nd is swinging from one alternative to another.

"He done that shooting from the hip," added Hervey, as though by
afterthought.

There was a gasp from Jordan.

"Good God, Lew! You don't mean that!"

"That's what he done the shooting for--to show Shorty how to get off a
quick shot. Shorty says he got his gun out and fired inside the time
it'd take a common gun-man to wink twice. And that's why you and me have
got to face him together, chief. You know I ain't particular yaller. But
I'd as soon tackle a machine gun with a pea-shooter as run into this
Perris all by myself. He's bad medicine, chief!"

"Two to one. That'd be worse'n murder, Lew. Neither you nor me could
ever hold up a head around these parts again if the two of us jumped one
gent."

"I know it," said Hervey solemnly. "But it's better to be shamed than to
be dead. That's the way I figure. And I ain't so sure that both of us
together could win out."

There was another interval of silence, far more important than many
words. Through the hush Hervey, with a beating heart, strove to peer
into the mind of the rancher.

"I'll go back and face him all by myself," said Jordan huskily. "I'll
let him rub out that old score. If he finishes me--well, what good am I
in the world, anyway? No good, Lew. I'm done for just as much as though
somebody had plugged me with a gat. Let Perris finish the job." He added
hastily: "But these five years have changed me a lot. Maybe he won't
know me."

"You ain't changed that much, Jordan. Look at Howlands. He hadn't seen
you for eight years. He knew you right off."

"Ay," growled Jordan. "That's true enough. But what makes you so sure
that Perris is so hot after me. Ain't there been time enough for him to
cool down?"

With the skill of a connoisseur, saving his choicest morsel for the
end, Hervey had waited for the most favorable opportunity before
striking home with his most convincing item.

"You remember you drilled him in the leg, chief?"

"I remember everything. The whole damned affair has never been out of my
head for a whole day. I've gone over every detail of it a thousand
times, Lew!"

"So has Perris," answered Lew Hervey solemnly. "That slug of yours--when
the doctor cut it out of his leg he had it fixed up and now he wears it
for a fob so's he won't forget the gent that shot him down that night
when he wasn't armed!"

"Most like that's why he's practiced so much with a gun," muttered
Jordan. "He's been get