what we're goin' to do," he went on. "We're goin'
out after Haines an' the girl. If they come up with this Whistlin' Dan
we're goin' to surround him an' fill him full of lead, while they're
talkin'."

"Not for a million dollars!" burst in Hal Purvis.

"Not in a thousan' years!" echoed Terry Jordan.

Silent turned his watchful eyes from one to the other. They were ready
to fight now, and he sensed it at once.

"Why?" he asked calmly.

"It ain't playin' square with the girl," announced Rhinehart.

"Purvis," said Silent, for he knew that the opposition centred in the
figure of the venomous little gun fighter; "if you seen a mad dog
that was runnin' straight at you, would you be kep' from shootin' it
because a pretty girl hollered out an' asked you not to?"

Their eyes shifted rapidly from one to another, seeking a way out, and
finding none.

"An' is there any difference between this hero Whistlin' Dan an' a mad
dog?"

Still they were mute.

"I tell you, boys, we got a better chance of dodgin' lightnin' an'
puttin' a bloodhound off our trail than we have of gettin' rid of this
Whistlin' Dan. An' when he catches up with us--well, all I'm askin' is
that you remember what he done to them four dollars before they hit
the dust?"

"The chief's right," growled Kilduff, staring down at the ground.
"It's Whistlin' Dan or us. The mountains ain't big enough to hold him
an' us!"

* * * * *

Before Whistling Dan the great wolf glided among the trees. For a full
hour they had wandered through the willows in this manner, and Dan had
made up his mind to surrender the search when Bart, returning from
one of his noiseless detours, sprang out before his master and whined
softly. Dan turned, loosening his revolver in the holster, and
followed Bart through the soft gloom of the tree shadows and the
moonlight. His step was almost as silent as that of the slinking
animal which went before. At last the wolf stopped and raised his
head. Almost instantly Dan saw a man and a woman approaching through
the willows. The moonlight dropped across her face. He recognized
Kate, with Lee Haines walking a pace before her.

"Stand where you are," he said.

Haines leaped to one side, his revolver flashing in his hand. Dan
stepped out before them while Black Bart slunk close beside him,
snarling softly.

He seemed totally regardless of the gun in Haines's hand. His manner
was that of a conqueror who had the o