Part 2 What Occurred in Glencaid Chapter 15 The Door Closes

"Carry Hampton to his room and summon medical attendance at once," he
ordered. "I have a word to say to those fellows."

Seeing Mr. Wynkoop on the hotel porch, Brant said to him: "Miss Spencer
informed me that you saw a man leap from the back window of the
Occidental. Is that true?"

The missionary nodded.

"Good; then come along with me. I intend breaking the back of this
lynching business right here and now."

He strode directly across the street to the steps of the Occidental,
his clothing scarcely more than smouldering rags. The crowd stared at
him sullenly; then suddenly a reaction came, and the American spirit of
fair play, the frontier appreciation of bulldog courage, burst forth
into a confused murmur, that became half a cheer. Brant did not mince
his words.

"Now, look here, men! If you want any more trouble we 're here to
accommodate you. Fighting is our trade, and we don't mind working at
it. But I wish to tell you right now, and straight off the handle,
that you are simply making a parcel of fools of yourselves. Slavin has
been killed, and nine out of ten among you are secretly glad of it. He
was a curse to this camp, but because some of his friends and
cronies--thugs, gamblers, and dive-keepers--accuse Bob Hampton of
having killed him, you start in blindly to lynch Hampton, never even
waiting to find out whether the charge is the truth or a lie. You act
like sheep, not American citizens. Now that we have pounded a little
sense into some of you, perhaps you'll listen to the facts, and if you
must hang some one put your rope on the right man. Bob Hampton did not
kill Red Slavin. The fellow who did kill him climbed out of the back
window of the Occidental here, and got away, while you were chasing the
wrong man. Mr. Wynkoop saw him, and so did your schoolteacher, Miss
Spencer."