essly leaned against a post.

"Presently Zimmer came in with a man and they advanced to the bar. Other
men entered as others went out. Blome, Bo Snecker, Hilliard, and Pickens
had a table full in the light of the open windows. I recognized the
faces of the two last-named, but I had not, until Morton informed me,
known who they were. Pickens was little, scrubby, dusty, sandy, mottled,
and he resembled a rattlesnake. Hilliard was big, gaunt, bronzed, with
huge mustache and hollow, fierce eyes. I never had seen a grave-robber,
but I imagined one would be like Hilliard. Bo Snecker was a sleek, slim,
slender, hard-looking boy, marked dangerous, because he was too young
and too wild to have caution or fear. Blome, the last of the bunch,
showed the effects of a bad night.

"You girls remember how handsome he was, but he didn't look it now. His
face was swollen, dark, red, and as it had been bright, now it was dull.
Indeed, he looked sullen, shamed, sore. He was sober now. Thought was
written on his clouded brow. He was awakening now to the truth that the
day before had branded him a coward and sent him out to bolster up
courage with drink. His vanity had begun to bleed. He knew, if his
faithful comrades had not awakened to it yet, that his prestige had been
ruined. For a gunman, he had suffered the last degradation. He had been
bidden to draw and he had failed of the nerve.

"He breathed heavily; his eyes were not clear; his hands were shaky.
Almost I pitied this rustler who very soon must face an incredibly swift
and mercilessly fatal Ranger. Face him, too, suddenly, as if the grave
had opened to give up its dead.

"Friends and comrades of this center group passed to and fro, and there
was much lazy, merry, though not loud, talk. The whole crowd was still
half-asleep. It certainly was an auspicious hour for Steele to confront
them, since that duty was imperative. No man knew the stunning
paralyzing effect of surprise better than Steele. I, of course, must
take my cue from him, or the sudden development of events.

"But Jack Blome did not enter into my calculations. I gave him, at most,
about a minute to live after Steele entered the place. I meant to keep
sharp eyes all around. I knew, once with a gun out, Steele could kill
Blome's comrades at the table as quick as lightning, if he chose. I
rather thought my game was to watch his outside partners. This was
right, and as it turned out, enabled me to save Steele's life.