Page:The Trail Rider (1924).pdf/76

 gamblers of that day. The other was a composition of cowboy and sport. Texas recalled having seen him at the show.

The pair approaching Texas crossed over to the sidewalk a little way below him, where they stood waiting for their companions to join them. These latter came over in the cautious manner of men stalking game, walking two yards apart, one a little in advance of the other, watching Texas for the first movement of hostile demonstration.

People in shop doors and on the street knew at once what these preparations portended. Many battles had been fought out in the open on that ground, frequently with more damage to those not engaged than to the principals. It had come to the point where nobody took chances, and with this gathering of the battle-cloud before their doors the storekeepers retreated to the backs of their shops, and put something solid between them and the street; pedestrians dodged behind buildings and into the shelter of open doors. In an emergency like that a sod house was the most popular structure within reach.

One of the men came up within three yards of Texas, watching him at every step as closely as he would have watched a trapped bear.

"Sport, there'll be a train along here in twenty minutes, and you're goin' to take it," he announced.