at he had pledged
himself to strike down all the seven who first took his trail. Five
of these were already gone; two remained, and of these two one was Vic
Gregg, no despicable fighter himself, and the other was no less than the
invincible little sheriff himself. To imagine the sheriff beaten in the
speed of his draw or the accuracy of his shot was to imagine the First
Cause, Infinity, or whatever else is inconceivable; nevertheless, there
were such possibilities as bullets fired at night through the window,
and attacks from the rear. So Rickett waited, and held its breath and
kept his eyes rather more behind than in front.

In the meantime, there was no lack of amusement, for from the four
corners, blown by the four winds, men rode out of the mountain-desert
and drifted into Rickett to seek for a place on that posse. Twenty men,
that was the goal the sheriff had set. Twenty men trained to a hair.
Beside the courthouse was a shooting gallery not overmuch used except
during the two annual seasons of prosperity and reckless spending, and
Pete Glass secured this place to test out applicants. After, they passed
this trial they were mustered into his presence, and he gave them an
examination for himself. Just what he asked them or what he could never
be known, but some men came from his presence very red, and others
extremely pale, and some men blustered, and some men swore, and some men
rode hastily out of town and spoke not a word, but few, very few, were
those who came out wearing a little badge on their vest with the pride
of a Knight of the Garter. At first the hordes rode in, young and old,
youths keen for a taste of adventure, rusty fellows who had once been
noted warriors; but these early levies soon discovered that courage
and willingness was not so much valued as accuracy, and the old-timers
learned, also, that accuracy must be accompanied by speed; and even
when a man possessed both these qualities of hand and eye the gentle,
inscrutable little man in his office might still reject them for reasons
they could not guess.

This one thing was certain: the next time Pete Glass ran for office
he would be beaten even by a greaser. He made enemies at the rate of a
hundred a day during that period of selection.

Still the twenty was not recruited to the full. Thirteen, fourteen,
fifteen were gathered into the fold, but still five men were lacking to
complete the toll. Most men would have started their man-hunt with that