the only characters who appear directly. There is a brief mention of each man’s boss and fellow ranch hands representing the opposing ranches, who are caught up in their personal dispute.

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