ale
caught him by the wrist and held the weapon away so that it was harmless
as far as he was concerned; but a crowd was gathering at the door
toward which the saloon-keeper's pistol was pointed, and he feared that
somebody out there might be shot; so he called out:

"Drop that pistol!"

The order was not obeyed, and Hale raised his right hand high above
Jack's head and dropped the butt of his weapon on Jack's skull--hard.
Jack's head dropped back between his shoulders, his eyes closed and his
pistol clicked on the floor.

Hale knew how serious a thing a blow was in that part of the world, and
what excitement it would create, and he was uneasy at Jack's trial, for
fear that the saloon-keeper's friends would take the matter up; but they
didn't, and, to the surprise of everybody, Jack quietly paid his fine,
and thereafter the Guard had little active trouble from the town itself,
for it was quite plain there, at least, that the Guard meant business.

Across Black Mountain old Dave Tolliver and old Buck Falin had got well
of their wounds by this time, and though each swore to have vengeance
against the other as soon as he was able to handle a Winchester, both
factions seemed waiting for that time to come. Moreover, the Falins,
because of a rumour that Bad Rufe Tolliver might come back, and because
of Devil Judd's anger at their attempt to capture young Dave, grew wary
and rather pacificatory: and so, beyond a little quarrelling, a little
threatening and the exchange of a harmless shot or two, sometimes in
banter, sometimes in earnest, nothing had been done. Sternly, however,
though the Falins did not know the fact, Devil Judd continued to hold
aloof in spite of the pleadings of young Dave, and so confident was the
old man in the balance of power that lay with him that he sent June word
that he was coming to take her home. And, in truth, with Hale going away
again on a business trip and Bob, too, gone back home to the Bluegrass,
and school closed, the little girl was glad to go, and she waited for
her father's coming eagerly. Miss Anne was still there, to be sure,
and if she, too, had gone, June would have been more content. The quiet
smile of that astute young woman had told Hale plainly, and somewhat to
his embarrassment, that she knew something had happened between the two,
but that smile she never gave to June. Indeed, she never encountered
aught else than the same silent searching gaze from the strangely mature
litt