, Barbee," he said
shortly. And, giving the whole of his attention again to the man on
the bunk, "Royce, I said when I talk to you to stand up!"

To the last man of them, even to young Barbee, who had made his
youthful pretense at an all-embracing interest in the cards, they
turned to watch Bill Royce and see what he would do.

They saw that Royce lay a moment as he was, stiff and rigid to his
hands and feet, that his face had gone a fiery red which threw the
white of the long scar across his nose into bloodless contrast, that
the most obvious thing in the world was that for the moment his mind
was torn two ways, dual-purposed, perfectly balanced, so that in the
grip of his contending passions he was powerless to stir, a picture of
impotence, like a man paralyzed.

"Blenham," he said presently without moving, his voice uncertain and
thick and ugly, "Blenham----"

"I said it once," cried Blenham sharply, "an' I said it twice. Which
ought to be enough, Bill Royce! Hear me?"

They all watched interestedly. Bill Royce moistened his lips and
presented his pitiful spectacle of a once-strong man on the verge of
yielding to his master, to the man he hated most on earth. A smile
came into Blenham's expectant eyes.

The brief silence was perfect until the youthful Barbee broke it, not
by speech but by whistling softly, musically, impudently. And the air
which Barbee selected at this juncture, though not drawn from the
classics, served its purpose adequately; the song was a favorite in the
range-lands, the refrain simple, profane, and sincere. Translated into
words Barbee's merry notes were:

"Oh, I don't give a damn for no damn man that don't give a damn for me!"

Blenham understood and scowled at him; Bill Royce's hesitant soul may
have drawn comfort and strength from a sympathy wordlessly expressed.
At any rate his reply came suddenly now:

"I've took a good deal off'n you, Blenham," he said quietly. "I'd be
glad to take all I could. But a man can't stand everything, no, not
even for a absent pal. Like Barbee said, you know where you can go."

Cookie Wilson gasped, his the sole audible comment upon an entirely
novel situation. Barbee smiled delightedly. Blenham continued to
frown, his scowl subtly altered from fierceness to wonder.

"You'll obey orders," he snapped shortly, "or----"

"I know," replied Royce heavily. "Go to it. All you got to do is fire
me."

And now the pure wonder of the moment