The English Bob subplot was necessary.

I actually got the impression Little Bill kept Beauchamp. I know he made the comment about the the guy wanting to stay but you can read into that Bill wanted him to stay. He'd have been in the carriage as well if Bill didn't want him. I think Bill sees himself as the voice of reality and to a sense he does try to be. He actually gives Bob a decent write up. He says he doesn't like assassins etc but he also makes the point of saying Bob isn't a coward and says (in a way he shows he agrees with) that Bob wasn't going to wait for Corky to grow another hand. He also adds when he says about being calm under fire etc, that it is why Bob is so dangerous and why he himself is so dangerous. He actually more or less says the same things about himself and Bob. I think the way he treats Bob gives a show of how much he genuinely is wary of him. He beats him up when he has men with guns on him, he doesn't take stupid chances. He sends the message that Bob is a good gunman and this is what he got, the aim being clear to say anyone who fancies themselves keep in mind this happened to a genuinely dangerous man. The fact he offers Beauchamp the gun first and offering it to Bob is an after thought and the whole way he does it, he is stacking all the odds up in his favour there because he knows from seeing it himself that Bob will kill him if given a chance. I actually read Bob as basically Bill without a badge and Bill knows it.