ed Tull; but this was different. I
give my word, Miss Withersteen, thet I went cold to my very marrow. I
don't know why. But Lassiter had a way about him thet's awful. He spoke
a word--a name--I couldn't understand it, though he spoke clear as a
bell. I was too excited, mebbe. Judge Dyer must hev understood it, an' a
lot more thet was mystery to me, for he pitched forrard out of his chair
right onto the platform.

"Then them five riders, Dyer's bodyguards, they jumped up, an' two of
them thet I found out afterward were the strangers from Stone Bridge,
they piled right out of a winder, so quick you couldn't catch your
breath. It was plain they wasn't Mormons.

"Jengessen, Carter, an' Wright eyed Lassiter, for what must hev been a
second an' seemed like an hour, an' they went white en' strung. But they
didn't weaken nor lose their nerve.

"I hed a good look at Lassiter. He stood sort of stiff, bendin' a
little, an' both his arms were crooked an' his hands looked like a
hawk's claws. But there ain't no tellin' how his eyes looked. I know
this, though, an' thet is his eyes could read the mind of any man about
to throw a gun. An' in watchin' him, of course, I couldn't see the
three men go fer their guns. An' though I was lookin' right at
Lassiter--lookin' hard--I couldn't see how he drawed. He was quicker 'n
eyesight--thet's all. But I seen the red spurtin' of his guns, en' heard
his shots jest the very littlest instant before I heard the shots of the
riders. An' when I turned, Wright an' Carter was down, en' Jengessen,
who's tough like a steer, was pullin' the trigger of a wabblin' gun. But
it was plain he was shot through, plumb center. An' sudden he fell with
a crash, an' his gun clattered on the floor.

"Then there was a hell of a silence. Nobody breathed. Sartin I didn't,
anyway. I saw Lassiter slip a smokin' gun back in a belt. But he hadn't
throwed either of the big black guns, an' I thought thet strange. An'
all this was happenin' quick--you can't imagine how quick.

"There come a scrapin' on the floor an' Dyer got up, his face like lead.
I wanted to watch Lassiter, but Dyer's face, onct I seen it like thet,
glued my eyes. I seen him go fer his gun--why, I could hev done better,
quicker--an' then there was a thunderin' shot from Lassiter, an' it
hit Dyer's right arm, an' his gun went off as it dropped. He looked at
Lassiter like a cornered sage-wolf, an' sort of howled, an' reached down
fer his gun. He'd jest pi