Both rustlers. Both train robbers. Sho! I
got through putting a padlock on me mouth. Man to man, I'm as
good as either of them--damn sight better. I wisht they was here,
one or both; I wisht they would step up here and fight it out.
Bannister's a false alarm, and that foreman of the Lazy D--" His
tongue stumbled over a blur of vilification that ended with a
foul mention of Miss Messiter.
Instantly two chairs crashed to the floor. Two pair of gray eyes
met quietly.
"My quarrel, Bann," said Jim, in a low, even voice.
The other nodded. "I'll see y'u have a clear field."
The man who was with Morgan suddenly whispered in his ear, and
the latter slewed his head in startled fear. Almost instantly a
bullet clipped past McWilliams's shoulder. Morgan had fired
without waiting for the challenge he felt sure was at hand.
Once--twice the foreman's revolver made answer. Morgan staggered,
slipped down to the floor, a bullet crashing through the
chandelier as he fell. For a moment his body jerked. Then he
rolled over and lay still.
The foreman's weapon covered him unwaveringly, but no more
steadily than Bannister's gaze the man who had come in with him
who lay lifeless on the floor.
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