Beasley looked more or less reluctant, but he presently complied
with Reade's request. Then Tom called upon another prominent citizen of
Paloma in the crowd for a speech.
"Let the coyotes go--until daylight," was the final verdict of the
crowd, though there was an ominous note in the expressed decision.
In stony silence the crowd now parted to let Jim Duff and his fellows go
away.
Within sixty seconds the last of them had run the gauntlet of contempt
and vanished.
"Someone told me," scoffed Beasley, "that a gambler is a man of courage,
polish, brains and good manners. I reckon Jim Duff isn't a real
gambler, then."
"Yes, he is!" shouted another. "He's one of the real kind--sometimes
smooth, but always bound to fatten on the money that belongs to other
men."
"Jim can leave town, I reckon," grimly declared another old settler.
"We have savings banks these days, and we don't need gamblers to carry
our money for us."
"Speech, Reade! Speech!" insisted Mr. Beasley good-humoredly.
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