Also, he arranged guns to go off inside the house at
the least jar. Steele wanted evidence against his enemies. It was not
the pleasantest kind of thing to wait there listening to that drunken
mob. There must have been a hundred men. The disturbance and the intent
worked strangely upon Steele. It made him different. In the dark I
couldn't tell how he looked, but I felt a mood coming in him that fairly
made me dread the next day.
"About midnight we started for our camp here. Steele got in some sleep,
but I couldn't. I was cold and hot by turns, eager and backward, furious
and thoughtful. You see, the deal was such a complicated one, and
to-morrow certainly was nearing the climax. By morning I was sick,
distraught, gloomy, and uncertain. I had breakfast ready when Steele
awoke. I hated to look at him, but when I did it was like being revived.
"He said: 'Russ, you'll trail alongside me to-day and through the rest
of this mess.'
"That gave me another shock. I want to explain to you girls that this
was the first time in my life I was backward at the prospects of a
fight. The shock was the jump of my pulse. My nerve came back. To line
up with Steele against Blome and his gang--that would be great!
"'All right, old man,' I replied.
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