At last, as if satisfied, he drew a deep breath, rose,
and dropped the glove. It was caught in the flashing
teeth. For another moment Bart stood whining
and staring up to the face of his master. Then
he whirled and fled out into the night.
ONE WAY OUT
In a room of the Salton place, on the evening of the
next day after Calder’s death, sat Silent, with
Kilduff, Rhinehart, and Jordan about him. Purvis
was out scouting for the news of Haines, whose long
absence commenced to worry the gang. Several times
they tried to induce Kate to come out and talk with
them, but she was resolute in staying alone in the
room which they had assigned to her. Consequently,
to while away the time, Bill Kilduff produced his mouth
organ and commenced a dolorous ballad. He broke
short in the midst of it and stared at the door.
The others followed the direction of his eyes and
saw Black Bart standing framed against the fading daylight.
They started up with curses; Rhinehart drew his gun.
“Wait a minute,” ordered Silent.
“Damn it!” exclaimed Jordan, “don’t
you see Whistling Dan’s wolf? If the wolf’s
here, Dan isn’t far behind.”
Silent shook his head.
“If there’s goin’ to be any shootin’
of that wolf leave it to Hal Purvis. He’s
jest nacherally set his heart on it. An’
Whistlin’ Dan ain’t with the wolf.
Look! there’s a woman’s glove hangin’
out of his mouth. He picked that up in the willows,
maybe, an’ followed the girl here. Watch
him!”
The wolf slunk across the room to the door which opened
on Kate’s apartment. Kate threw the door
open—cried out at the sight of Bart—and
then snatched up the glove he let drop at her feet.
“No cause for gettin’ excited,”
said Silent. “Whistlin’ Dan ain’t
comin’ here after the wolf.”
For answer she slammed the door.
At the same moment Hal Purvis entered. He stepped
directly to Silent, and stood facing him with his
hands resting on his hips. His smile was marvellously
unpleasant.
“Well,” said the chief, “what’s
the news? You got eloquent eyes, Hal, but I want
words.”
“The news is plain hell,” said Purvis,
“Haines—”
“What of him?”
“He’s in Elkhead!”
“Elkhead?”
“Whistling Dan got him at Morris’s place
and took him in along with the body of Tex Calder.
Jim, you got to answer for it to all of us. You
went to Morris’s with Lee. You come away
without him and let him stay behind to be nabbed by
that devil Whistlin’ Dan.”
“Right,” said Kilduff, and his teeth clicked.
“Is that playin’ fair?”
“Boys,” said Silent solemnly, “if
I had knowed that Whistlin’ Dan was there, I’d
of never left Haines to stay behind. Morris said
nothin’ about Calder havin’ a runnin’
mate. Me an’ Haines was in the upstairs
room an’ about suppertime up came a feller an’
told us that Tex Calder had jest come into the dinin’-room.
That was all. Did Whistlin’ Dan get Lee
from behind?”
