HANDLING THE LAW
Norton opened the door a trifle and called "One man at a time!" There
were some hoarse shouts from without--presumably from Dunlavey's
friends; a chorus of derisive laughter from Allen's. Then the first man
entered.
It was Ace. The poet stood for an instant, blinking at the light, then
he grinned as his gaze rested on the occupants of the room. He was
directed how to cast his ballot. He took the piece of paper that was
given him by Norton, scrawled "Allen" across it with a pencil that
Norton had previously placed on the table, and dropped the paper into
Dunlavey's hat. Hollis opened the rear door for him, but he halted on
the threshold, looking back into the room with a broad grin.
"Gawd A'mighty!" he said in an awed tone; "there must have been a wad of
money blowed in in this here town to-day! Drunks! Man alive there ain't
nothin' but drunks; the town's reelin' with 'em! They're layin' in the
street; there's a dozen in the Silver Dollar an' that many more in the
Fashion--an' Gawd knows how many more in the other saloons. Their heads
is under the tables; they're hangin' on the walls an' clawin' around in
spittoons--gle-or-i-ously, be-ut-i-fully paralyzed!"
He was suddenly outside, pushed through the door by Hollis, and the door
closed after him. Hollis glanced furtively at Dunlavey to see that
gentleman scowl. He thought he saw a questioning glint in Allen's eyes
as the latter looked suddenly at him, but he merely smiled and gave his
attention to the next man, who was now entering.
The latter proved to be Lemuel Train. He did his voting quietly and
grimly. But as he went out through the door that Hollis opened for him
he growled: "Lordy, what a drunken bunch!" He looked at Hollis. "One of
your men, too," he said, grinning slightly. "I thought you taught them
better!"
Hollis frowned. He knew that Allen would need all his friends; none of
them could be spared in this crisis. He smiled incredulously. It had
been only a short time before that his men had accompanied him to the
door of the sheriff's office. At that time they were perfectly sober. It
would have been impossible for any of them--
"An' Ten Spot's a hummer when he gits started," Train was saying. "I've
seen him before when he cut loose an' he sure is a holy terror!"
Then with a word of parting Train was gone, saying that he had done all
the "damage" he could and that he purposed "hitting" the trail back to
his ranch.
He had certainly done some damage to Hollis. The latter's mind now
rioted with all sorts of conjecture and he mechanically did his work of
letting man after man out through the rear door, scarcely seeing them.
He was aware of an odd expression that had come into Dunlavey's eyes at
the mention of Ten Spot. Had Dunlavey succeeded in bribing Ten Spot to
desert him? He had left Ten Spot at the Circle Bar, not inviting him to
Dry Bottom because he felt that the latter would rather not come since
he had deserted Dunlavey. And Ten Spot had come to town anyway. What did
it mean? Did it mean that Ten Spot had come to assist Dunlavey in
nominating Watkins and defeating his new employer?
He frowned again, and for the next few minutes gravely studied
Dunlavey's face. He was sure that the latter's manner had changed. The
mocking smile which had been on his face since his arrival at the
sheriff's office had been superseded by a huge grin--plainly of
anticipation. Ten Spot--dangerous, reckless, drunk, at the head of a
number of dissolute men, had it in his power to make things decidedly
interesting should he advance on the sheriff's office with the intention
of assisting Dunlavey.
Several times since hiring Ten Spot Hollis had doubted him. The
suspicion had assailed him that perhaps the appearance of Ten Spot at
the Hazelton cabin so opportunely had been a part of a plot by Dunlavey
to place a spy in his employ. They might have purposely sacrificed Yuma.
During the next quarter of an hour he gave more attention to Dunlavey
than to the steady stream of men that passed through the room, though he
recognized a goodly number as friends he had made during the latter days
of the drought.
Allen's spirits had risen during the last quarter of an hour. His
maneuver had dissipated Dunlavey's strength and it was plain to be seen
that a majority of the votes cast were for him. If nothing unusual or
unexpected happened within the next hour, or until nine o'clock, the
hour named in Watkins's proclamation for the closing of the polls, he
was assured of victory.
Thoughts of the same character were passing through Hollis's mind. There
was silence in the office. A man was voting at the table--writing his
favorite's name on a piece of paper. Hollis consulted his watch. It
lacked over an hour of the time for closing. The man at the table
finished writing and tossed the paper into the hat. Hollis opened the
rear door to allow him to go out. While the door remained open a sound
floated in, which they all heard--an ear-splitting screech, followed
instantly by a chorus of yells, a pistol report, more yells, and then a
number of reports.
