Arriving in town, Bennington went at once to the City Hall and straight to the mayor's private office.
"Well, Mr. Donnelly?" he began, his hat on his handsome head and his cane behind his back, neither offensive nor defensive.
Donnelly closed the door leading to the clerk's office and came back to his desk. He waved his hand toward a chair. If he could bend this young hot-head, it would be a victory worth while, politically.
"In the first place, Mr. Bennington, aren't you going a little too hard on the men?"
"That was their lookout; they had every chance to think the matter over, to examine all sides of the question."
"You went personally to the governor for deputy police. Why didn't you come to me?"
"The governor is a personal friend of mine."
"I don't believe that I have been found lacking in justice," said Donnelly thoughtfully.
"I can't say that you have. But I was in a hurry, and could not wait for the local machinery to move."
"You have placed armed men in your shops without a justifiable cause."