know; I promise to have Potter on
hand."

To the ears of the two men came a rattle of wheels and a voice. The
judge leaned back in his chair and looked out through the window. His
face wreathed into a broad smile as he resumed his former position and
looked at Hollis. "Your range boss is here," he said.

They heard a step on the board walk, and a man stood in the doorway
looking at them.

The newcomer gave an instant impression of capability. He stood on the
threshold, entirely composed, saturnine, serene eyed, absolutely sure of
himself. He was arrayed in high heeled boots, minus spurs; the bottoms
of a pair of dust-covered overalls were tucked into the boot legs; a
woolen shirt, open at the throat, covered a pair of admirable shoulders;
a scarlet handkerchief was knotted around his neck; and a wide brimmed
hat, carelessly dented in the crown, was shoved rakishly back from his
forehead. Sagging from his slim waist was a well filled cartridge belt
and at the right hip a heavy revolver.

"Howdy, judge!" he said with a smile, in response to Judge Graney's
cordial greeting.

"Just come in?" questioned the judge.

"Been in town an hour," returned Norton.

He flashed a searching glance at Hollis, which that young man met
steadily. The thought crossed Hollis's mind that the buckboard that he
had seen in front of a store soon after leaving the station must have
been Norton's. But now Norton was speaking again and Hollis listened.

"Dropped into the Fashion to see my friend Red Eggers," resumed Norton,
smiling broadly. "Same old crowd--Dunlavey, Yuma Ed, Ten Spot,
Greasy--most of the bunch which has been makin' things interestin' for
us hereabouts."

At the mention of "Yuma Ed" Hollis looked up. That was the name of the
second man he had struck in the affair near the Fashion Saloon. He
wondered if Norton knew. He did not remember to have seen the latter
among the men who had surrounded him in the space between the two
buildings. But the judge was now introducing him to Norton and he stood
up, holding the latter's hand and meeting his inspecting gaze fairly. He
found that the range boss was fully as tall as he; indeed, Hollis
discovered that he was compelled to look up slightly in order to meet
the latter's level gaze. Norton smiled peculiarly; there was a friendly
expression in his eyes, but mingled with it was a reserved, appraising,
speculative gleam, which drew a smile to Hollis's lips.

"So you're Jim Hollis's