“Well, I’ve gone on record. All these men”—he waved his hand toward the faces in the windows—“are witnesses. From now on, Perry and Dunbar will receive from me the same treatment other ranchers on the river give each other. That shot goes as it lays.”
He left the hotel, and could be seen making his way through the crowd in front.
“Gi’me that gun!” snapped Bloom, stretching out his hand to the scout.
The weapon was handed over without comment. Then Bloom himself started for the door.
“Has he got the right ter leave, Buffler?” asked Nomad.
The scout nodded. The trapper stepped aside, and Bloom flung out of the office. Nomad came over and dropped down in a chair beside the scout.
“Waugh!” he muttered. “Blamed ef we didn’t git out o’ thet without er fight. I never thort we would, one spell. But I ain’t takin’ none too much stock in this hyar flop o’ Benner’s. Et’s too suddent.”
“Benner’s all right, Nick,” averred Buffalo Bill, with confidence.
“Shore he ain’t figgerin’ on somethin’?”
“I’m sure he is figuring on something. The shooting of Ace Hawkins might have far-reaching results for him; so he wants Red Steve captured, so he can be forced to tell the truth.”