"'Zimmer will be clever enough to drift his outfit along one or two at a
time?' I asked Morton, and he reassured me. Then we went into the
saloon.
"There were perhaps sixty or seventy men in the place, more than half of
whom were in open accord with Blome's gang. Of the rest there were many
of doubtful repute, and a few that might have been neutral, yet all the
time were secretly burning to help any cause against these rustlers. At
all events, I gathered that impression from the shadowed faces, the
tense bodies, the too-evident indication of anything but careless
presence there. The windows were open. The light was clear. Few men
smoked, but all had a drink before them. There was the ordinary subdued
hum of conversation. I surveyed the scene, picked out my position so as
to be close to Steele when he entered, and sauntered round to it. Morton
aimlessly leaned against a post.
"Presently Zimmer came in with a man and they advanced to the bar. Other
men entered as others went out. Blome, Bo Snecker, Hilliard, and Pickens
had a table full in the light of the open windows. I recognized the
faces of the two last-named, but I had not, until Morton informed me,
known who they were.
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