The Coming of the Law

by Charles Alden Seltzer

  CHAPTER XXIV

  CAMPAIGN GUNS

  Of course Yuma had been amply punished for his part in the attack onNellie Hazelton, but there still remained Dunlavey--who had instigatedit. Hollis was aware of the uselessness of bringing a charge againstDunlavey--he had not forgotten his experience with Bill Watkins when hehad attempted to have Greasy brought to justice. He believed that hewould not have brought such a charge had there been any probability ofthe sheriff taking action. He felt that in inciting Yuma to attackNellie, Dunlavey had also contemplated a blow at him. The man's devilishingenuity appalled him, but it also aroused a fierce anger in his heartthat, in the absence of a powerful will, would have moved him toimmediate vengeance.

  But he contemplated no immediate action. Besides the attack on NellieHazelton there was another score to settle with Dunlavey, and when thetime came for a final accounting he told himself that he would settleboth. He knew there would come such a time. From the beginning he hadfelt that he and the Circle Cross manager were marked by fate for aclash. He was eager for it, but content to wait until the appointedtime. And he knew that the time was not far distant.

  Therefore he remained silent regarding the incident, and except toNorton and his wife, Nellie Hazelton, Ten Spot, and himself, thedisappearance of Yuma remained a mystery.

  Dunlavey, perhaps, might have had his suspicions, but if so hecommunicated them to no one, and so as the days passed the mysteryceased to be discussed and Yuma was forgotten.

  Hollis received a letter from Weary, dated "Chicago," announcing thesafe arrival of himself and Ed Hazelton. "Town" suited him to a "T," hewrote. But Doctor Hammond would not operate at once--he wanted time tostudy the symptoms of Ed's malady. That was all. Hollis turned thisletter over to Nellie, with another from Ed, addressed to her--whosecontents remained a mystery to him.

  Ben Allen had returned from his visit to the small ranchers in thevicinity, had confided to Hollis that he had "mixed a little politicswith business," and then, after receiving a telegram from the Secretaryof the Interior, had taken himself off to Santa Fe to confer with thegovernor.

  After several days he returned. He entered the _Kicker_ office togreet Hollis, his face wreathed in smiles.

  "You've got 'em all stirred up, my boy!" he declared, placing his handon Hollis's shoulder with a resounding "smack"; "they're goin' toenforce the little law we've got and they've passed some new ones.Here's a few! First and foremost, cattle stealing is to be consideredfelony! Penalty, from one to twenty years! Next--free water! Being asthe rivers in this Territory ain't never been sold with what land thegovernment sharks has disposed of, any cattleman's got the right towater wherever he wants to. The governor told me that if it's necessaryhe'll send Uncle Sam's blue coats anywhere in the Territory to enforcethat! Third: after a man's registered his brand he can't change itunless he applies to the district judge. Them that ain't registeredtheir brand ain't entitled to no protection. I reckon there's troubleahead for any man which monkeys with another man's brand!

  "Say!" Allen eyed Hollis whimsically; "that new governor's all het upover you! Had a copy of the _Kicker_ in front of him on his deskwhen he was talkin' to me. Says you're a scrapper from the word go, an'that he'd back you up long as there was a blue coat anywhere in theTerritory!"

  Allen's speech was ungrammatical, but its message was one of good cheerand Hollis's eyes brightened. The Law was coming at last! He could nothelp but wonder what Dunlavey's feelings would be when he heard of it.For himself, he felt as any man must feel who, laboring at a seeminglyimpossible task, endless and thankless, sees in the distance thepossible, the end, and the plaudits of his friends.

  Yes, he could see the end, but the end was not yet. He looked gravely atAllen.

  "Did you happen to hear when these laws become effective?" he inquired.

  "On the first day of October!" returned Allen, triumphantly.

  Hollis smiled. "And election day is the third of November," he said."That gives Dunlavey, Watkins and Company a month's grace--in case youare elected sheriff."

  Allen grinned. "They can't do a heap in a month," he said.

  "No," returned Hollis, "but in most elections that have come under myobservation, I have noticed that the winning candidate does not assumeoffice for a considerable time after the election. What is the customout here?"

