From some mysterious place a barrel was passed along from hand to hand.
It was set down before the young chief engineer, and ready hands hoisted
him to the upturned end of the barrel.
"Speech!" roared a thousand voices.
Tom, grinning good-humoredly, then waved his arms as though to still the
tumult of voices. Gradually the cheering died down, then ceased.
Bang! sounded further down the Street, and the flash of a rifle was
seen.
Tom Reade, his speech unmade, fell from the barrel into the arms of
those crowded about him.
CHAPTER XV
MR. DANES INTRODUCES HIMSELF
Daylight found Jim Duff and some of his cronies of the night before
either absent from Paloma, or else securely hidden.
Fred Ransom, the Colthwaite Company's representative, had also vanished.
Proprietor Ashby, of the Mansion House, was reported to be skulking in
his hotel, as he did not show his face on the streets.
Morning also brought calmer counsel to the real men of Paloma. They
were now glad that they had not sullied themselves by acts of violence.
Pages:
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174