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growth, no security.
    â€œHere there is no established law yet. We have no marshal, no sheriff, no judge. And until such things exist, the evil must be restrained. A man has been murdered, you have been warned to leave.
    â€œThis country needs men like you. You may not think of yourselves as such, but you are the forerunners of a civilization. Where you are, others will come.”
    â€œAnd how about you, Mr. Chantry?” I asked.
    He smiled, with genuine warmth. “Doby, you’ve asked the key question. How about me? I am a man who’s good with a gun. I’ll be needed until there are enough people, and when there are enough, I shall be outmoded.
    â€œI do not recall any other time in history when men like me existed. Usually it was a baron or a chief who brought peace to an area, but in this country it is often just a man with a gun.”
    â€œI don’t put no stock in guns,” Pa said suddenly. “I figger there should be a better way.”
    â€œSo do I,” Chantry replied. “But had there been no gun today, your son would have been beaten by not just one man but several. Your fence pulled down, your house burned.
    â€œCivilization is a recent thing, sir. With many, it’s still no more than skin deep. If you live in a busy community, you must live with the knowledge that maybe two out of every ten people are only wearing the outer skin of civilization. And if there was no law, or if there was not the restraint of public opinion, they would be utterly savage.…Even some people you might know well.
    â€œMany men and women now act with restraint cause they know it is the right thing to do. They know that if we are to live together we must respect the rights of those around us. Our friends in the mountains do not feel that way. They’ve come to this remote place because they wish to be free of restraint, to be as cruel, as harsh, as brutal as they wish.”
    â€œYou talk like a schoolteacher, Mr. Chantry,” I said.
    He glanced at me. “I wish I was a schoolteacher. It is the most honorable profession, done well.” He smiled at me. “Maybe, in a sense, that’s what I am.”
    â€œYou say when there’re enough people you won’t be needed anymore,” I said boldly. “How long’re you givin’ yourself?”
    â€œTen years. Maybe twenty. Surely not more than thirty. Men become civilized by degrees. By adapting, compromising.”
    â€œA man like you, with your education, I reckon you could do anything,” Pa said.
    Chantry’s smile was grim. “No,” he said. “I’ve had a fine education, good opportunities, but I was trained for nothing.…To be a gentleman, to oversee land, to direct the work of others. To do all that one must have a business, or money to employ.…I have nothing.
    â€œI have read…and riding long distances alone has given me time to think.”
    â€œWhat about that woman up yonder?” Pa asked.
    â€œShe’s to be considered. Most definitely, she’s to be considered.”
    Somethin’ in the way he said it made me uneasy. I liked him…figured he was quite some man, but he worried me, and he knew it. Suddenly I knew. That was his trouble. He
knew
the kind of man he was. Whatever he done, one part of him stood off and watched.
    He walked outside to the steps and lit one of them slim cigars he smoked. He stood there, away from the light, and after helping Pa with the dishes, I followed him.
    â€œHave you seen her, Doby? I mean that girl up there? Have you seen her?”
    â€œNo. I ain’t.”
    He was silent awhile. His cigar glowed in the dark. At last he said, “I’m going up there, Doby. Can you tell me how to get to that cabin?”
    Then I was silent. There was a resentment in me. I had found that cabin my own self. What did he want to go there for? What was the woman to him?
    â€œDon’t know’s I could,” I