Read [Texas Rangers 04] - Ranger's Trail for Free Online

though, has he?”
    “ Not yet, but he must be feelin’ like a mule has kicked him in the ribs. He can’t call in the army. All he’s got backin’ him now is a bunch of his old state police and some officeholders who know they’re fixin’ to be out of a job.”
    Rusty was still trying to absorb the fact that the troops were not to be involved. That meant they would not have used the cannon even if it had not been spiked. Last night’s wild sashay had been unnecessary.
    Tanner had waked up with sore ribs and belly from the blow he had taken. He would hurt even more when it soaked in on him that he had taken the punishment for nothing.
    Tom said, “We’re waitin’ for Governor Coke to show up and lead us on a march to the capitol.”
    “ And if Davis won’t give up?”
    “ We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.”
    Richard Coke was tall and heavyset, his white beard neatly trimmed. He wore a suit well tailored to his bulk and projected a sense of dignity the way a governor of Texas was supposed to, in Rusty’s view. In a booming voice he shouted, “Let’s go.”
    Flanked on either side by ex-rangers and Confederate officers Rip Ford and Henry McCulloch, he led the parade of determined men up Congress. In front of the capitol stood a line of well-armed Davis men, appearing just as determined. Coke acted as if he did not see them, never breaking stride. The defenders looked to one another for guidance, for someone to take the initiative and do something. No one did. The Davis men stepped back grudgingly, and the Coke procession marched into the capitol.
    A tall, gaunt, defiant Davis awaited them in the hallway outside of his office. The door was closed. He stared sullenly at Coke.
    Coke said, “Governor Davis, the new legislature has convened and canvassed the vote. They have declared that I am the rightful holder of this office. I respectfully request that you honor the wishes of the people of Texas.”
    Davis glared, his gaze sweeping over the men who faced him. “I do not recognize the election as legitimate. But I see that the laws of the state have been trampled underfoot. The rule of the mob has prevailed.”
    He strode past Coke. His opponents moved aside to let him pass. He did not look to right or left but focused his gaze straight ahead.
    An audible sigh of relief arose from the men clustered in the hallway. One of Coke’s lieutenants tried the door to the governor’s office. “Locked,” he said. “Davis did not turn over the key.”
    Another lieutenant said, “Break it open.”
    Tanner and a couple of others put their shoulders into the task. The door splintered. Tanner stepped back, gripped his belly, and grimaced in pain.
    Inside the office, Davis’s secretary of state still sat at his desk. The lieutenant who had tried the door said, “It’s over. You can leave.”
    The man sat in stubborn silence.
    The lieutenant said, “Some of you escort him outside.”
    A momentary clamor arose as several in the crowd suggested throwing the man out the window, but Coke overruled the idea. “That is the way of the old regime. As of today Texas is steering a new course.”
    Three men lifted the secretary from his chair and hustled him outside. Tanner did not volunteer to join them. He was still holding his stomach.
    The people of Austin, and most of the visitors, celebrated far into the night. Rusty thought of the stable keeper. He wouldn’t be getting much sleep.
    Tom Blessing sat on the ground near the Morris brothers’ campfire, chewing a piece of bacon. He told Rusty, “I’m ready to start home come daylight. You and Andy seen enough of the big city?”
    Rusty glanced at Andy, who put up no argument. “I was ready before we came. But now that it’s over, I’m glad we were here to see it. It’ll be somethin’ to tell our grandchildren about someday.”
    “ Andy’s too young to be thinkin’ about grandchildren. And you ain’t even married.”
    “ I’m figurin’ on fixin’