Brannan looked him up and down. "Because I'm trying to serve the commonwealth--which is more than a drunken deserter from his ship can claim," he shot back hotly, "but I'm going to buy my share, never fear. Bill Leidesdorff's my agent. He has $5,000 and my power of attorney. That's fair enough, isn't it boys? Or, shall we let the sailor act as auctioneer?" "No! No!" a dozen cried. "'Rah for Sam. Go on! You're doin' fine!" "Thank you," Brannan acknowledged. "Who's to make the first bid? Speak up, now, don't be bashful." "Twenty-five dollars," called Juana Briones. "Thirty," said a voice behind her, a voice that caused young Windham and his sister to start, involuntarily. "McTurpin," whispered Inez to Adrian. "Thirty-five," spoke Juana, imperturbably. "Forty." Brannan looked straight into McTurpin's eyes. "Sold to Juana Briones for thirty-five dollars," he said, as his improvised gavel fell on the table before him. "I bid forty!" stormed McTurpin. All eyes turned to him. But Brannan paid him no attention. Someone laughed. "Next! Who bids?" invited the auctioneer. "Twenty-five," began Benito. This time there were other bidders, all of whom Brannan recognized courteously and promptly. Finally, Benito's bid of fifty seemed to win. Then McTurpin shouted, "Fifty-five!" Brannan waited for a moment. There were no more bids. "Sold to Benito Windham for fifty dollars," he announced. "Curse you!" cried the gambler, pushing forward, "you heard me bid higher, Sam Brannan!" Into his path stepped the tall figure of Robert Windham. "We are not taking bids from convicts," he said, loudly and distinctly. CHAPTER XV THE BEGINNING OF LAW McTurpin's look of blind astonishment at Windham's words was succeeded by a whitehot fury. Two eyes gleamed with snake-like venom and two spots of red glowed in his cheeks, as though each had felt the impact of a sudden blow. For a moment he neither moved nor spoke. Then a hand, which trembled slightly, made a lightning move toward his hip. "I wouldn't," drawled the voice of Robert Windham. His right hand, loosely in a pocket of his coat, moved slightly. "I've got you covered, Sydney Duck McTurpin ... if that's your real name." The other's hand fell at his side. The two men's glances countered, held each other, one calm, dignified, unafraid; the other, murderous, searching, baffled. Presently, McTurpin turned and strode away. Windham looked after the departing gambler. "'Fraid I've spoiled his morning," he remarked to Nathan Spear. "Yes--to chance a knife or bullet in the back," retorted Spear, uneasily. Their further confidence was drowned in Brannan's exhortations: "On with the sale, boys," he shouted. "The side show's over ... with nobody hurt, thank Heaven! What'll you bid for a lot in the southern part of town? They're a hundred varas square--four times as big as the others. Not as central, maybe, but in ten years I bet they'll bring a thousand dollars. What's bid for a south lot, my hearties?"