k in a sneerin' sort of way; while
me an' the ol' man stared at him with our eyes poppin' out. Silver
Dick, Silver Dick: every one in the West had heard of Silver Dick. It
didn't seem possible; but as me an' Jabez sat gazin' at him, we knew
'at our Dick was Silver Dick the gambler, an' the smoothest article,
accordin' to reports, 'at ever threw a card. Dick didn't say a word;
just sat there with his face pale as a sheet, an' his glitterin' black
eyes dartin' flame at Piker's nasty grin.

"I see you don't recognize me with a full beard," sez Piker; "but down
at Laramie they called me Jo Denton. It was my cousin, Big Brown, that
you shot."

"Do you happen to know what I shot him for?" Dick's face was as hard as
marble, an' his voice was as cold as ice.

"I wasn't there at the time," sez Piker in an irritatin' voice, "but I
know that it was because he spoke about it bein' a little peculiar that
you held such wonderful good hands on your own deal."

Dick didn't make no reply, but he slipped his hand inside his shirt,
an' I knew he had his gun there.

"I say that this was the EXCUSE for your shootin';" Piker went on, bent
on gettin' all the trouble the' was; "but I allus believed, myself,
that it started over the woman you was keepin'."

Dick's gun flashed in the air; but quick as a wink ol' Cast Steel
knocked it up with his right hand, an' struck at Dick with his left.
The bullet crashed through the ceiling, an' Dick grabbed Jabez' wrist
at the same instant. Piker made a quick snap under the table, a gun
went off, an' the bullet tore through the slack o' Dick's vest an'
spinged into the wall behind him.

Then I kicked off my hobbles an' sailed in on my own hook. Dick had
allus been white to me--an' back in the old days he was the squarest
feller on earth--so I felt mightly relieved when I caught Piker in the
center of the forehead with a full left swing. It was a blow 'at nobody
didn't have no grounds to complain of. The chair flew over backwards,
Piker's feet made a lovely circle, an' his head tried to insinuate
itself into the mopboard. He remained quiet, an' I started in to
satisfy my curiosity.

"Stay where you are," commanded Dick, an' I stuck in my tracks. "No man
is allowed to doubt my deal without havin' something to remind him of
it. I ain't a-goin' to kill that snake now; but I do intend to remove
his trigger fingers."

Dick still held Jabez by a peculiar twist in the wrist 'at made the ol'
man wince a