oots over in
thet forsaken, 'way-back, never-heard-of hole called 'Rapahoe sets
yerselves up fer a law unto ther rest o' Oklahoma an' all other parts o'
creation! You allows thar don't nobody else but you critters know what
is right an' proper, an' so you has ther cheek ter come over hyar an'
tell us what ter do! You even offers ter show me how ter tie a runnin'
knot in a rope, an' I will admit thet I've tied more knots o' thet kind
then you ever heard of! Take my advice, my gentle stranger frum
'Rapahoe, an' go get right off ther earth, afore something happens ter
yer which yer won't like none whatever!"

This bit of sarcasm was appreciated by the assembled citizens of Elreno,
and they raised a howl at Bill Buckhorn, scores of voices hurling
derisive epithets at the lank stranger.

Buckhorn grew intensely angry, and he howled:

"You galoots make me sick! You're short on fer hawse sense, an' thet's
plain enough!"

"Take a tumble!"

"Puckachee!"

"All right! All right!" cried the man from 'Rapahoe, waving his hands,
each of which clutched a huge revolver. "You kin run yer blamed old town
ter suit yerselves, an' I allows thet Black Harry fools yer all an' gits
erway! I hopes he does, an' I draws out o' this yere game right now."

He thrust his revolvers into leather holsters made to receive them, and
strode away, forcing a passage through the crowd, and pretending not to
hear the derisive epithets hurled at him.

Hank Kildare smiled, with grim satisfaction.

"Thet wuz ther best thing could hev happened," he muttered. "It took
their 'tention erway fer a minute, an' now it's likely I kin talk them
inter reason."

He tried it, without delay. He urged them to disperse, promising that
Black Harry should be lodged in Elreno jail, and properly tried for his
life.

"This yar lynchin' is bad business," concluded the sheriff. "I will
allow thet I hev taken a hand in more than one lynchin' party, but I'm
derned 'shamed o' it. Law is law, an' no gang o' human critters has a
right ter take ther law in their han's. I hev swore never ter let one o'
my prisoners be lynched, ef I kin help it, an' I'll set 'em free, an'
furnish 'em with guns ter fight fer their lives, afore I'll see 'em
strung up by a mob. At ther same time, I'd ruther be shot then forced
ter do such a thing."

Kildare was so well known that every one who heard him felt sure he was
not "talking wind," that being something he never did.

There was mutterin