There was a little ironical laughter, and somebody asked, “Who’s going to stop us?”
“The Sheriff’s guard,” said the horseman. “Stop right where you are until I bring them.”
“Keep clear,” said Grant sternly, “or we’ll ride over you. Forward, boys!”
There was a jingle of bridles, and the other man wheeled his horse as the heels went home. Quick as he was, the foremost riders were almost upon him, and as he went down the street at a gallop the wooden houses flung back a roar of hoofs. Every door was open now and the citizens peering out. Lights flashed in the windows, and somebody cried, “The rustler boys are coming!”
Other voices took up the cry; hoots of derision mingled with shouts of greeting, but still, without an answer, the men from the prairie rode on, Grant peering into the darkness as he swung in his saddle at the head of them. He saw one or two mounted men wheel their horses, and more on foot spring clear of the hoofs, and then the flash of a rifle beneath the black front of a building. A flagstaff ran up into the night above it, and there were shadowy objects upon the verandah. Grant threw up a hand.
“We’re here, boys,” he said.
Then it became evident that every man’s part had been allotted him, for while the hindmost wheeled their horses, and then sat still, with rifles across their saddles, barring the road by which they had come, the foremost pressed on, until, pulling up, they left a space behind them and commanded the street in front. The rest dismounted, and while one man stood at the heads of every pair of horses, the rest clustered round Grant in the middle of the open space. The jail rose dark and silent before them, and for the space of a moment or two there was an impressive stillness. It was broken by a shout from one of the rearguard.
“There’s quite a crowd rolling up. Get through as quick as you can!”
Grant stood forward. “We’ll give you half a minute to send somebody out to talk to us, and then we’re coming in,” he said.
The time was almost up before a voice rose from the building: “Who are you, any way, and what do you want?”