now, and as
he held himself prepared for the struggle he asked that question.

"And this man--Bucky; what was his other name, Brokaw?"

Brokaw's thick lips moved, and then came his voice, in a husky whisper:

"Tavish!"

CHAPTER XXII

The next instant Hauck was at the open door. He did not cross the
threshold at once, but stood there for perhaps twenty seconds--his gray,
hard face looking in on them with eyes in which there was a cold and
sinister glitter. Brokaw, with the fumes of liquor thick in his brain,
tried to nod an invitation for him to enter; his head rolled grotesquely
and his voice was a croak. David rose slowly to his feet, thrusting back
his chair. From contemplating Brokaw's sagging body, Hauck's eyes were
levelled at him. And then his lips parted. One would not have called it
a smile. It revealed to David a deadly animosity which the man was
trying to hide under the disguise of that grin, and he knew that Hauck
had discovered that he was not McKenna. Swiftly David shot a glance at
Brokaw. The giant's head and shoulders lay on the table, and he made a
sudden daring effort to save a little more time for himself.

"I'm sorry," he said. "He's terribly drunk."

Hauck nodded his head--he kept nodding it, that cold glitter in his
eyes, the steady, insinuating grin still there.

"Yes, he's drunk," he said, his voice as hard as a rock. "Better come to
the house. I've got a room for you. There's only one bunk in
here--McKenna."

He dragged out the name slowly, a bit tauntingly it seemed to David.
And David laughed. Might as well play his last card well, he thought.

"My name isn't McKenna," he said. "It's David Raine. He made a mistake,
and he's so drunk I haven't been able to explain."

Without answering, Hauck backed out of the door. It was an invitation
for David to follow. Again he carried his pack and gun with him through
the darkness, and Hauck uttered not a word as they returned to the Nest.
The night was brighter now, and David could see Baree close at his
heels, following him as silently as a shadow. The dog slunk out of sight
when they came to the building. They did not enter from the rear this
time. Hauck led the way to a door that opened into the big room from
which had come the sound of cursing and laughter a little before. There
were ten or a dozen men in that room, all white men, and, upon entering,
David was moved by a sudden suspicion that they were expecting him--that
Hauck h