He
must be bound securely. The working out of the details of execution he
had left to their own ingenuity. It might have seemed a little thing to
do to greener fellows, but every one of these men was an experienced
cowpuncher, and like all old hands on the range they were perfectly
familiar with the amount of damage which a single armed man can do.
The thing could be done, of course, but the point was to do it with the
minimum of danger. So they waited, and talked, and ate and always from
the corners of their eyes were conscious of the slightly built,
inoffensive man who sat beside Lawlor near the head of the table. In
appearance he was surely most innocuous, but Nash had spoken, and in
such matters they were all willing to take his word with a childlike
faith.
So the meal went on, and the only sign, to the most experienced eye, was
that the chairs were placed a little far back from the edge of the
table, a most necessary condition when men may have to rise rapidly or
get at their holsters for a quick draw.
Calamity Ben bearing a mighty dish of bread pudding, passed directly
behind the chair of the stranger.
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