climax a breath before. And at
his coming Harrigan slid from the bunk, started to reach within the
blanket pack at the head of what had been his bed, and then thought
better of such impulse. Bravado intermingled with blank surprise, he
came haltingly to his feet. The voices of few men have been as
unhurriedly deadly as was that of him who Harrigan that night.

"That was wise, Harrigan," Steve told him slowly--far too gently.
"That was wise to let your knife lie safe within your pack. For if
you'd touched it, I'd have killed you--as I ought to kill you now. But
you're drunk, Harrigan! You were drunk a minute ago when you lied your
lie. . . . You're soberer now. You're sober enough to start again and
tell me you're a liar!"

They waited--the roomful of rivermen. Nothing stirred save the clouds
of filmy blue smoke floating against the rafters--that and a bulky blot
of shadow outside which shifted a little, noiselessly, just beyond the
patch of light that streamed through the door. They waited,
heavy-breathed, while Harrigan began to recover from the disconcertment
into which O'Mara's coming had flung him. Slowly the former's lips
twisted into a mocking leer; mockery rose and swam with the hatred in
his inflamed eyes. He would have spoken, sparring for time, when
Steve's hand leapt in and made of the joking effort only a rattle in
his throat. Beneath the stiff red stubble the flesh was livid where
those fingers had been, when he was able to draw breath again.

"'Twas only a bit av a joke," he gasped, and gulped and swallowed hard.
"'Twas only a bit av a joke I was tellin' the bhoys, about seein' you
an'----"

Steve's voice bit in and cut him short.

"Your turkey's ready, Harrigan!" He pointed at the pack toward which
the other had groped and then thought better of the impulse. "You were
going, of your own accord, I see. Well, I'm telling you to go, now!
The door's open; I left it so for you, when I came in. And I'm telling
you too, before you leave, that you'll do well not to come back.
There's not room for both of us on this river any more, Harrigan!"

The riverman's eyes shifted. Furtively they flitted from face to face
in those rows of faces at the walls. But whatever he thought or hoped
to find--fleeting flash of support or encouragement--was hidden behind
a common mask of astonishment as blank as had been his own. They were
waiting for his answer; he knew they were waiting for that as he
cros