CHAPTER 14THE FIVE MEN gathered in the rear room of Milliard’s store waited in uneasy silence. Each knew why they were there, each knew that the decision which they reached might affect the whole future of the tows, and each nursed his small dream of what that future might mean to him.
Andrew Hyde, the mayor, was an impatient man. He kept pulling out his big hunting-case watch, snapping it open and glancing at the ornate face.
“Powell should have been here fifteen minutes ago.”
“He’ll come,” said John Kleban. “There’s one thing about Bruce Powell—he carries out his obligations.”
Len Milliard sounded querulous. “Personally I don’t like all this wild talk, this wild guessing. I’ll admit Que Layton is a brute, but I’ve always found Clayton Daigle trustworthy.”
Everyone except the marshal
