Now, if you are going to shoot, do it. You haven't
long to live yourself--make sure of that."

"No man can threaten me and live," retorted Levake harshly.

"I came up here, an unarmed man, on an errand of mercy."

"I didn't send for you."

"You would kill me just as quick if you had, Levake. What are you
hesitating about? If you are going to shoot, shoot."

Throwing back his right arm, and fingering the trigger of his revolver
as a panther lashes his tail before springing, Levake stepped back and
to one side. As he did so, with the fearless surgeon still facing him,
a man stepped from behind the screen door of the deserted restaurant.
It was Bob Scott.

The old and deadly feud between the Indian and the outlaw brought them
now, for the first time in months, face to face. In spite of his iron
nerve Levake started. Scott, slightly stooped and wearing the familiar
slouch hat and shabby coat in which he was always seen, regarded his
enemy with a smile.

So sudden was his appearance that Levake could not for an instant
control himself. If there was a man in the whole mountain country that
Levake could be said to be afraid of, it was the mild-mannered,
mild-spoken Indian scout. Where Scott had come from, how he had got
through the pickets posted by Levake himself--these questions, for
which he could find no answer, disquieted the murderer.

Arnold, reprieved from death as by a miracle, stood like a statue.
Levake, with his hand on his pistol, had halted, petrified, at the
sight of Scott.

The latter, eying the murderer with an expression that might have been
mistaken for friendly, had not Levake known there could be no
friendship among decent men for him, broke the silence: "Levake, I
have a warrant for you."

The words seemed to shake the spell from the outlaw's nerves. He
answered with his usual coolness: "You've waited a good while to serve
it."

"I've been a little busy for a few days, Levake," returned Scott, with
the same even tone. "I kind of lost track of you." But his words again
disconcerted Levake. The few men who now watched the scene and knew
what was coming stood breathless.

Levake, moistening his dry lips, spoke carefully: "I don't want any
trouble with you here," he said. "When this town fight is over, bring
your warrant around and I'll talk to you."

"No," returned Scott, undisturbed, "I might lose track of you again.
You can come right along with me, Levake."

With incredible quickness th