“You got the money for all this?” Bodine asked, still expecting a holdup about to occur. “Startin’ with the flour, at twenty cents a pound, that’s gonna run you about . . .”

He paused to look at Dinah Belle then, who replied, “Twenty dollars.”

“Right,” Bodine repeated. “Twenty dollars.”

“Now, I’m buyin’ a lot of supplies from you, so when I buy a hundred-pound bag of flour, I expect to get a better price than that. I know things are higher out here than they are back East, but I’m thinkin’ more like a nickel a pound.”

“Hell, I’d have to get more’n that for it. That’s damn near what I pay for it. How ’bout ten cents a pound?”

“How ’bout eight?” Hawk countered. And so it went, with bargaining continuing with every item on his list. A fascinated bystander, Dinah Belle watched the trading, halfway excited about the size of the order and halfway expecting to be robbed of it and maybe more. When the list was completed, she added up the total cost on a paper sack and pushed it across the counter in front of Hawk. He took a moment to look it over, then said, “Looks right to me.”

Bodine and his wife each took a step back from the counter, with Bodine inching a little closer to the shotgun at the end of the counter. Expecting some such move, Hawk walked directly to the end of the counter, picked up the shotgun, took the shells out of it, and propped it back against the counter. Then he pulled his money out of his pocket and counted out enough to pay for his purchase, a move that took both husband and wife totally by surprise. Amazed by what had just happened, Bodine’s manner was immediately converted to that of a grateful merchant. “You’re gonna need a hand loadin’ all that on your horses,” he volunteered, and came around the counter to help.

“Much obliged,” Hawk said, and put his rifle aside so he could pick up a fifty-pound sack of flour. Dinah Belle picked the rifle up, giving him pause when he wondered if he had taken his bluff too far. But she merely followed him outside and handed it to him after he dropped the sack of flour beside his packhorse. He replaced the rifle in his saddle sling and turned to see Tom Pointer coming from the barn.

When Tom saw who it was and both Bodine and Dinah Belle out in front of the store, he had to stop to think what to do. When Bodine, who was standing there, his arms loaded with smaller sacks, saw Tom, he said, “Don’t just stand there. Give us a hand. There’s another fifty-pound sack of flour in there.” With eyes wide with confusion, Tom went to get the flour.