I had no doubt then that Steele intended to make him stand out before
this crowd as the real mayor of Linrock or as a man whose office was a
sham.
"I've arrested a criminal," said Steele. "Bud Snell. I charge him with
assault on Jim Hoden and attempted robbery--if not murder. Snell had a
shady past here, as the court will know if it keeps a record."
Then I saw Snell hunching down on a bench, a nerveless and shaken man
if there ever was one. He had been a hanger-on round the gambling dens,
the kind of sneak I never turned my back to.
Jim Hoden, the restaurant keeper, was present also, and on second glance
I saw that he was pale. There was blood on his face. I knew Jim, liked
him, had tried to make a friend of him.
I was not dead to the stinging interrogation in the concluding sentence
of Steele's speech. Then I felt sure I had correctly judged Steele's
motive. I began to warm to the situation.
"What's this I hear about you, Bud? Get up and speak for yourself," said
Sampson, gruffly.
Snell got up, not without a furtive glance at Steele, and he had
shuffled forward a few steps toward the mayor. He had an evil front,
but not the boldness even of a rustler.
"It ain't so, Sampson," he began loudly.
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