"Go along with you? Go along—why, Lafe, I just had to hit him." The landlord could hardly believe his ears. Had he not repeated three times for Lafe in the election?
"You can explain that to the judge. Come on, now. Get moving."
The landlord gaped a moment and then announced that he hoped to be damned if he went. If Lafe thought he could double-cross him in that manner, he had a few things to learn. The sheriff made a step forward and the landlord reached under the bar for his .45. Before he could raise it, Johnson gripped his wrist and with his free hand struck him over the head with the butt of Tommy's gun. The landlord gave a grunt and dropped into the sheriff's arms like a sack of meal. Five minutes later he went before the justice of the peace very quietly, along with Tommy.
"Understand me"—the new sheriff faced the crowd that followed, some of them murmuring—"I'd arrest my best friend if he broke the law. Remember that."
"Hell, Lafe," they protested, "this is running it over us."
"We're going to have order here in Badger. Come on, you two," said Johnson.
Then he went bail for his prisoners.