to him with tidings that brought oaths of astonishment to
his lips. John Slaughter had taken his herd off the trail and made
camp at the Chisum ranch.

Now every one in the country knew that the Man from Bitter Creek was
holding down the Chisum place that season, and the action was nothing
more nor less than a direct challenge. It did not matter whether
sublime ignorance or sublime daring prompted it; it was defiance in
either case. There was only one thing for Gallagher to do--get the
killing over in quick time. Moreover he must attend to the affair by
himself--for just as surely as he took others to help, his prestige
was going to be lowered. So he saddled up at once and rode back to
Chisum's with a double-barreled shotgun across his lap and two
single-action forty-five revolvers at his hips.

He was an old hand at ambush and so he took no chances when he drew
near the ranch but reconnoitered a bit from a convenient eminence. The
house stood on the summit of a knoll; the land sloped away before it
to the river, bare of shrubs or trees. Those of the Mexicans who were
not riding herd were down among the cottonwoods by the stream, busy
over some washing. In the middle of the open slope, two hundred yards
or so from the ranch buildings and a good quarter of a mile from the
nearest vaqueros, a solitary figure showed. It was the cattleman. No
chance for ambush here. The Man from Bitter Creek spurred his pony to
a dead run and came on blithely to shoot his way to wealth.

John Slaughter watched him approaching and waited until he was within
easy range. Whereat he picked up a forty-four caliber rifle and shot
his horse from under him.

Pony and rider crashed down together in a thick cloud of dust. The Man
from Bitter Creek sprang to his feet and the flame of his revolver
made a bright orange streak in the gray-white haze. He left his
shotgun where it had fallen; the distance was too great for it.

As a matter of fact it was over-long range for a Colt forty-five; and
now, as he came on seeking to close in, it occurred to Gallagher that
his prospective victim had used excellent judgment in selecting a
weapon with reference to this battleground. Evidently he was engaged
with one who knew some things about the deadly game himself.

He took good care to keep weaving about from side to side during his
advance, in order that the bead of that Winchester might find no
resting-place with his body outlined before it. And he kept h