his
heel with an insolent laugh, and left the sheriff alone with Dailey.

The superb contempt of the man, his readiness to give the sheriff a
chance to pump out of Dailey all he knew, served to warn Collins that
his life was in imminent danger. On no hypothesis save one--that Leroy
had already condemned them both to death in his mind--could he account
for such rashness. And that the blow would fall soon, before he had time
to confer with other officers, was a corollary to the first proposition.

"He'll surely kill me on sight," Scott burst out.

"Yes, he'll kill you," agreed the sheriff, "unless you move first."

"Move how?"

"Against him. Protect yourself by lining up with me. It's your only show
on earth."

Dailey's eyes flashed. "Then, by thunder, I ain't taking it! I'm no
coyote, to round on my pardners."

"I give it to you straight. He means murder."

Perspiration poured from the man's face. "I'll light out of the
country."

The sheriff shook his head. "You'd never get away alive. Besides, I want
you for holding up the Limited. The safest place for you is in jail, and
that's where I'm going to put you. Drop that gun! Quick! That's right.
Now, you and I are going out of this saloon by the back door. I'm going
to walk beside you, and we're going to laugh and talk as if we were the
best of friends, but my hand ain't straying any from the end of my gun.
Get that, amigo? All right. Then we'll take a little pasear."

As Collins and his prisoner reappeared in the main lobby of the Gold
Nugget, a Mexican slipped out of the back door of the gambling-house.
The sheriff called Hawkes aside.

"I want you to call a hack for me, Del. Bring it round to the back door,
and arrange with the driver to whip up for the depot as soon as we get
in. We ought to catch that 12:20 up-train. When the hack gets here just
show up in the door. If you see Leroy or Neil hanging around the door,
put your hand up to your tie. If the coast is clear, just move off to
the bar and order something."

"Sure," said Hawkes, and was off at once, though just a thought unsteady
from his frequent libations.

Both hands of the big clock on the wall pointed to twelve when Hawkes
appeared again in the doorway at the rear of the Gold Nugget. With a
wink at Collins, he made straight for the cocktail he thought he needed.

"Now," said the sheriff, and immediately he and Dailey passed through
the back door.

Instantly two shots rang out. Collins lu