  Allen grinned grimly. "Usually it's two weeks," he said, "but if I'melected it will be the next day--if I have to go down to the sheriff'soffice and drag Bill Watkins out by the hair!"

  "That belligerent spirit does you credit," dryly observed Hollis. "Itwill afford me great pleasure to participate in the festivities. Butthere is another matter to be thought of--which we seem to haveoverlooked. Usually before an election there is a primary, or aconvention, is there not?"

  "There is," grinned Allen. "It's to-night, and I'm ready for it!" Hisgrin expanded to a wide, whimsical smile. "I told you that I'd beenmixing a little politics with business," he said. "Well, I've done so."He got up and approached the front window of the office, sweeping a handtoward the street. "If you'll just get up and look out here," he said,"you'll see that I ain't lying. There's some good in being anex-office-holder--you get experience enough to tell you how to run acampaign." He bowed to Hollis. "Now, if you'll look close at that gangwhich is mixing palaver in front of the Silver Dollar you'll mebbenotice that Lemuel Train is in it, an' Truxton, of the Diamond Dot,Holcomb, of the Star, Yeager, of the Three Diamond, Clark, of the CircleY, Henningson, of the Three Bar, Toban, of the T Down, an' some morewhich has come in for the racket tonight. Countin' 'em all--the puncherswhich have come in with the fellows I have named--there'll be aboutseventy-five.

  "An', say!" he added, suddenly confronting Hollis and grasping him bythe shoulder and shaking him playfully and admiringly, "there wouldn't adurn one of them have come over here on my account. They up an' told meso when I asked them. Said they'd nothin' ag'in me, but they wasn'tconsiderin' votin' at all. But since Hollis wanted me--well, they'd comeover just to show you that they appreciated what you'd done for them!"

  Hollis smiled. He did not tell Allen that since the appearance of the_Kicker_ containing the announcement that he was to be itscandidate he had written every small rancher in the vicinity, requestingas a personal favor that they appear in Dry Bottom on the day of theprimary; that these letters had been delivered by Ace, and that when thepoet returned he had presented Hollis with a list containing the name ofevery rancher who had promised to come, and that several days beforeHollis had known approximately how many votes Allen would receive at theprimary. He did not intend that Allen should know this--or that he hadbeen going quietly from one Dry Bottom merchant to another, appealing tothem for their support. And the earnestness with which many of them hadpromised had convinced him that the primary was to be the beginning ofthe end for Bill Watkins and Dunlavey.

  When he had first come to Dry Bottom it had been universally conceded bythe town's citizens that his differences with Dunlavey and theCattlemen's Association were purely personal, and there had been adisposition on the part of the citizens to let them fight it out betweenthemselves. But of late there had come a change in that sentiment. Thechange had been gradual, beginning with the day when he had told theauthor of the notice that had appeared on the door of the _Kicker_office not to hold the express on his account. But the change had comeand it was evident that it was to be permanent. It had only beennecessary to arouse the government to the situation in order to secureintervention. He had hoped to secure this intervention without beingforced to a hostile clash with the opposition, but his first meetingwith Dunlavey had spoiled that. Subsequent events had widened thebreach.

  He was satisfied. Let Bill Watkins be defeated for sheriff and Dunlaveywas beaten. But there was much to be done before that desirable endcould be achieved.

  Following the custom the primary was to be held in the sheriff's office.Watkins had issued a proclamation some weeks before; it had appeared onthe door of the sheriff's office--a written no
tice, tacked to thedoor--but it had been removed the same day. Obviously, it was thesheriff's intention to conduct the primary as quietly as possible,hoping no doubt to disarm whatever opposition might develop. But Hollishad been apprised of the appearance of the proclamation and had quietlyproceeded to plant the seed of opposition to Watkins in the minds of hisfriends.

  He had been warned by Judge Graney that Watkins would try to "pack" thesheriff's office with his friends on the night of the primary. This hadbeen the usual method employed by Dunlavey when opposition to Watkinsdeveloped. Drunken, dissolute, dangerous men were usually on hand tooverawe the opposition; the Judge told of instances in which gunplay haddeveloped. But Hollis had determined that Watkins must be beaten.

