Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{“Mister, before your letter ever has time t’ get there, I’ll already have reported the whole thing myself. Count on it.” Longarm winked at Police Chief Bevvy and looked back through the narrow passenger coach. All the men seemed awake. But then they would be. They all knew they were riding toward a good likelihood of gunsmoke and hot lead. A man tends to pay attention when that’s what he expects to see in front of him soon.}

_{“How far?” Longarm asked the conductor.}

_{“I won’t tell you.”}

_{“All right.” Longarm leaned out of the window and tried to look ahead down the tracks, but the night was dark and all he could see up front was a yellow glow coming from the engineer’s cab and a pale white glow farther ahead from the weak carbide lamp mounted on the front of the small engine.}

_{“You want me to arrest him, Longarm?” Bevvy suggested. “What charge?”}

_{“Obstructing justice.”}

_{“It wouldn’t hold up in court.”}

_{“No, but it might be three, four weeks before the judge has time to hear the case. He’d have to sit in jail until then.” “You do what you think best, Boo.”}

_{“Four miles,” the conductor said quickly. “Uh, more or less.”}

_{“Thank you.”}

_{The conductor turned and beat a retreat in the direction of the tiny caboose. Bevvy winked at Longarm and got a grin back.}

_{“We’ll be in Tipson in ten minutes or less,” Bevvy called to the men in the coach. “Everybody get ready.”}

_{There was a rattle of steel clashing on steel when Winchester levers were cranked as the posse members checked the function of their guns. Others snapped shotgun breeches open to inspect their chambers and make sure the guns were charged with man-sized buckshot and not puny bird shot. If there was any shooting tonight it would be to kill, not to scare.}

_{“Five minutes,” Bevvy called out.}

_{“Remember, dammit, don’t any of you start anything,” Longarm reminded them. “I’m taking responsibility for this, so don’t none of you jump the gun on me. We’ll do this nice and easy if we can, or the hard way only if we have to.”}

_{A few of the possemen looked like they would have preferred to go it the hard way regardless, but those men were in the minority.}