He was loose an'----"
"Yes," broke in Tex, "he was. I ain't here to pronounce no benediction
of blessedness on Purdy's remains. But, you got to recollect that most
of the jury, picked out at random, is in the same boat--loose, an'
needin' killin', which they know as well as you an' me do, an'
consequent ain't a-goin' to establish no oncomfortable precedent.
Suppose any pilgrim was allowed to step off'n a train any time he
happened to be comin' through, an' pick off a loose one? What would
Choteau County's or any other county's he-population look like in a
year's time, eh? It would look like the hair-brush out here in the
wash-room, an' you could send in the votin' list on a cigarette paper.
No, sir, the pilgrim ain't got a show if he's got to face a jury.
There's only one way out, an' there's about fifteen or twenty of the
boys that's willin' to give him a chance. We're a-goin' to bust him
out of jail an' put him on a horse an' run him up some cottonwood
coulee with a rope around his neck."
Alice Marcum, who had followed every word, turned chalk-white in the
lamplight as she stared wide-eyed at the Texan, with fingers pressed
tight against her lips, while Jennie placed herself protectingly
between them and launched into a perfect tirade.
"Hold on, now." Both girls saw that the man was smiling and Jennie
relapsed into a warlike silence.
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