to
waste now; Dick had a card up his sleeve, an' this was his chance to
take the trick, or he'd spoil my own game. The room was so still it
hurt you to breathe. Somebody sneezed, an' it sounded like a boiler
explosion.

"Judson," sez Dick, an' he was smilin' now; but it was the chillin'
smile I had first seen durin' the card game. It wasn't a pleasant
smile. "Judson, I did not cheat durin' that game, an' I never did
cheat, although gamblin was my business. You have become a fanatic on
the subject o' truth, an' I propose to tell you some. You are a bully;
you have bullied this girl in order to make her consent; and you are a
coward, a miserable coward. Any man afraid of his own past is a coward;
and your past stands back of you like a ghost, doggin' your steps
awake, an' hauntin' your dreams 'sleep. You preach the truth; but your
entire life is one black--"

"Stop!" yells Jabez, holdin' his hand over his heart, but gettin' the
drop on Dick, although his face looked like the face of a man long
dead. "Say another word an' a bullet will drive it back through your
teeth."

"All right," sez Dick, still smilin' his cruel, hard smile; "but you
have only counted up to five, an' you gave me ten. You're surely honest
enough to stick to your own agreement. Begin to count now, while I
start the tale about Jack Whitman an' the Creole Belle--"

When Dick mentioned the name o' Jack Whitman both o' Jabez' arms fell
to his side; an' when Dick spoke o' the Creole Belle his legs shut
together like a pocket knife; an' he crumpled down on a little padded
bench they had fixed up to kneel on. His face was gray, an' his eyes
had a scum over 'em, while his mouth hung open like the mouth of a man
dyin' of old age. Barbie gave a low, waverin' call: "Oh, what have you
done, oh, Dick! Daddy, Daddy; what's the matter Dad?"

She jumped to his side, an' after tearin' off her veil she knelt at his
feet; but he drew his hands feebly away, an' refused to touch her;
while a look of sorrow--sorrow an' pain an' shame, swept across his old
gray face, an' his lips trembled so 'at he couldn't talk.

I glanced at Silver Dick; he stood there with his lips set tight, his
eyes cold an' hard, an' I knew 'at he was ready to make his kill, cost
what it would.

"Oh, Daddy," pleaded Barbie, "don't look this way. Tell me what it is
all about. Don't turn away from me, Dad; I don't care what it is, or
whether it is true or false--I am ready to forgive you, an' to