Book excerpt: Ernest Haycox’s 1937 short story, Stage to Lordsburg, was a bestseller and a classic of the Western genre. Popularised by the 1939 film adaptation Stagecoach, this Wild West tale vividly portrays Haycox’s setting and characters. Stage to Lordsburg follows a collection of characters as they journey from Tonto, Arizona Territory, to Lordsburg, New Mexico. A series of dangers and perils face the colourful group as they embark on the uncomfortable trip. Ernest Haycox presents a number of cliché Western characters and the point of view shifts between them as the short story progresses. This masterful tale by Ernest Haycox, a prolific writer of Western fiction, is not to be missed by fans of old cowboy narratives.