  Allen did not stay long in the _Kicker_ office. Nor, for thatmatter, did Hollis. Once, during the morning, he went down to the courthouse to talk with Judge Graney. Then he returned to the _Kicker_office and worked until noon.

  During the morning there had been a surprising influx of visitors.Bronzed punchers on dusty, drooping ponies rode down the town's onestreet, dropped from their saddles, and sought the saloons. Groups ofthem swarmed the streets and the stores. As Hollis walked down to hisoffice after leaving the court house, he was kept busy nodding tofriends--many of whom had become such during the later days of thedrought. Merchants grinned at him from their doorways; Dunlavey'sfriends sneered as he passed or sent ribald jokes after him.

  At noon he went to the Alhambra for lunch. Almost the first person hesaw there was Dunlavey. The latter grinned at him mockingly.

  "Friends of yours in town to-day," he said with a sneer. "Well, you'llneed them!"

  His voice had been loud enough for all in the restaurant to hear. Hollisdid not answer, though he appreciated the significance of Dunlavey'swords; they told him that the Circle Cross manager was aware of thecontemplated contest and was ready for it.

  During the afternoon Dry Bottom presented a decidedly differentappearance from the day when Hollis had first viewed it. Animation hadsucceeded desolation. Perhaps a hundred cowponies were hitched to therails that paralleled the fronts of the saloons, the stores, and many ofthe private dwellings. It was apparent that many of the visitors hadmade the trip to town for the double purpose of voting and securingsupplies, for mixed with the ponies were numerous wagons of variousvarieties, their owners loading them with boxes and crates. Men swarmedthe sidewalks; the saloons buzzed.

  Toward dusk the volume of noise in the saloons drowned all soundoutside. Having made their purchases the ranchers who had driven in forsupplies and had loaded their wagons preparatory to departure found timeto join their friends and acquaintances over a convivial glass. By thetime the kerosene lamps were lighted in the saloons revelry reigned.From one saloon issued the shrieking, discordant notes of a violin,accompanied by the scuffling of feet; from another came laughter and theclinking of glasses; from still another came harsh oaths and obsceneshouts. In the latter place rose the laughter of women.

  Seated at his desk near the front window of the _Kicker_ officeHollis gravely watched the scene--listened to the sounds. In anotherchair sat Potter. There was no light in the office; neither man hadthought of a light. As the revelry in the saloons increased the printerglanced furtively at his chief.

  "There'll be hell to-night!" he said.

  "I expect there will be trouble," agreed Hollis.

  Potter shifted uneasily in his chair, eyeing his employer with a worriedexpression. He was silent for a moment. Then he cleared his throatnervously.

  "Do you intend to go there--to the sheriff's office--to-night?" hequestioned.

  Hollis looked quickly at him. "Of course!" he said with emphasis. "Why?"he interrogated.

  "Nothing," returned Potter; "only----" he hesitated and then blurtedout: "I wouldn't go if I were you. They've been saying that if you dothere'll be trouble. You know what that means."

  "Who has been saying that?" inquired Hollis.

  "I heard it at noon--in the Silver Dollar. Some of Dunlavey's men satnear me and I heard them saying that Watkins was to win if they had toput two or three of his chief opponents out of business."

  "I have been expecting that," returned Hollis. He said nothing more andPotter, having done his duty, felt that he had no business to interferefurther.

  Shortly after dark there was a clatter of hoofs outside the_Kicker_ office and four men dismounted from their ponies andstrode to the office door. They were Norton, Ace, Lanky, and Bud.Evidently Hollis had been awaiting their coming, for he met them at thedoor, greeting them with the words: "We'll be going at once; it's abouttime."

  Followed by Potter the five strode rapidly down the street. When theyarrived at the sheriff's office there were a number of men congregatedabout the door. Inside a kerosene lamp flickered on a table that sat inthe center of the room. Another lamp stood on Watkins's desk, and besidethe desk sat Watkins himself.

