“I’d run the fellow out of town,” said Dan Anderson.  “If there was that sort of a traitor here, by God!  I’d kill him.”

“We never did have no man go back on us here,” Uncle Jim Brothers remarked.

“Don’t say that to me!” Dan Andersen’s voice was shaken.  “You’ve fed me, Uncle Jim.  Don’t say that to me.”

“Then what shall we say, man?” replied Uncle Jim.  “We want to be fair with you.  But let me tell you, you don’t own this valley. We own it.  There’s other places in the world besides the States, and don’t you forget that.  We didn’t think you’d ever try to bring States ways in here.”

“To hell with the States!” said McKinney, tersely.

“And States ways with them!” added Doc Tomlinson.  “I’d like to see any railroad, or any States, or any United States government, try to run this place.”  Unconsciously he slapped his hand upon the worn scabbard at his hip, and without thought others in the group eased their pistol belts.  It was the Free State of Heart’s Desire.

“Well, by God!” said Uncle Jim Brothers, snapping and throwing away the pinon twig which he had been fumbling, “if we don’t want no railroad, we don’t have it, and that goes!”

“Of course,” broke in Learned Counsel.  “We all know that.  That’s a small thing.  The big question is whether or not we’ve been fair to my client.  I’ve not had time yet to go fully into his case.  We’ll have to continue this trial.  We’ve got to have fair play.”

“That’s right enough,” assented McKinney, and the others nodded.

“Then wait a while.  You can’t settle this thing until my client has had time to talk with me.  I’ll find out what he ought to tell.”

“All right for that, too,” agreed Uncle Jim Brothers.  “But about that railroad, we’ll hold court right here.  We’ll send out a summons to them folks, and have a meetin’ here, and we’ll see which is which and what is what in this town.”

“That’s fair enough,” assented Learned Counsel.  “We’ll try the railroad, and we’ll try my client at the same time.”

“Write out the summons,” said Doc Tomlinson.  “Send word down to them railroad folks to come up here and be tried.  It’s time we knew who was boss, them or us.  Go ahead, you’re a lawyer; fix it up.”

They ignored Dan Anderson, their long-time leader in all matters of public interest!  Eventually it was Doc Tomlinson himself who drafted the document, one of the most interesting of the Territorial records—­a summons whereby civilization was called before the bar of primitive man.  These presents being signed and sealed, a messenger was sought for their delivery.  None better offered than a half-witted sheepherder commonly known as Willie, who chanced to be in town by buckboard from the lower country.  This much accomplished, the meeting at Whiteman’s corral broke up.

Learned Counsel took his client by the arm and led him away.  “You need not say much to your lawyer,” he remarked; “but while I don’t ask you to incriminate yourself even with your counsel, I only want to say that a Girl is, in a great many decisions of the upper courts, held to be an extenuating circumstance.”  He watched the twitch of Dan Anderson’s face, but the latter would not speak.