“That don’t affect you. Forget that part of it. Don’t let him bluff you, Charley. He tried to bluff me, but I showed him I couldn’t be bluffed. You’re not afraid of him, are you?”
“I don’t know,” replied Prentice.
“Well, I’m not.”
“You never married his wife.”
“No, I didn’t do that.”
Some people came in the bank and Amos went back to his office, where he filled his pipe again, after which he strolled down to the sheriff’s office.
Ben Dillon, the sheriff, was in the office, but his greeting was none too pleasant. Ben had been elected to office fresh from a cow-ranch farther down the valley, and he hated the clerical end of his job.
Ben was fat, and ordinarily good-natured, but he disliked Amos Baggs, because Amos acted superior, because of his vast knowledge of law, and tried to instruct Ben in office duties.
“What’s on yore mind now?” asked Ben.
“Nothing much, sheriff. You know that Len Ayres is back, of course.”