His habit
had been to say "do this" and it was done. Though he was no longer
acting captain of the Police Guard, he always acted as captain
whenever he was on hand, and always he was the undisputed leader
in all questions of business, politics or the maintenance of order
and law. The success he had forged had hardened and strengthened
his mouth, steeled his eyes and made him more masterful in manner,
speech and point of view, and naturally had added nothing to his
gentleness, his unselfishness, his refinement or the nice
consideration of little things on which women lay such stress. It
was an hour by sun when he clattered through the gap and pushed
his tired black horse into a gallop across the valley toward the
town. He saw the smoke of the little dummy and, as he thundered
over the bridge of the North Fork, he saw that it was just about
to pull out and he waved his hat and shouted imperiously for it to
wait. With his hand on the bell-rope, the conductor, autocrat that
he, too, was, did wait and Hale threw his reins to the man who was
nearest, hardly seeing who he was, and climbed aboard. He wore a
slouched hat spotted by contact with the roof of the mines which
he had hastily visited on his way through Lonesome Cove.
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