  Conversation died away as Hollis and his men approached the door andstood in the stream of light from the interior. A man stepped out of theshadow of the building and approached Hollis, drawing him and Nortonaside. It was Allen. The latter had lost some of the sprightliness thathad marked his manner during his conversation with Hollis in the_Kicker_ office that morning--he was again the cool, deliberate,steady-eyed man he had been that day in Judge Graney's office whenHollis had met him the first time.

  "I've been waitin' for you," he said; "we're goin' to have a scrumptuoustime. Dunlavey's planning to pack her." He swept a hand toward theinterior of the office. "But each candidate is to be allowed twowitnesses. I've selected you two. Dunlavey and Greasy are doing thehonors for Watkins. We might just as well go inside; we can't doanything out here. There won't be anything done by any of this ganguntil Dunlavey says the word."

  He turned and stepped into the sheriff's office, Hollis and Nortonfollowing.

  Watkins looked up and surveyed them with a bland smile as they enteredand dropped quietly into the several chairs that had been provided.

  "I reckon she's goin' to be some hot tonight?" significantly remarkedWatkins, addressing himself to Allen.

  "Maybe," grinned Allen.

  "We're goin' to take a hand in handlin' the Law," significantly remarkedNorton.

  Watkins's face reddened. He stared offensively at Hollis.

  "I reckon you're a witness, too," he said, sneering. "Well," he went onas Hollis gravely nodded, "the law says that a witness to the count mustbe a resident of the county. An' I reckon you ain't. You ain't been----"

  "He stays," interrupted Allen, shortly. "That's settled."

  Watkins's face bloated with a sudden anger, but he wheeled withoutreplying and gave his attention to some papers lying on the desk infront of him.

  For a long time the four sat in silence. Outside arose voices ofmen--growing in volume. There was a jam around the door; looking outHollis could see the bronzed, grim faces of the punchers as they crowdedclose, moved by a spirit of curiosity. Hollis could hear exclamations ofimpatience, though the majority of the men outside stood in silence,waiting.

  Plainly, nothing was to be done until the arrival of Dunlavey. Andpresently he came.

  He had not been drinking; he was undeniably sober and self-possessed. Ashe entered the door of the office there was a sudden surge on the partof the crowd--several of the men tried to force their way in behindDunlavey. But he halted on the threshold, scowling back at them anduttering the one word: "Wait!" The crowd fell back at the command andwatched.

  Dunlavey stepped across the room, standing beside Watkins, his rapidglance noting the presence of the three members of the opposition. Heignored Hollis and Norton, speaking to Allen.

  "So you're sure enough going to run?" he said.

  "Sure," returned Allen. He rose slowly, stepped deliberately across theroom, closed the door, and stood with his back to it.

  "We're all here now," he said quietly, "and I want to talk a little.There ain't no one going to hear what I've got to say but them I'm goingto say it to. I reckon
that goes?" He turned to Dunlavey.

  Dunlavey had shown some evidence of surprise over Allen's action inclosing the door, but this immediately gave way to a sneer of mockery."I reckon you've forgot Greasy," he said.

  "Why, I sure have!" returned Allen evenly. He opened the door a trifleand called: "Greasy!"

  Evidently Greasy had been waiting at the door, for he immediately camein, slouching across the floor and standing beside Watkins and Dunlavey.Allen closed the door and adjusted the fastenings carefully. Then heturned again to Dunlavey.

  "Now we'll proceed to do the talking," he said. He walked over to thechair that he had previously vacated, dropping carelessly into it andleaning comfortably back. His movements had been those of a manunquestionably sure of peace. The expression of his eyes, the tones ofhis voice, his deliberation hinted at a desire for a peacefulcompromise.

  But once seated in his chair a startling change came over him. There wasa rapid movement at his sides, a mere flash of light, and two heavysix-shooters appeared suddenly in his hands and lay there, unaimed, butforbiddingly ready. He sat erect, his eyes chilled and glittering,alert, filled with menace.

