Longarm pointed at him. “See how he is cussin’ me, Herman. How come you let such saddle trash in?”
Higgins shook his head sorrowfully. Longarm could see he was really getting into the part he was playing. “I’ll tell you, this is what comes of tryin’ to do yore feller man a favor. They wanted to shade up an’ I let ‘em. Wanted whiskey an’ I give it to ‘em. Wanted to water their horses and I said shore. An’ now look what come of it. Onliest man I’ve ever had would stay out here and work, an’ they take guns to you and go to beaten’ on yore head! Damn my socks! Ain’t I ever gonna learn?”
The one who had been called Frank let go of his stomach long enough to help himself to his feet by leaning on the overturned stool. He said, gritting his teeth, “Old man, look round you. Who done the whippin’ up? You see any blood on yore damned hired hand? You see a lump on him? Is he down on the floor with blood on his face?”
Higgins waved the shotgun at him. “You better not fool with me, boy! You’ve abused my hospitality all I’m gonna stand fer! Dammit, you don’t know how to act civilized, you can clear out of here and right now!”
Frank said to the man who’d thought his nose was broken, “Wayne, the old man wants us to leave. What do you reckon?”
Wayne was trying to get up, holding on to the bar. He said, “I heard him, Frank.” He stared at Longarm. “For a hay forker he fights pretty good.” Then he shifted to Higgins. “We paid for that whiskey. You taken our money.”
Longarm was watching all three. The smaller one was shaking his head and groaning, not fully conscious. But Longarm didn’t like the way Frank and Wayne had their hands too near their revolvers. He suddenly reached out and took the shotgun from Mister Higgins. He took a quick look to make sure the safety wasn’t on and then said, “By damn, don’t you come round here blackening my name! I got to live here. I saw ya’ll sneakin’ whiskey an’ ain’t no use you denyin’ it. Now the bunch of you can gather up yore traps an’ get on out of here! I’m tired of foolin’ with you and this shotgun just might go off by itself!”
Higgins said warningly, “Don’t fool with him, boys! Don’t fool with him! Got a temper on him like a team of mules! Don’t work him up, now, don’t work him up. I can’t answer fer it. He’s got the shotgun. It’s in his hands. Heaven only knows what might happen now!”
The one called Wayne, keeping his eyes on the shotgun in Longarm’s hands, reached down for the small man, who was still on the floor. He got him by the upper arm and lifted him easily to his feet. He said, “Get up, Potts. We ain’t wanted here. Man holdin’ a shotgun on us. Get yore head cleared.”
Behind him Frank, still holding his belly, said to Longarm, “What’d you start this fight for, feller? We wadn’t doin’ you no harm.”
Longarm gave him a thin smile, but kept to the demeanor of a stablehand. “I never started no fight, feller. You three was makin’ mighty free with my whiskey. We don’t get that stuff in here ever’ day. I told Herman here”—he jerked his head toward Higgins—“that the day this place run out of whiskey was the day I went walkin’ out of here. Ain’t that right, Herman.”
Higgins stepped forward. He said earnestly, “Oh, my, yeah! Laws, I never thought. We was runnin’ low an’ I never thought, not bein’ partial to the stuff myself, but Bull here won’t be caught short without it.”
Wayne eyed Longarm. “Bull, huh? Well, Bull, we’ll get out. But they will come another day.”
Longarm lifted the shotgun menacingly. “You better hope for yore sake that day don’t come. You gettin’ off light as is and it’s only cause of Herman here. Now pick up what you’ve dropped and git outten here!”
Higgins said placatingly, “Now, Bull, you done whipped ‘em. Don’t be kickin’ ‘em when they are down.”
“They mouthed me, Herman. They mouthed me. An’ you know I don’t stand fer no mouthin’. They went to joshin’ me like I was some hick. You know I don’t take to that.”
Higgins looked at them sorrowfully. “I’m right sorry to hear ‘bout that. Bull ain’t the man to rag ‘bout his country ways. Nosir! Best not to do it.”
They were all up now, standing in a line with their back to the front door. Wayne said, a little blood still running out of his nose, “He don’t fight like no hayseed.” He narrowed his little eyes sunk deep in their sockets. “He fights like somebody seen a good many saloon brawls. He knew who to throw the first punch at.”
Longarm did not care for the way Wayne was talking. It meant his little act was not going over as successfully as he wanted. He said, motioning with the shotgun, “You just put some money on the bar fer them last drinks that ya’ll taken while Herman was outten the room. I seen you through the door. You can’t put one over on me. Now, you better let me hear that silver ring.”
Potts was the one closest to the bar. Wayne said, “Put a couple of dollars down, Potts. Turns out the man is going to rob us in the bargain.”
Longarm drew both hammers back on the big shotgun and raised it to his shoulder. “I reckon that mouth you are talking out of ain’t doing too good a job. What say I make you one in yore belly.”
Higgins said, “Now, Bull. Now, Bull. Take it easy.”
But then Potts dug in his pocket and pitched two silver dollars on the bar. He said, “We never taken no second drink, but there’s money anyway.”
Longarm said, “Now, you fellers, as you like to call other folks who don’t care to be called that, ya’ll get to marchin’ backwards out that door. Step along now.”
He followed them stride for stride as they backed toward the front door. Wayne said, “We leave you enough whiskey? You reckon what’s left will handle you till supplies can arrive?”
Longarm said, “Git!”
Frank said, “For a mule hustler you seem mighty at home with that scattergun.”
“It’s a rabbit-getter. But you three be a bunch bigger than a rabbit. Stay bunched up now, on account of I ain’t got but the two barrels and I’d have to get a brace of you with one shot. And I wouldn’t let a single finger get near them fancy shootin’ irons of yores. Make sure none of them little leather strings falls off the handles neither.”
They were at the door. Frank said, “Now what?”
Longarm was keeping about two yards between them. He said, “Now you rush out there and get on yore horses and see how fast you can get out of shotgun range. But by that time I’ll have a carbine in my hand so I’d keep on goin’ was I you.”
“You just a regular Jesse James, ain’t you.”
“Move! Now! NOW!”
They went through the door in a bunch. Longarm ran up to the wall and peeked around the opening. He could see them getting to their horses and mounting. One started to pull his carbine out of the saddle boot, but Longarm stuck the barrel of the shotgun around the door. They turned their horses and spurred away, heading north. As they rode, Wayne yelled back, “I ain’t forgetting this, hayseed. That other day is coming!”
Longarm turned in time to see the laugh building in Higgins. He clamped his hand over the old man’s mouth and indicated he should be quiet. He nodded his head toward their private quarters. Higgins bobbed his head that he understood, and Longarm took his hand away. Higgins immediately giggled, though in a low tone. He said gravely, “Well, Bull, I reckon we handled them hombres.” Then he couldn’t help himself. He slapped his knee and let out a chortle. “Boy, howdy, that was plumb fun! Is law work always this much fun? Hot damn! I got to tell Sylvie ‘bout this. She’ll have a fit, We shore fooled them, huh, Bull? Heh, heh, heh.”
Longarm rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “I don’t know, Herman. That one was mighty suspicious. I don’t know if my acting like a stable hand fooled him. I did too good in the fight. Stable hands ain’t supposed to know how to fight like that.”
Higgins’s eyes got round. He said, “Boy, I’ll say you done good in the fight. Last thing I saw move that fast was my ol’ woman when she spilt a big pot of bilin’ grits on the floor and her in her bare feet. You whupped up on them some mighty good. And say, I thought we done pretty good way we played our parts.”