eats till he whined and licked my hand."

"He'd die first. I know that kind of a dog--or a wolf."

"Maybe he'd die. Anyway I'd like to try my hand with him. Bill, I'm
goin' to get hold of him some of these days if I have to ride a
hundred miles an' swim a river!"

Kilduff grunted.

"Let the damn wolf be. You c'n have him, I say. What I'm thinkin'
about is the hoss. Hal, do you remember the way he settled to his
stride when he lighted out after Red Pete?"

Purvis shrugged his shoulders.

"You're a fool, Bill. Which no man but Barry could ever ride that
hoss. I seen it in his eye. He'd cash in buckin'. He'd fight you like
a man."

Kilduff sighed. A great yearning was in his eyes.

"Hal," he said softly, "they's some men go around for years an'
huntin' for a girl whose picture is in their bean, cached away
somewhere. When they see her they jest nacherally goes nutty. Hal, I
don't give a damn for women folk, but I've travelled around a long
time with a picture of a hoss in my brain, an' Satan is the hoss."

He closed his eyes.

"I c'n see him now. I c'n see them shoulders--an' that head--an', my
God! them eyes--them fire eatin' eyes! Hal, if a man was to win the
heart of that hoss he'd lay down his life for you--he'd run himself
plumb to death! I won't never sleep tight till I get the feel of them
satin sides of his between my knees."

Lee Haines heard them speak, but he said nothing. His heart also
leaped when he heard of Whistling Dan's death, but he thought neither
of the horse nor the dog. He was seeing the yellow hair and the blue
eyes of Kate Cumberland. He approached Jordan and took a place beside
him.

"Tell me some more about it, Terry," he asked.

"Some more about what?"

"About Whistling Dan's death--about the burning of the saloon," said
Haines.

"What the hell! Are you still thinkin' about that?"

"I certainly am."

"Then I'll trade you news," said Terry Jordan, lowering his voice so
that it would not reach the suspicious ear of Jim Silent. "I'll tell
you about the burnin' if you'll tell me something about Barry's fight
with Silent!"

"It's a trade," answered Haines.

"All right. Seems old Joe Cumberland had a hunch to clean up the
landscape--old fool! so he jest up in the mornin' an' without sayin' a
word to any one he downs to the saloon and touches a match to it. When
he come back to his house he tells his girl, Kate, what he done. With
that she lets out a holler an' drops in a fai