He was satisfied. Let Bill Watkins be defeated for sheriff and Dunlavey was beaten. But there was much to be done before that desirable end could be achieved.
Following the custom the primary was to be held in the sheriff's office. Watkins had issued a proclamation some weeks before; it had appeared on the door of the sheriff's office--a written notice, tacked to the door--but it had been removed the same day. Obviously, it was the sheriff's intention to conduct the primary as quietly as possible, hoping no doubt to disarm whatever opposition might develop. But Hollis had been apprised of the appearance of the proclamation and had quietly proceeded to plant the seed of opposition to Watkins in the minds of his friends.
He had been warned by Judge Graney that Watkins would try to "pack" the sheriff's office with his friends on the night of the primary. This had been the usual method employed by Dunlavey when opposition to Watkins developed. Drunken, dissolute, dangerous men were usually on hand to overawe the opposition; the Judge told of instances in which gunplay had developed. But Hollis had determined that Watkins must be beaten.
Allen did not stay long in the _Kicker_ office. Nor, for that matter, did Hollis. Once, during the morning, he went down to the court house to talk with Judge Graney. Then he returned to the _Kicker_ office and worked until noon.
During the morning there had been a surprising influx of visitors. Bronzed punchers on dusty, drooping ponies rode down the town's one street, dropped from their saddles, and sought the saloons. Groups of them swarmed the streets and the stores. As Hollis walked down to his office after leaving the court house, he was kept busy nodding to friends--many of whom had become such during the later days of the drought. Merchants grinned at him from their doorways; Dunlavey's friends sneered as he passed or sent ribald jokes after him.
At noon he went to the Alhambra for lunch. Almost the first person he saw there was Dunlavey. The latter grinned at him mockingly.
"Friends of yours in town to-day," he said with a sneer. "Well, you'll need them!"
His voice had been loud enough for all in the restaurant to hear. Hollis did not answer, though he appreciated the significance of Dunlavey's words; they told him that the Circle Cross manager was aware of the contemplated contest and was ready for it.