“Do yuh think that’ll stop me?” The speaker laughed shortly. “I’ve brought contraband from Mexico under the noses of the rangers, and I’ve had mounties ride with me on a wagon load of hooch into Alberta. I’ve run, when the runnin’ was good, and I’ve shot my way through, when it was blocked. I’ve preached in Seattle and dealt faro in Reno.
“I’ve lived on my nerve, Bennie; and I’ll keep on livin’ on my nerve. Yore little penny-ante town don’t scare me. I’ll go down there and be the sheriff. I’m glad yuh said that few people ever come out here. You’ll stay here, while I play sheriff, and after a few days I’ll crack that bank for every cent she’s got, and then I’ll turn you loose.”
“You goin’ to take my star and my guns?”
“I shore am. C’mon over to my horse while I get a rope.”
“Yo’re crazy.”
The sheriff shuffled ahead and stood there dumbly, while the other man shook out a lariat.
“I’ll have to turn my horse loose,” he told the sheriff. “I’ll cache the saddle and bridle. Whew! that sun is hot. It’s a wonder it don’t drive all you folks crazy down here. It’s a cinch I won’t stay here very long, but I’ll go away with more than I brought. So yo’re a big man in this county, eh? I’ve never had a chance to be a big man. Mebbe I’ll go straight, Ben. It all depends on how you stand the heat out here in the rocks. With you out of the way, I might play a straight game.”
“Yo’re crazy,” said the sheriff in a dull voice.
“Crazy? Ha, ha, ha, ha! Not me, Bennie. Yo’re crazy, if you think I am.”
“Are you goin’ to tie me up?”