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Page 63
"Look out, boss!" warned Sage-brush, at the hostile movement of
Buck and his punchers.
"Hold on!" drawled the Sheriff, who, as the danger grew more
real, became more deliberate in his movements. "They ain't goin'
to be nothin' done here unless it's done in the law--you all know
me, boys--I'm the sheriff--this man's my prisoner." Pointing to
Jack, he added: "There ain't nobody goin' to take him from me--
an' live."
Buck saw Jack slipping from his clutches. "You're not goin' to
be bluffed by one man, are you, boys?"
"No," his punchers answered in unison, crowding toward Jack, who
held up his hand and cried: "Stop! I want a fair deal, and I'll
get it."
"I'll settle this thing all right. All I ask is a few words
alone with my wife."
Jack clasped Echo to his breast as he begged this boon from the
men who sought his life.
"No!" blustered Buck.
"Yes," ordered Slim quietly but emphatically. "Payson--you'll
give me your word you won't try to escape?"
"Yes," agreed Jack.
"His word don't go with us," shouted Buck.
Slim laid his hand on the butt of his revolver, ready to draw, if
necessary, to enforce his command. Buck saw the movement, and
shouted to him: "Keep your hand away from that gun, Sheriff. You
know I am quick on the draw." He significantly fingered his
holster as he spoke.
"So I've heard tell," agreed Slim, hastily withdrawing his hand
from his revolver.
Slim appeared to agree to the surrender of Jack to Buck and his
punchers, permitting them to deal with him as they saw fit. He
fumbled in his left-hand waistcoat pocket, pulling out a bag of
tobacco and a package of rice paper. Ostentatiously he began to
roll a cigarette. Then, with the quickness of a cat, his left
hand was plunged in the inside right-hand pocket of his
waistcoat. Grasping a revolver by the muzzle he deftly jerked it
upward, and seized the handle in its flight. He covered Buck
McKee before that worthy realized what had happened. With his
right hand Slim pulled the weapon which swung at his hip, and
aimed it at the other boys of the Lazy K. The guns moved up and
down the line, backed by the Sheriff's usually mild blue eyes,
coldly steady now at the call to battle.
"I'll give you a lesson in pullin' guns, though," he declared,
his voice as steady as his hands. "Don't move, Buck," he warned,
as McKee wavered. "Nor any others of you. I'm playin' this hand
alone. Buck McKee, you've been flirtin' with a tombstone for
some time. Hands up, gents," he ordered, raising the pistols
significantly.
"I said GENTS," he repeated, when Buck McKee did not obey him
with alacrity. The balked leader of the Lazy K outfit
reluctantly held his hands aloft.
"Sage-brush!" called Slim.
"Here," answered the foreman, covering a man with his revolver.
"Parenthesis!" summoned the Sheriff.
"Here," the man of the bowlegs replied, as he drew his gun.
"Me, too," cried Fresno, while Show Low came to the front with
"An' likewise here."
When the Lazy K outfit was thoroughly under subjection, Slim
stepped forward and said: "Now, gentlemen, if you please. You
see, this yere's my party an' I regalate it my way. Jack here
gave his word to stay and face this thing out. He's a-goin' to
do it. I'm responsible for him--Sage-brush, you will collect at
the door sech articles of hardware as these gentlemen has in
their belts--I deputize you. Gents, as you walk out the do', you
will deposit yo' weapons with Mr. Sage-brush Charley--the same to
be returned to you when the court sees fit and proper."
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