"I reckon I'll take charge of this now!" he sneered, his brutal face close to Hollis's. Hollis would have struck the face that was so close to his, but at the instant he saw Dunlavey's hand reach out for the hat he saw another hand dart out from the other side of the table, seize the hat, and draw it out of Dunlavey's reach. "I don't reckon that you'll take charge of her!" said a voice. Hollis turned quickly. Over the table leaned Ten Spot, the captured hat in his hand, a big forty-five in the other, a cold, evil glitter in his eyes as he looked up at Dunlavey. "I don't reckon that you're goin' to have a hand in runnin' this show a-tall, Bill," he sneered. "Me an' my friends come down here special to tend to that." He grinned the shallow, hard grin that marks the passing of a friendship and the dawn of a bitter hatred. "You see, Bill, me an' my friends has got sorta tired of the way you've been runnin' things an' we're shufflin' the cards for a new deal. This here tenderfoot which you've been a-slanderin' shameful is man's size an' we're seein' that he gits a fair shake in this here. I reckon you git me?" Hollis felt Norton poking him in the ribs, but he did not turn; he was too intent upon watching the two principal actors in the scene. Tragedy had been imminent; comedy was slowly gaining the ascendency. For at the expression that had come over Dunlavey's face several of the men were grinning broadly. Were the stakes not so great Hollis would have felt like smiling himself. Dunlavey seemed stunned. He stood erect, passing his hand over his forehead as though half convinced that the scene were an illusion and that the movement of the hand would dispel it. Several times his lips moved, but no words came and he turned, looking about at the men who were gathered around him, scanning their faces for signs that would tell him that they were not in sympathy with Ten Spot. But the faces that he looked upon wore mocking grins and sneers. "An' I've been tellin' the boys how you set Yuma on Nellie Hazelton, an' they've come to the conclusion that a guy which will play a low down mean game like that on a woman ain't no fit guy to have no hand in any law makin'." Ten Spot's voice fell coldly and metallically in the silence of the room. Slowly recovering from the shock Dunlavey attempted a sneer, which gradually faded into a mirthless smile as Ten Spot continued: "An' you ain't goin' to have a hand in any more law-makin' in this man's town. Me an' my friends is goin' to see to that, an' my boss, Mr. Hollis. I reckon that'll be about all. You don't need to hang around here while we do the rest of the votin'. Watkins an' Greasy c'n stay to see that everything goes on regular." He grinned wickedly as Dunlavey stiffened. "I reckon you know me, Bill. I ain't palaverin' none. You an' Ten Spot is quits!"