“I mean Uncle John ain’t here right now,” I said. “Kind of ‘pears like he got tired of waitin’ for you.”

Tom’s mouth gaped open, and he looked around wildly. Everybody began to laugh, because naturally Uncle John had skipped out, and the expression on Tom’s face was a sight to see.

He cussed me; he cussed the crowd. Then, he jumped on his mare and rode away, heeling her so hard in the flanks that she screamed with pain.

I stomped the sidewalk board back in place. Robert Lee Jefferson, the owner of the hardware store, caught my eye and motioned me to come inside. I went in, and followed him back to his little office.

Robert Lee Jefferson was the county attorney as well as the store owner, there not being enough work in the job to interfere with his business. I sat down, and he told me I’d handled the situation with Tom Hauck real well, and that Tom would surely have a lot of respect for law and order from now on.

“In fact, I imagine the whole town will, don’t you, Nick? All those noble taxpayers who observed the manner in which you maintained the peace.”

“I guess you mean just the opposite of what you’re sayin’,” I said. “Just what do you think I should have done, Robert Lee?”

“Why, you should have arrested Hauck, of course! Thrown him in jail! I’d have been delighted to prosecute him.”

“But what could I arrest him for? I sure couldn’t do it for whippin’ a colored fella.”

“Why not?”

“Aw, now,” I said. “Aw, now, Robert Lee. You don’t really mean that, do you?”

He looked down at his desk, hesitating a moment. “Well, maybe not. But there are other charges you could have got him on. Being drunk in a public place, for example. Or hunting out of season. Or wifebeating. Or, uh—”

“But Robert Lee,” I said. “Everyone does those things. A lot of people, anyways.”

“Do they? I haven’t noticed any of them being brought into court for prosecution.”

“But I can’t arrest everyone! Pretty near everyone.”

“We’re talking specifically about one man. One mean, no-good, drunken, shiftless, lawbreaking wifebeater. Why didn’t you make an example out of him for other men of his type?”

I said I just didn’t rightly know, since he put it that way. I just didn’t know; but I’d do some studyin’ about it, and if I came up with an answer I’d tell him.

“I already know the answer,” he said curtly. “Everyone with a lick of sense knows it. You’re a coward.”

“Now, I don’t know as I’d say that, “I said. “I ain’t sayin’ that I ain’t a coward, but—”

“If you’re afraid to do your job by yourself, why don’t you hire a deputy? The county provides funds for one.”

“Why, I already got a deputy,” I said, “my wife. I deputized Myra, so’s she could do my office for me.”

Robert Lee Jefferson stared at me grimly.