a man who's waitin' to catch a fella makin' his boot
mark in th' wrong pasture can sometimes do it."

"Nye's right," Topham agreed. "Bayliss can either catch you off guard or
see you're provoked again into doing something he can rope you in for. I'd
get back to the Range and stay there until things settle down a little and
someone else takes the good captain's mind off you."

"What about Anse? You take him on, Nye?" Drew asked.

"I ain't got th' authority to hire, Kirby. But no reason why he can't go
down th' trail with us. Old Man is always on lookout for a good rider.
Soon as we see how Johnny's doin', we'll head south. I already sent
Greyfeather back to tell the Old Man th' kid's hurt an' up here. Reese,
what'd you think 'bout Bayliss? That he'll try to take over runnin' the
town?"

"Might just," the gambler replied.

"_Could_ he do it?"

"I hardly think so. What he's really out for is Hunt's hide. He doesn't
want a powerful civilian ready to face up to him all the time. If he can
discredit _Don_ Cazar in this country, he figures he has it made."

Nye laughed shortly. "Lordy, what bottle did he suck out a dream like
that? A lizard might jus' as well try to fight it out with a cougar an'
think he hadda chance of winnin'. This here's th' Range, an' ain't nobody
but th' Old Man runs th' Range! Bayliss, he's ridin' for a fall as will
jar them big grinnin' teeth of his right outta his jaws!"

"Maybe, only there can be upsets." Topham looked thoughtful.

"What kind--and how?" Drew asked quickly.

Topham was playing with the three books, setting them up, putting them
flat again. "Hunt didn't take sides during the war, but he did have
Southern sympathies in part. After all, he was Texas-born. And Johnny
joined Howard when they raised that Confederate troop here. He retreated
with Sibley's force back east and fought through the rest of the war on
the Southern side. Yes, Bayliss, given the right circumstances and a
sympathetic listening ear in high circles, could make trouble for Rennie.
Especially if the good captain had an incident on which to hang such a
report."

"You kinda shoved him into that out-of-bounds order for th' Jacks, didn't
you now?" Nye pushed his hat to the back of his head and lit a cigarillo.

"Muller and most of the boys can be counted on not to cause any more than
the normal pay-night disturbances. But there're some.... What _did_ happen
here today, Kirby?"

Drew told it straight and flat i