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Updated: April 30, 2025
He had then deputized a dozen punchers and sent them to the Circle Cross to round up a thousand of Dunlavey's cattle and hold them until the late afternoon when, according to Allen's published program, they were to be sold to the highest bidder. Then, tired and hungry, Allen sought the Alhambra and ate a hearty meal. Dry Bottom was swarming with visitors that had come in for the sale.
Thus upon Dunlavey's entrance a silence strange and awkward fell in the bar-room. There were short nods and men fell away from Dunlavey as he crossed the room and came to a halt before one of Ben Allen's posters. He read every line of it every word. No man interrupted him. Then, finishing his reading, he turned and faced the crowd, his face white with wrath, his lips snarling.
He arose, snatched Dunlavey's hat from his head, placed it on the table, and walked behind Dunlavey, standing against the wall. "Open the door!" he directed, looking at Norton. Norton opened the door a trifle and called "One man at a time!" There were some hoarse shouts from without presumably from Dunlavey's friends; a chorus of derisive laughter from Allen's. Then the first man entered.
But with Hollis against them they would be powerless; with Hollis against them Dunlavey's men could swarm both sides of the river and the destruction of their cattle would be certain. All of the men knew this. Yet they did not answer Hollis's question. They had not come to plead with him; they knew that the situation had narrowed down to a point where they could depend only on their own resources.
Did it mean that Ten Spot had come to assist Dunlavey in nominating Watkins and defeating his new employer? He frowned again, and for the next few minutes gravely studied Dunlavey's face. He was sure that the latter's manner had changed. The mocking smile which had been on his face since his arrival at the sheriff's office had been superseded by a huge grin plainly of anticipation.
"Who has been saying that?" inquired Hollis. "I heard it at noon in the Silver Dollar. Some of Dunlavey's men sat near me and I heard them saying that Watkins was to win if they had to put two or three of his chief opponents out of business." "I have been expecting that," returned Hollis. He said nothing more and Potter, having done his duty, felt that he had no business to interfere further.
Embarrassment again seized him; his eyes drooped. "Of course you are not one of Dunlavey's men," he added, "or you wouldn't be here, talking to sis. No friend of Dunlavey's could do that." He looked at the girl with a tender smile. "I don't know what I'd do if it wasn't for her," he added, speaking to Hollis. "But I expect it's a good thing that I'm not crazy all the time."
They had reckoned on securing help from Hollis; he held one side of the Rabbit-Ear and with his support they were in a position to make things very unpleasant for any of Dunlavey's men who might, from the opposite side of the river, attempt to shoot their cattle.
It's the first time we've ever been able to lay a hand on one of Dunlavey's pluguglies, an' we was figgerin' on makin' an example of him." Hollis met Norton's grim gaze and smiled. "I want to thank you all of you, for guarding my interests so zealously," he said. "There is no doubt that this man richly deserves hanging that is, of course, according to your code of ethics.
Then had come a heavy blow on the head he thought that one of the men had used the butt of a revolver. He could dimly remember receiving a number of other blows and then he knew nothing more until he had awakened in the Hazelton cabin. Hollis's opinion of Dunlavey's motive in thus attacking him coincided with Norton's. They might easily have killed him.
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