  "Now," he said sharply, "the first man who peeps above a whisper getshis so plenty that he won't care a damn who's nominated for sheriff!" Hespoke to Norton and Hollis without turning his head. "You two getwhatever guns them gentlemen happen to have on them, standing to oneside so's I can see to perforate anyone who ain't agreeable to handingthem over."

  Norton rose and approached Dunlavey, while Hollis stepped forward to thesheriff and secured the weapon that reposed in a holster at his righthip. He did likewise with Greasy. While Norton was relieving Dunlavey ofhis weapon the sheriff opened his lips to speak, his gaze fixeddoubtfully on one of Allen's sixes.

  "The law----" he began. But Allen interrupted with a grin.

  "Sure," he said, "the law didn't figure on this. But I reckon you heardBig Bill say once that the law could be handled. I'm handling it now.But I reckon that lets you out--you ain't in on this and the mourners'llbe after you to-morrow if you open your trap again!"

  The sheriff swelled with rage, but he closed his lips tightly. WhenHollis and Norton had completed their search for weapons and had laidthe result of their search on the table near Allen they sought theirchairs.

  Dunlavey had said nothing. He stood beside Watkins's desk, stillself-possessed, the mocking smile still on his face, though into hiseyes had come a doubting, worried expression. Plainly he had notanticipated such drastic action from Allen.

  The latter laughed grimly, quietly. "Sort of unexpected, wasn't it,Bill?" he said, addressing Dunlavey. "It ain't just the sort of politicsthat you've been used to. But I'm kind of used to it myself. Had to pullthe same game off over in Colfax County when I was runnin' for sheriffthe first time. It worked, too, because the folks that was mixed up init knowed I wasn't ringing in any bluff." He looked at Dunlavey with alevel, steady gaze, his eyes gleaming coldly. "If you think I'm bluffingnow, chirp for some one of your pluguglies to bust into this game. I'dsort of like to let off my campaign guns into your dirty gizzard!"

  Hollis had been watching Dunlavey closely. There was no fear in theman's eyes; even the doubt and worry that had been there had disappearedand his expression was now mildly ironical, contrasting oddly with thedemeanor of Watkins--who was plainly frightened--and that of Greasy--whosmirked and showed his teeth like some beast at bay and in fear ofdeath. It was evident that Dunlavey possessed the spirit of the fighter,that indomitable courage which enables a man to face any situation andstill retain his presence of mind, which permits him to face deathunafraid and unyielding. In spite of the enmity that had existed betweenthem from the beginning, Hollis had always respected Dunlavey for thesevery qualities, and within the last few minutes that respect had grown.

  Dunlavey's eyes gleamed as he looked at Allen. "I don't think you wouldtry to work any bluff on me, Allen," he said quietly. "You've took me bysurprise, that's a fact. But let's get down to business. What's yourgame?"

  "I reckon that's a sensible way to look at it," returned Allen evenly."That's the way I expected you'd look at it when you begun to realizethat I was holding some pretty good cards. There ain't nothing personalin this; I'm out for a square deal and I'm going to get it. I want youto understand that I'm running this game to-night and I'm running itsquare. If I get enough votes I'm going to be the next sheriff. If Idon't get enough votes Bill Watkins'll be it. But the votes are going tobe real votes. I ain't figuring on letting your gang pack in here andkeep my friends from voting.

  "I'm going to put your hat on this table. Then Norton will open the doorand let one man come in. That man will vote--for whoever he pleases.Then Mr. Hollis will let him out the back door and Norton will letanother man in the front. There won't be any row. I'm telling you thatyou and Bill Watkins and Greasy are going to set here and watch thevoting. I'm going to stand behind you with one of my guns tucked underyour fifth rib. If you, or Watkins, or Greasy let out a yawp that can beconstrued as a signal for anyone to bust into the game, or if there'sanything started by your friends which ain't your doing, I'm going topump six chunks of lead into you so fast that they'll be playing tagwith one another going through. I reckon you get me. That ends thepalaver."

  He arose, snatched Dunlavey's hat from his head, placed it on the table,and walked behind Dunlavey, standing against the wall.

  "Open the door!" he directed, looking at Norton.