Part 54 (1/2)
”Go on and arrest her. I'll back you up.”
”Will you?” Absolutely no enthusiasm on the part of the marshal.
”G'on! What are you waiting for?” barked the exasperated district attorney.
”I'm waiting for her to put up her gun,” was the truthful reply.
”What you afraid of? She won't shoot. She's only bluffing, I tell you.”
”You arrest her then. I ain't none sure I got a right to. I'm only supposed to make arrests in town. You better get one of the deputies to arrest her, Arthur, I--I'd rather you would.”
The marshal oozed outdoors. The district attorney said something.
”No more of that,” Sam Larder enjoined him. ”You stop your cussin', you hear. There's ladies present.”
”Where?” the district attorney demanded, staring about him insolently.
”My father will ask you what you mean by that,” said Sally Jane.
”I didn't mean you,” mumbled the angry man, perceiving that he had gone a little too far. ”I--I was a li'l hasty, I guess. No offense, ladies, I hope.”
He achieved a clumsy bow and again faced Hazel. ”Now, look here, you can't go on acting this way, you know. You're only hurting your own case. Be reasonable, be reasonable.”
”And let you poke all through my house!” she snapped him up. ”Not much. I don't want any trouble, but I'll have to shoot the first man that goes beyond this room.”
”Told you you'd get her all stirred up,” said Sam Larder.
”We didn't want you to come along anyway, Rale,” contributed Felix Craft. ”You're too buffle-headed for any human use. Y'oughta take things more easy with the girl. If you'd left it to us, everything would have been all right.”
”I suppose busting in with your guns pulled is one way of taking it easy.”
”I notice you had yours out,” supplied Felix.
”I thought the man might be here, same as you,” defended the district attorney.
”Which is why you let us go first,” sneered Sam.
”When you're quite through bickering among yourselves--” drawled Hazel.
”I wish you'd point that rifle somewhere else,” the district attorney remarked uneasily.
”It's all right where it is,” was the instant return.
”I could arrest you, you know, if I wanted to,” he pointed out.
”I heard you say something like that to the marshal,” nodded Hazel.
The district attorney stared a moment.
”Huh!” he muttered finally and strode to the door. ”Hey, Red!” he called. ”Come here a minute, will you?”