Norton did not open the door. He exchanged glances with Hollis and
Allen. Dunlavey grinned widely.
"Something's coming," remarked Allen grimly.
Dunlavey's grin grew derisive. "It would sure be too bad if my friends
should bust up this peace meeting," he sneered.
"There won't be nothin' spoiled," grimly assured Allen. But he drew his
other six-shooter.
The sounds outside grew in volume as they swept toward the sheriff's
office. They broke presently at the door and an ominous silence
succeeded. Then a voice reached the interior--harsh authoritative--Ten
Spot's voice.
"Open up, you damned shorthorns!" it said.
Norton looked at Allen. The latter's face was pale. "They come in," he
directed, "like the others--one at a time."
Norton carefully withdrew the bar with which the door was fastened,
swinging it open slightly. As he did so there was a sudden rush of
bodies; Norton tried to jam the door shut, failed, and was flung back
several steps by the surging, yelling crowd that piled tumultuously into
the room.
There were perhaps twenty of them and as they surged into the room,
shouting and cursing and laughing Hollis recognized among them many men
that he had come to know by sight. They were of the reckless, lawless
element upon which Dunlavey had relied for his support--men of Ten
Spot's character. They had been drinking, but in spite of their laughter
and loud talking it was plain to be seen that they had determined not to
be balked in the purpose which had brought them into the office.
There was now no need to guard the door; the damage had been wrought,
and Norton backed away, leaving the door ajar, pale, grim eyed, alert,
ready to take an active part in the trouble which he felt certain was
sure to develop. Something in the faces of the men who had come in with
Ten Spot proclaimed trouble.
Allen had not moved. He still stood behind Dunlavey, but his weapons no
longer menaced the Circle Cross manager; their muzzles, level and
forbidding, were covering the other men.
Standing quietly beside the rear door, his face pale, his eyes bright,
his lips in straight lines, Hollis watched closely as the visitors,
having gained entrance, gathered together in the center of the room.
They were not awed by Allen's weapons; they grinned hugely at him. One
man, a young man of about Hollis's age, bronzed, lean, reckless of eye,
and unmistakably under the influence of liquor, lunged forward to Allen
and stood within arm's length of him, grinning at him.
"Two guns!" he said with a laugh. "Why, I reckon you'd make a hell of a
sheriff!"
A chorus of laughter greeted the young cowboy's words. Dunlavey grinned
widely. "You boys are just in time," he said.
There was another roar of laughter. Many of the men seemed only now to
have become aware of Dunlavey's presence and they surged forward around
him, disregarding Allen's guns. The latter seemed to realize that the
situation had passed beyond his control, for catching Hollis's eye he
smiled grimly and sheathed his weapons, seeking Hollis's side.
"It's no use," he said shortly to Hollis as he came near; "they'll run
things to suit themselves now. I wasn't expectin' Ten Spot to butt into
the game."
"I reckon they've got us." Norton had also sought Hollis's side and the
three stood near the rear door, watching the crowd around Dunlavey.
Hollis tried to catch Ten Spot's gaze but failed--the latter seemed
studiously to avoid him.
A wave of dull anger surged through Hollis's veins. Until now the
contest had been conducted fairly; they had given Dunlavey and Watkins
an honest election, even though they had found it necessary to eliminate
them as active participants. From now on he was assured the contest
would be a joke--though a grim one. He had depended upon Allen's
success--it meant much to him. The thought of failure just when victory
was within his grasp aroused him and in spite of Norton's low word of
caution he stepped forward and stood beside the table on which reposed
the hat into which the ballots had been placed by the men who had
previously voted. He intended to take personal charge of the hat,
determined upon securing a fair deal in spite of the great odds.
As he stepped forward he saw Greasy grin maliciously and try to snatch a
gun from the holster of a cowboy who stood near him. This attempt was
frustrated by the puncher, who suddenly dropped his hand to his holster,
where it closed upon Greasy's. The puncher snarled, muttered profanely,
and struck furiously at Greasy, knocking him down in a corner.
