Tex languidly arose and removed the pair of guns and the belts, laying them gently on the floor. He pitched his sombrero on the bunk and faced his caller. "Mebby I didn’t understand you," he coldly suggested. "What was it you said?" Williams raised both hands in quick protest, one foot fishing desperately behind him for the ground below the sill. "Nothin’ to make you go on th’ prod," he hastily explained. "Listen to me, Williams," said the cool peace officer, his voice level and unemotional. "Anybody callin’ me a coward wants to go into action fast, an’ keep on goin’ fast. That includes everybody from King Solomon right down to date. I’m responsible for th’ peace in this town, an’ when _anybody_ starts smashin’ it I’ll go ’em a whirl. Yellin’, ridin’ fast, an’ shootin’ in th’ air, ’specially by sober men, ain’t smashin’ nothin’ in a town like this. I don’t aim to run no nursery, nor even a kindergarden. I ain’t makin’ a fool out of myself an’ turnin’ th’ law into a joke. Once let ridicule start an’ h--l’s pleasant by contrast. They ain’t shootin’ now. Th’ first shot fired inside any buildin’, or dangerously low, an’ I inject myself an’ my two guns. I can’t make no arrests on a blind guess, mine nor yourn. You better go back to th’ store an’ keep th’ vinegar from sourin’ on its mother." Williams’ jaw dropped. This was not Tex Jones at all, at least it didn’t sound like him. "As th’ owner of th’ most valuable property in town I want them coyotes stopped from ruinin’ it. I----" "When they show any signs of ruinin’ _any_ property I’ll step in an’ stop ’em," the marshal assured him. "I got my ears open, an’ had my authority buckled on--which I’ll now resume wearin’." He picked up a heavy belt and slung it around him, deftly catching the free end as it slapped against him. "We’ll have law an’ order, Williams--even if I have to fill some fool as full of holes as a prairie-dog town; but I ain’t goin’ out an’ trample on a man’s pride an’ make him get killed defendin’ it, unless I got good reason to. This is a long speech, but I’m goin’ to make it longer so I can impress somethin’ on yore mind. Bein’ a busy merchant you’ve mebby never had time to think about it much; but me, bein’ a marshal, I _got_ to think of everythin’ like that. This is one of ’em: When bad feelin’s exist between two classes, helpin’ one ag’in’ th’ other, without honest reasons, is only goin to make more bitterness. It can be held down only by impersonal justice. That’s me. I don’t give a d--n what a man is as long as he behaves hisself." Picking up the second belt he slung it around him the other way and buckled it behind him. As he shook them both to a more comfortable fit a yell rang out up near the hotel, followed by a shot. Grabbing his hat from the bunk he pushed Williams out of his way and dashed through the door, flinging over his shoulder: "I’m injectin’ myself _now_! You better go look to th’ vinegar!"