im?"

"Damn his hide, I did. Is he playing us dirt now?"

"A frosty mornin' in December was nothin' to the way he talked."

"Cut all that short," said Rhinehart, "an' let's know if Rogers is
goin' to be able to keep the lynching party away from Haines!"

"He says he thinks it c'n be done for a couple of days," said Purvis,
"but the whole range is risin'. All the punchers are ridin' into
Elkhead an' wantin' to take a look at the famous Lee Haines. Rogers
says that when enough of 'em get together they'll take the law in
their own hands an' nothin' can stop 'em then."

"Why don't the rotten dog give Haines a chance to make a getaway?"
asked Silent. "Ain't we paid him his share ever since we started
workin' these parts?"

"He don't dare take the chance," said Purvis. "He says the boys are
talkin' mighty strong. They want action. They've put up a guard all
around the jail an' they say that if Haines gets loose they'll string
up Rogers. Everyone's wild about the killin' of Calder. Jim, ol'
Saunderson, he's put up five thousand out of his own pocket to raise
the price on your head!"

"An' this Whistlin' Dan," said Silent. "I s'pose they're makin' a hero
out of him?"

"Rogers says every man within ten miles is talkin' about him. The
whole range'll know of him in two days. He made a nice play when he
got in. You know they's five thousand out on Haines's head. It was
offered to him by Rogers as soon as Dan brought Lee in. What d'you
think he done? Pocketed the cheque? No, he grabbed it, an' tore it up
small: 'I ain't after no blood money,' he says."

"No," said Silent. "He ain't after no money--he's after me!"

"Tomorrow they bury Calder. The next day Whistlin' Dan'll be on our
trail again--an' he'll be playin' the same lone hand. Rogers offered
him a posse. He wouldn't take it."

"They's one pint that ain't no nearer bein' solved," said Bill Kilduff
in a growl, "an' that's how you're goin' to get Haines loose. Silent,
it's up to you. Which you rode away leavin' him behind."

Silent took one glance around that waiting circle. Then he nodded.

"It's up to me. Gimme a chance to think."

He started walking up and down the room, muttering. At last he stopped
short.

"Boys, it can be done! They's nothin' like talkin' of a woman to make
a man turn himself into a plumb fool, an' I'm goin' to make a fool out
of Whistlin' Dan with this girl Kate!"

"But how in the name of God c'n you make her go out an' talk to him?"