"So thet's that Texas Ranger, Steele, hey?
Never seen him before.

All Texas, thet Ranger!" I lingered downtown as much to enjoy the sensation as to gain the different points of view.
No doubt about the sensation! In one hour every male resident of Linrock and almost every female had viewed the wreck of Martin's place.
A fire could not have created half the excitement.
And in that excitement both men and women gave vent to speech they might not have voiced at a calmer moment.

The women, at least, were not afraid to talk, and I made mental note of the things they said.
"Did he do it all alone ?" "Thank God a _man's_ come to Linrock." "Good for Molly Price!" "Oh, it'll make bad times for Linrock." It almost seemed that all the women were glad, and this was in itself a vindication of the Ranger's idea of law.
The men, however--Blandy, proprietor of the Hope So, and others of his ilk, together with the whole brood of idle gaming loungers, and in fact even storekeepers, ranchers, cowboys--all shook their heads sullenly or doubtfully.
Striking indeed now was the absence of any joking.

Steele had showed his hand, and, as one gambler said: "It's a hard hand to call." The truth was, this Ranger Service was hateful to the free-and-easy Texan who lived by anything except hard and honest work, and it was damnably hateful to the lawless class.

Steele's authority, now obvious to all, was unlimited; it could go as far as he had power to carry it.
From present indications that power might be considerable.