“The last thing Allister did,” said Andrew,
“was to make me his lieutenant. It’s
the last thing he did, and I’m going to push
it through. Not because I like the job.”
He raised his head, but not his voice. “They
may run down the rest of you. They won’t
run down me. They can’t. They’ve
tried, and they can’t. And I might be able
to keep the rest of you clear. I’m going
to try. But I won’t follow the lead of any
of you. If there’d been one that could keep
the rest of you together, d’you think Allister
wouldn’t have seen it? Don’t you think
he would of made that one leader? Why, look at
you! Jeff, you’d follow Clune. But
would Larry or Scottie follow Clune? Look at ’em
and see!”
All eyes went to Clune, and then the glances of Scottie
and La Roche dropped.
“Nobody here would follow La Roche. He’s
the best man we’ve got for some of the hardest
work, but you’re too flighty with your temper,
Larry, and you know it. We respect you just as
much, but not to plan things for the rest of us.
Is that straight?
“And you, Scottie,” said Andrew, “you’re
the only one I’d follow. I say that freely.
But who else would follow you? You’re the
best of us all at headwork and planning, but you don’t
swing your gun as fast, and you don’t shoot
as straight as Jeff or Larry or Joe. Is that straight?”
“What’s leading the gang got to do with
fighting?” asked Scottie harshly. “And
who’s got the right to the head of things but
me?”
“Ask Allister what fighting had to do with the
running of things,” said Andrew calmly.
The moon was sliding up out of the east; it changed
the faces of the men and made them oddly animallike;
they stared, fascinated, at Andrew.
“There’s two reasons why I’m going
to run this job, if we stick together. Allister
named them once. I can take advice from any one
of you; I know what each of you can do; I can plan
a job for you; I can lead you clear of the law—and
there’s not one of you that can bully me or
make me give an inch—no, nor all of you
together—La Roche! Macdougal!
Clune! Rankin!”
It was like a roll call, and at each name a head was
jerked up in answer, and two glittering eyes flashed
at Andrew—flashed, sparkled, and then became
dull. The moonlight had made his pale skin a deadly
white, and it was a demoniac face they saw. The
silence was his answer.
“Jeff,” he commanded, “take the
hill. You’ll stand the watch tonight.
And look sharp. If Dozier got Allister he’s
apt to come at us. Step on it!”
And Jeff Rankin rose without a word and lumbered to
the top of the hill. Larry la Roche suddenly
filled his cup with boiling hot coffee, regardless
of the heat, regardless of the dirt in the cup.
His hand shook when he raised it to his lips.
