Isom ran to the door, then back to the window.

“I cant arrest nobody. The word’s gone out but the boys aint here yet. We cant arrest no twelve gun thugs without a lot of men.”

“You got the warrants?” I asked.

“Daddy brung em down from Justice day before yesterday.”

Outside the Jenkinjones local pulled in and the gun thugs, along with the two gentlemen in pinstripes, boarded the train.

“They’re either goddamn arrogant and complacent, or they’re scairt half to death,” I said softly.

“They’re arrogant,” C.J. said. “They dont think nobody would dare touch em. Why else would old man Felts send his brothers in here?”

“Shall we try to foller them up to Jenkinjones, stop the evictions?” Isom asked.

“No,” I said. “Hit’s too late for that. But we’ll be waiting when they come back.”

Two score of miners arrived from Ermel’s with their Winchester rifles. Isom sent them to the hotel windows overlooking the depot and into the hardware store that fronted the tracks. Antoine Jones had charge of the men in the hardware store. C.J., Ermel, Albion Freeman, Doc, Isom and I gathered in the hotel lobby. We decided that Doc and Ermel would remain in charge of the hotel.

“Where’s your gun, preacher?” Isom asked.

“I aint toting one.”

Isom looked at me and raised his eyebrows, said, “That’s all right. I got this here under control.”

We hung around the lobby and tried to make small talk about the new baseball season. Ermel, usually so careful of the appearance of his hotel, tapped his cigarette ashes onto the green patterned carpet. At 4:30 a miner stuck his head in the door. “Jenkinjones local’s coming back down.”

We tried to walk slowly out to the platform. We waited with our hands in our pockets, not looking at one another.

Talcott stepped up and tapped me on the shoulder. “I’m going to help you boys.”

“Go on back to the hotel.”

“Shit!” he said, and disappeared.

Isom paced the platform. It was strange to see him so agitated. I put my arm around him.

“Just arrest them,” I said.

“Right. Then git drunk as hell.”

C.J. kept glancing at his watch. The train whistle blew around the bend. Isom shook me by the shoulders.

“You got to git back. I dont want you messed up in this.”

“Aw, I thought this here was settled.”

“I just been thinking. They see you up this close, they might be tempted to shoot you. Go on! Git!”

He shoved me back roughly and I retreated to the doorway of the hardware store. I saw Talcott standing behind the depot. His hand rested on the brown handle of a pistol at his belt. I motioned to him to join me but he just grinned and waved back. Antoine handed me a Winchester.

“If you’re going to stand in that doorway, hold this back behind you,” he said. “Aint no sense to alarm em.”