"You're a damn snooping busybody and nothing more!"
"I got a right to investigate and find out if the law's been violated.
You know there's laws against abusing a child--"
Dan Parker's fist cracked against Bates' half-open mouth. A tooth
snapped and Bates kited backward. But he did not go down because there
were three men behind him who had come for the excitement. They threw
him back into the fray, one of them yelling delightedly, "You going to
let him do that, to you Ceec? You're the sheriff. Nobody ought to poke
the sheriff around."
Dan swung again, but Cecil Bates dodged and scurried to the side,
opening up a space that gave him time to draw his gun. His eyes were
cleared of fear now and there was a little sneer on his battered mouth.
"All right, Dan! You want to get gunned down? I can do it. Assaulting
an officer. And I got witnesses!"
Bates' trigger finger tightened. There would be joy for him in the
bullet he aimed. But at that moment someone in the crowd yelled,
"You're on his property, Ceec. You got a warrant?"
The statement was thoughtless and by sheer chance but it probably
saved Dan Parker's life. It made Bates realize his case might not be
considered legally clear in a courtroom.
But he could not bring himself to a complete loss of face. He said,
"You're going to jail, Dan. I mean it. One more move and I'll kill you."
This satisfied the volatile elements of the crowd. "Sure! Throw 'im in
the can, Ceec! Show 'im who's boss!" By golly! Sage Bend hadn't seen
such excitement in twenty years and maybe there'd be more! The two cow
pokes who had met Bates in the lunchroom congratulated each other with
happy grins. What if they had gone out early and missed all this?
Jane was clinging to Dan's tense arm. "Darling, go with him. Do as he
says. It's better than being killed." But his fist remained closed. He
was on the verge of pulling away from her when she whispered, "We've
got Biddy to think of!"
The fist relaxed and the arm dropped. Dan said, "Okay, _Sheriff_. Let's
go."
As Bates followed Dan down the street toward the jail, his gun held
importantly level, there were comments from the crowd. "Pretty cocky
for a guy with his neck out.... Acts as innocent as all get-out, don't
he?"
The remarks stiffened Cecil's courage. He'd done the right thing all
right. The crowd was behind him. They respected him. It wasn't bad
being sheriff after all.
His ego rose pleasantly, but only to be knocked flat three minutes
later in front of the jail. As the disordered crowd moved up the
street, a group of riders--perhaps half a dozen--rounded a building
and came into the street at the far end. They moved forward and
were waiting in front of the jail when Cecil Bates arrived with his
prisoner. Bates lowered his gun and the crowd fell into silence as old
Sam Taber sat on a big black in front of his riders and surveyed the
scene.
* * * * *
Sam Taber had that about him which signified authority even where no
authority was vested. He was the kind of man people stopped and looked
at. Slim, cold-faced, and gray-eyed, he had at once the manner of an
aristocrat and the wary attitude of one who had met suffering and
danger along the way and was on the alert for more.