Notes 12

“You don’t think they will be back, do you?” Lisa asked anxiously. “Not hardly,” LeRoy said with a little laugh. “I think we put the fear of the
devil in ’em.” “Yeah, I think we did, too,” Ed said. “But I also think it might be a good idea for one of us to stay awake all night, just to make
sure they don’t come back.” “Oh, would you do that, Mr. Sanders?” Lisa asked. “Thank you. I would be ever so grateful.” “Gentlemen, I think
the fun is over for the night,” Matt said. “I reckon so,” Ed said, then he laughed. “They sure as hell skedaddled when you told ’em to get out
o’ gun range.” Ed and the other two men started toward the bunkhouse as Matt and Lisa went back into the main house. “Good night,” she
said. Barely waiting long enough for his reply, and avoiding any physical contact, even if it was accidental, she hurried quickly into the
bedroom where Hugh, blissfully unware of the entire encounter, was sound asleep. Matt, who had brought his bedroll in, lay it out on the
floor and within minutes was asleep. Rongis The next morning, Matt rode into town, where he stopped by the newspaper office to visit with
Art Walhausen. “What you should do is ask Judge Briggs to issue an injunction,” Art said. “A what?” “It’s a court order that would prevent
any of the Regulators from coming onto Hugh Conway’s property.” “The same judge who let those murderers go, and who levied a
postmortem tax on the Circle Dot so that Kennedy and O’Neil could steal the ranch? Is that the judge you’re talking about? Art, you and I
both know that Briggs isn’t likely to do that, and even if he did do it, it wouldn’t stop them. Briggs’s court is a joke.”
• “I know, but in this case we aren’t appealing to Briggs’s court as much as we are to the
court of public opinion.” Art smiled. “And in the court of public opinion, I am the judge.” *
* * “Why should I issue such an injunction?” Judge Briggs said in reaction to Matt’s
request. “The purpose of the Regulators is to provide all the ranchers protection against
stock rustling, and in order to do so, they must have freedom of motion. Your request is
denied.” “All right,” Art said with a smile as they left Briggs’s office. “Now my court will be
in session.” Two days later, Art’s “court of public opinion” was convened by way of an
article that appeared in the Gazette. Regulators Make Late-Night Visit To the Spur and
Latigo Ranch WOULD-BE LYNCH MOB TURNED AWAY BY ACTING SHERIFF MATT JENSEN
Two days ago the same men who lynched Mr. and Mrs. Jim Andrews paid a visit to the
Spur and Latigo Ranch. The expressed purpose of their visit was to hold Mr. Hugh Conway
to account for the alleged theft of ten Circle Dot cows. But when they arrived at the ranch
and made their spurious accusation, they learned that there were no such cows on the
ranch. However, while there were no cows present at the ranch when they arrived, there
had been ten cows on the ranch earlier. Those cows had been discovered by Mr. Conway,
who, in his attempt to turn them away from his ranch, was shot from ambuscade.