ve dollars, somebody. _I_
bid twenty-five. I want thirty. I want thirty, gentlemen; you must gimme
thirty. _I_ bid twenty-five dollars--who's going to make it thirty?"

"Show us yore twenty-five an' she's yourn," remarked the stranger, with
exasperating assurance, while Fisher grew pale with excitement. The
stranger was standing clear of his horse now, and alert readiness
was stamped all over him. "You accepted my bid--show yore twenty-five
dollars or take my two bits."

"You close that face of yourn!" exploded the marshal, angrily. "I don't
mind a little fun, but you've got altogether too damned much to say.
You've queered the bidding, an' now you shut up!"

"I said two bits an' I mean just that. You show yore twenty-five or
gimme that cayuse on my bid," retorted the stranger.

"By the pans of Julius Caesar!" shouted the marshal. "I'll put you to
sleep so you'll never wake up if I hears any more about you an' yore two
bits!"

"Show me, Rednose," snapped the other, his gun out in a flash. "I want
that cayuse, an' I want it quick. You show me twenty-five dollars or
I'll take it out from under you on my bid, you yaller dog! _Stop it!_
Shut up! That's suicide, that is. Others have tried it an' failed, an'
yo're no sleight-of-hand gun-man. This is the first time I ever paid a
hoss-thief in _silver_, or bought stolen goods, but everything has to
have a beginning. You get nervous with that hand of yourn an' I'll cure
you of it! Git off that piebald, an' quick!"

The marshal felt stunned and groped for a way out, but the gun under his
nose was as steady as a rock. He sat there stupidly, not knowing enough
to obey orders.

"Come, get off that cayuse," sharply commanded the stranger. "An' I'll
take yore Winchester as a fine for this high-handed business you've been
carrying on. You may be the local court an' all the town officials, but
I'm the Governor, an' here's my Supreme Court, as I was saying to the
boys a little while ago. Yo're overruled. Get off that cayuse, an' don't
waste no more time about it, neither!"

The marshal glared into the muzzle of the weapon and felt a sinking in
the pit of his stomach. Never before had he failed to anticipate the
pull of a gun. As the stranger said, there must always be a beginning, a
first time. He was thinking quickly now; he was master of himself again,
but he realized that he was in a tight place unless he obeyed the man
with the drop. Not a man in town would help him; on the