Tex removed his sombrero, turned it over slowly in his hands and stared at its dents. Punching them out and pushing in new ones, he gravely considered them. "Well," he drawled, "you see, if that letter comes--I don’t know how long I’m goin’ to stay in town; but if I did stay, I’d shore do my damndest to pertect property, an’ you havin’ the most of it, you’d nat’rally be pertected more’n others that had less." Williams glanced swiftly at his nephew. "You still expectin’ that letter, Jones?" he slyly demanded. Tex hesitated and turned the hat over again. "Can’t hardly say I am," he admitted, frowning at Henry. "But there’s a sayin’ that hope springs infernal--an’ I reckon that’s th’ h--l of it; a man never knows when to quit waitin’ for it to spring. Meanwhile I got to eat--an’ I like a game of poker once in awhile. Here, tell you what--I’ll take the job as long as I can hold it, if the pay is right. What you reckon the job’s worth, in a lawless, desperate town like this, where no man’s life or property is worth very much?" Williams scowled. "This here town ain’t lawless an’ desperate," he denied. "There ain’t a more peaceable town in Kansas!" "Which same ain’t payin’ no compliments to Kansas towns, once the rains come," chuckled Tex. "I’m admirin’ your humor, Mr. Williams--I ain’t never heard dryer," he beamed in frank admiration. "But, wet or dry, there’s allus them mean low-down cow-wrastlers comin’ to town to likker up--an’ them an’ miners are as friendly as a badger and a dog. Let’s name over them as would want the pertection of a marshal, an’ then figger how much they’d sweeten the pot. Take Carney, now--he ought to be willin’ to ante up han’some, his business bein’ so healthy." "Carney," sneered Williams in open contempt. "Huh! Here, gimme that pencil an’ that old envelope!" He worked laboriously, revised the figures several times and then looked up. "I reckon two hundred a month ought to be enough. Scrub Oak pays that--Willow does likewise. You got your outfit. We furnish th’ office, ammernition, an’ pay extra expenses. That’s th’ best Windsor can do. Yore office will be next door to this store." Tex looked questioningly at Henry, who nodded decisively, and carefully put the hat back on his head. "All right," he said. "When do I start in?" "Right now," answered Williams, fumbling under the counter. "We ain’t got no marshal’s badge, but I got a sheriff’s star somewhere around. He was killed up on Buffaler Crick last spring. Yep--here it is: this’ll do for awhile. Lean over here, Marshal," he chuckled. "There: It ain’t every marshal that’s a sheriff, too." Smiling at Henry he said, jokingly, "Now let her rain!"