Other men moved. There were curses; the flashing of metal as guns came
out. Hollis felt rather than saw Norton and Allen advance toward the
table and stand beside him. A grim smile wreathed his face over the
knowledge that in the crowd there were at least two men upon whom he
might depend to the end--whatever the end might be.
He heard Dunlavey snarl an oath, saw his big form loom out of the crowd,
saw one of his gigantic hands reach for the hat on the table.
"I reckon I'll take charge of this now!" he sneered, his brutal face
close to Hollis's.
Hollis would have struck the face that was so close to his, but at the
instant he saw Dunlavey's hand reach out for the hat he saw another hand
dart out from the other side of the table, seize the hat, and draw it
out of Dunlavey's reach.
"I don't reckon that you'll take charge of her!" said a voice.
Hollis turned quickly. Over the table leaned Ten Spot, the captured hat
in his hand, a big forty-five in the other, a cold, evil glitter in his
eyes as he looked up at Dunlavey.
"I don't reckon that you're goin' to have a hand in runnin' this show
a-tall, Bill," he sneered. "Me an' my friends come down here special to
tend to that." He grinned the shallow, hard grin that marks the passing
of a friendship and the dawn of a bitter hatred. "You see, Bill, me an'
my friends has got sorta tired of the way you've been runnin' things an'
we're shufflin' the cards for a new deal. This here tenderfoot which
you've been a-slanderin' shameful is man's size an' we're seein' that he
gits a fair shake in this here. I reckon you git me?"
Hollis felt Norton poking him in the ribs, but he did not turn; he was
too intent upon watching the two principal actors in the scene. Tragedy
had been imminent; comedy was slowly gaining the ascendency. For at the
expression that had come over Dunlavey's face several of the men were
grinning broadly. Were the stakes not so great Hollis would have felt
like smiling himself. Dunlavey seemed stunned. He stood erect, passing
his hand over his forehead as though half convinced that the scene were
an illusion and that the movement of the hand would dispel it. Several
times his lips moved, but no words came and he turned, looking about at
the men who were gathered around him, scanning their faces for signs
that would tell him that they were not in sympathy with Ten Spot. But
the faces that he looked upon wore mocking grins and sneers.
"An' I've been tellin' the boys how you set Yuma on Nellie Hazelton, an'
they've come to the conclusion that a guy which will play a low down
mean game like that on a woman ain't no fit guy to have no hand in any
law makin'."
Ten Spot's voice fell coldly and metallically in the silence of the
room. Slowly recovering from the shock Dunlavey attempted a sneer, which
gradually faded into a mirthless smile as Ten Spot continued:
"An' you ain't goin' to have a hand in any more law-makin' in this man's
town. Me an' my friends is goin' to see to that, an' my boss, Mr.
Hollis. I reckon that'll be about all. You don't need to hang around
here while we do the rest of the votin'. Watkins an' Greasy c'n stay to
see that everything goes on regular." He grinned wickedly as Dunlavey
stiffened. "I reckon you know me, Bill. I ain't palaverin' none. You an'
Ten Spot is quits!"
He stepped back a little, away from the table, his teeth showing in a
mocking grin. Then he looked down at the hat which he still held in his
hand--Dunlavey's hat. He laughed. "Why, I'm cert'nly impolite!" he said
insinuatingly. "Here you've been wantin' to go an' I've been keepin'
your hat!" He dumped the ballots upon the table and passed the hat to
Dunlavey. Without a word Dunlavey took it, jerking it savagely, placed
it on his head, and strode to the door, stepping down into the street.
There was a short silence. Then Ten Spot turned and looked at Hollis,
his face wreathed in a broad grin.
"I reckon you-all think you know somethin' about handlin' the law," he
said, "but your little Ten Spot ain't exactly the measliest card in the
deck! We'll do our votin' now."
A quarter of an hour later, after Ten Spot and his friends had cast
their ballots and Watkins had been forced to make out a certificate of
nomination,--which reposed safely in Ben Allen's inside pocket--the
kerosene lights were extinguished and the men filed out. Hollis and Ten
Spot were the last to leave. As they stood for a moment on the threshold
of the doorway Hollis seized Ten Spot's hand and gripped it heartily.
"I want to thank you, my friend," he said earnestly.
Ten Spot jerked his hand away. "Aw, hell!" he said as they sought the
darkness of the street, "I ain't mushin' none. But," he added, as a
concession to his feelings, "I reckon to know a white man when I see
one!"