in
the middle of an oath. I looked along the line, but saw that I could
not be mistaken. Then I took a step forward, pointed to Pike, and
said:

"That's the man."

He shot a look at me of the most deadly hatred; then he laughed; but
it didn't sound to me like a good, cheerful laugh.

"Come on," said Dawson to him. Then he ordered the others back into
their tents, left half the men to guard them, and with the rest of our
party went a little ways down the track to where an empty box-car was
standing on the siding. "Get in there!" he said to Pike, and the man
did it, and the door was locked. Three men were left to guard this
queer jail, and the rest of us went back to the Headquarters House.
Here we found that the doctor's report was that Allenham would
probably pull through.

The next morning a mass-meeting was held in the square beside the
railroad station. After some talk, most of it pretty vigorous, it was
decided to order all of the graders to leave town without delay,
except Pike, who was to be kept in the car until the outcome of
Allenham's wound was known. It wasn't necessary even for me to guess
twice to hit on what would be the fate of Pike if Allenham should
die.

In two hours the graders left. They made a long line of covered wagons
and filed away to the east beside the railroad track. They were pretty
free with their threats, but that was all it amounted to.

For a week Track's End was very quiet. Allenham kept on getting
better, and by that time was out of danger. There was a good deal of
talk about what ought to be done with Pike. A few wanted to hang him,
notwithstanding that Allenham was alive.

"When you get hold of a fellow like him," said one man, "you can't go
far wrong if you hang him up high by the neck and then sort o' go off
and forget him."

Others proposed to let him go and warn him to leave the country. It
happened on the day the question was being argued that the wind was
blowing from the southwest as hard a gale as I ever saw. It swept up
great clouds of dust and blew down all of the tents and endangered
many of the buildings. In the afternoon we heard a shout from the
direction of the railroad. We all ran out and met the guards. They
pointed down the track to the car containing Pike rolling off before
the wind.

"How did it get away?" everybody asked.

"Well," said one of the guards, "we don't just exactly know. We reckon
the brake got off somehow. Mebby a dog run agin the car