horde of bold men.

At first there had not only been great conjecture among the vicious
element, with which I had begun to affiliate myself, but also a very
decided checking of all kinds of action calculated to be conspicuous to
a keen eyed Ranger.

Steele did not hide, but during these opening days of his stay in
Linrock he was not often seen in town. At the tables, at the bars and
lounging places remarks went the rounds:

"Who's thet Ranger after? What'll he do fust off? Is he waitin' fer
somebody? Who's goin' to draw on him fust--an' go to hell? Jest about
how soon will he be found somewhere full of lead?"

Those whom it was my interest to cultivate grew more curious, more
speculative and impatient as time went by. When it leaked out somewhere
that Steele was openly cultivating the honest stay-at-home citizens, to
array them in time against the other element, then Linrock showed its
wolf teeth hinted of in the letters to Captain Neal.

Several times Steele was shot at in the dark and once slightly injured.
Rumor had it that Jack Blome, the gunman of those parts, was coming in
to meet Steele. Part of Linrock awakened and another part, much smaller,
became quieter, more secluded.

Strangers upon whom we could get no line mysteriously came and went. The
drinking, gambling, fighting in the resorts seemed to gather renewed
life. Abundance of money floated in circulation.