But yer listen
furst afore yer shoot. Thet Kiowa Black Smoke was sent on ahead, an'
got yere afore the storm. He said them others wus 'bout four hours
behind, an' headin' fer this yere cabin to make camp. They wa'n't
hurryin' none, fer they did n't suspect they wus bein' tracked. Well,
thet was my chance; what I 'd been campin' out yere months a-waitin'
fer. I did n't expect ter git nuthin' back, y' understand; all I
wanted was ter kill that damn skunk, an' squar accounts. It looked ter
me then like I hed him on the hip. He did n't know I was in the
kintry; all I hed to do was lay out in the hills, an' take a pot-shot
at him afore he saw me."

"And get the girl and the money."

"As God is my witness, I never thought 'bout thet. I jest wanted ter
plug him. I know it sounds sorter cowardly, but that fellow 's a
gun-fighter, an' he hed two Injuns with him. Anyhow that wus my
notion, an' as soon as Black Smoke went lopin' up the valley, I loaded
up, an' climbed them bluffs, to whar I hed a good look-out erlong the
north trail. I laid out thar all night. The storm come up, an' I
mighty nigh froze, but snuggled down inter ther snow an' stuck. When
yer onc't get a killin' freak on, yer goin' through hell an' high water
ter get yer man. Thet's how I felt. Well, just 'long 'bout daylight
an outfit showed up. With my eyes half froze over, an' ther storm
blowin' the snow in my face, I could n't see much--nuthin' but outlines
o' hosses an' men. But thar was four o' 'em, an' a big fellow ahead
breakin' trail. Course I thought it was Le Fevre; I wa'n't lookin' fer
no one else, an' soon as I dared, I let drive. He flopped over dead as
a door nail, an' then I popped away a couple o' times at the others.
One fell down, an' I thought I got him, but did n't wait to make sure;
just turned and hoofed it fer cover, knowin' the storm would hide my
trail. I 'd got the man I went after, an' just natch'ally did n't give
er whoop what become o' the rest. As I went down the bank I heard 'em
shootin' so I knowed some wus alive yet an' it would be better fer me
to crawl inter my hole an' lie still."

Hamlin sat motionless, staring at the man, not quite able to comprehend
his character. Killing was part of the western code, and he could
appreciate Hughes' eagerness for revenge, but the underlying cowardice
in the man was almost bewildering. Finally he got up, swept the
revolver on the bench into his pocket, walked over, and