Venters made thet same room some still an' chilly when he
called Tull; but this was different. I give my word, Miss
Withersteen, thet I went cold to my very marrow. I don't know
why. But Lassiter had a way about him thet's awful. He spoke a
word--a name--I couldn't understand it, though he spoke clear as
a bell. I was too excited, mebbe. Judge Dyer must hev understood
it, an' a lot more thet was mystery to me, for he pitched forrard
out of his chair right onto the platform.
"Then them five riders, Dyer's bodyguards, they jumped up, an'
two of them thet I found out afterward were the strangers from
Stone Bridge, they piled right out of a winder, so quick you
couldn't catch your breath. It was plain they wasn't Mormons.
"Jengessen, Carter, an' Wright eyed Lassiter, for what must hev
been a second an' seemed like an hour, an' they went white en'
strung. But they didn't weaken nor lose their nerve.
"I hed a good look at Lassiter. He stood sort of stiff, bendin' a
little, an' both his arms were crooked an' his hands looked like
a hawk's claws. But there ain't no tellin' how his eyes looked. I
know this, though, an' thet is his eyes could read the mind of
any man about to throw a gun. An' in watchin' him, of course, I
couldn't see the three men go fer their guns. An' though I was
lookin' right at Lassiter--lookin' hard--I couldn't see how he
drawed. He was quicker 'n eyesight--thet's all.
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