"Sooner see his back, any time," the marshal said.
He was very satisfied with the way things were going. If Toler, one of her rival's intimates, spoke in her praise, the Widow would get support. It was working out better than he had hoped.
As the days went by, the fame of the new eating-place grew, and Mullins had the mortification of seeing his customers drop away until only a handful of friends remained. Well aware to whom he owed this state of affairs, he vainly sought a means of striking back. He had sent to verify what he had been told of the marshal, but his messenger had not yet returned. His attempt to bully the butcher failed dismally.
The climax came when Reddy and his bunkie, Shorty, rode in and were promptly convoyed by the marshal to the new establishment. While the meal was in preparation, they were permitted to tiptoe into the bedroom to see the baby. The pudgy, red-faced, blue-eyed morsel of humanity regarded them stolidly.
"What is it?" Shorty wanted to know.
" `It' indeed," the mother repeated, with pretty indignation. "It's a boy." And then laughed at her own slip.
Reddy thrust out a thumb and the infant's tiny fingers closed on it. "He'll shore be a go-getter, ma'am," the cowboy said. "What's his name?"
"David, after my father." The marshal's face clouded. "I knowed a Dave--once," he said. "Them steaks must be mighty close to done." An hour later, three fully-fed men stepped again into the street. The cowboys were loud in their approval.
Jake's savage eyes watched them enter the Red Light. This was the final blow. Hitherto, the Bar O boys had always given their patronage, but now ... A tempest of passion possessed and made him reckless. When the cowboys came out and were crossing the street, he met them; the marshal had stayed behind a moment, talking to Nippert.
"Ain't you fellas fed yet?" Mullins began."Shore, over at the Widow's," Reddy replied.
"Her cookin' is bad."
"If that's so, an' it ain't, yu never oughta touch a pan," Shorty said hluntly.
Jake gave him an ugly look, but the man he burned to quarrel with was now joining them. "So the marshal raked you in, huh?" he sneered. "He shore knows how to fill his pockets at the expense of his friends."
"Meanin'?" Reddy asked.
"That he's back o' the Widow, o' course. She does the work an' he corrals the coin, sorta sleepin'-pardner, in more ways than one." He chuckled at the vile aspersion. "An' there's others, even that bum, Sloppy " He got no further. One long stride, a lightning blow, and the traducer was hurled headlong. The marshal's eyes were blazing.
"Yo're a foul-minded, dirty liar," their owner said through his clenched teeth. Wallowing in the dust, Jake was groping for his gun. "Don't do it, or I'll kill yu an' cheat the rope that's waitin' for yore rotten neck. Take his shootin'-iron, boys." Despite his struggles and curses, he was soon deprived of his weapon, and allowed to stand up. By this time an eager crowd had collected, questioning and wondering. For days past it had been seen that a clash between the two was inevitable; Jake had made no secret of his enmity, but after the shooting match . .
Mullins, his hot eyes glaring at his opponent, his features twisted in a savage grimace, had something to say:
"Well, you got my gun, so you needn't be afeard to pull yore own on me." For a single pulsating second it seemed that the taunted man was about to do that very thing, and Jake's heart missed a beat--he was not tired of life. Then he breathed again as first one and then the other weapon was handed to Reddy.
"Which is what yu'd have done," Sudden said coldly, answering the jeer. "We're even matched now. Yu have in suited a lady this town admires an' respects. For that yo're gettin' a hidin'--one yu'll remember as long as the world has to put up with yu." Into the ruffian's eyes came a gleam of satisfaction; this was something different. Though they were about the same height, he was fully a stone heavier, and had experience in the rough-and-tumble form of fighting, in which anything save the use of a weapon was permissible. The marshal's friends were not pleased; they knew the other man's reputation.
"See here, Jim, you don't have to do this," Nippen expostulated. "Clap him in the calaboose, an' we'll deal with him."
"An' tell all the town I'm scared?" Sudden smiled. "Shucks, you're jokin', Ned."
"He's one hell of a scrapper," the saloon-keeper said dubiously. "If he licks you . . ."
"He was one hell of a shot too," the marshal reminded. "This ain't a duty, but a pleasure." Removing his hat, spectacles, and vest, he stepped into the ring which had been formed. Jake, his rolled-up shirtsleeves displaying hairy, muscular arms, was awaiting him, fists bunched in malignant eagerness. Silence fell on the crowd as the men faced one another.
For a moment they stood motionless, and then Mullins, unable to restrain his passion, rushed forward and flung a furious blow which might have done real damage had it landed. But Sudden swayed away and before the striker could recover his balance, moved in with a straight left which jolted the other's head back and should have taught him a lesson. Dominated, however, by his anger, Jake continued his blind charges, only to encounter that stinging left which stopped him like a brick wall.
The officer, calm, inscrutable, was almost untouched, while Jake was already badly marked, and only exhausting himself with the violence of his efforts to deliver a smashing blow.
"Stan' up an' fight, you white-livered cur," Jake grated. "Where are you?" His fist hurtled through the air as he spoke, but Sudden saw it coming, moved his head so that the vengeful knuckles merely grazed his cheek, and drove his left, not to the jaw this time, but just above the belt.
"I'm right here," he replied grimly.
Jake was incapable of making any retort; the terrible, paralysing punch had driven all the breath from his body, leaving him doubled up, gasping and grunting with pain. Sudden sprang in, his right drawn back for the blow which should end the battle; he had the fellow at his mercy and there was nothing of that in his hard face. Even as he swung to strike, his foot slipped in the churned-up, loose sand of the roadway, and he lost his balance. Instantly Jake saw his opportunity, leapt for the floundering man, and they went down into the dust together. This swift reversal of the situation was all to the liking of the bully's supporters; he might be no match for the marshal with his fists, but when it came to wrestling, biting, and gouging, it was another matter. They yelled encouragement.
"You got him, boy," cried one. "Throttle the " Sloppy, dancing about in a fever of anxiety, appealed to the saloon-keeper. "That ain't fair scrappin', he's got Jim by the throat," he protested. "For a busted nickel "
"Keep outa this," Nippen said sternly. "Nobody can't do nothin'--it's their affair. Jim was unlucky, damn it." Sloppy had reason to be fearful, for his benefactor was truly in a parlous position. The impact of Jake's body had floored him, and before he could prevent it, the claw-like hands had fastened on his neck. Madly he strove to tear them away, to throw off the weight which held him pinned to the ground and wellnigh powerless, but the pitiless thumbs pressing on his windpipe sank deeper and he felt his strength failing. Above him, out of that evil mask, triumphant eyes gloated, and the thin lips were animal-like in their savagery.
"I've got you where I wanted to, Mister Methodis'," the man panted. "This is yore farewell, you interferin' houn'." Sudden's clouding brain was still functioning; where strength could not avail, craft might. He ceased to resist, his form becoming slack, his hands slipping limply to the earth beside him. With a hideous grin of satisfaction, the man on top bent to peer at his victim, only to receive a hand- ful of fine sand full in the eyes. Blinded and smarting, he instinctively recoiled, lessening the pressure, and immediately Sudden's right fist shot up from below and landed just over the heart. It was a fell stroke, one which might well have killed a weaker man, and for the moment, Jake was helpless. Sudden thrust him aside and stood up--waiting.