the weapons he had taken from the two men, holding
it by the muzzle and thrusting it under Neal's nose. The terrible,
suppressed rage in his eyes caused a shiver to run over Neal, his face
turned a dull white, his eyes stared fearfully. He made no move to
grasp the weapon.

"I ain't fightin'," he said with trembling lips.

Calumet reversed the gun and stepped back, laughing harshly, without
mirth.

"Of course you ain't fightin'," he said. "That's the reason it's goin'
to be hard for me to kill you. I'd feel like a cur if I was to
perforate you now--you or your scarecrow dad. But I'm tellin' you
this: You've sneaked around the Lazy Y for the last time. I'm layin'
for you after this, an' if I ketch you maverickin' around here again
I'll perforate you so plenty that it'll make you dizzy. That's all.
Get out of here before I change my mind!"

Shrinking from his awe-inspiring wrath, they retreated from him,
watching him fearfully as they backed toward their horses. They had
almost reached them when Calumet's voice brought them to a halt.

His lips were wreathed in a cold grin, his eyes alight with a satanic
humor. But the rage had gone from his voice; it was mocking, derisive.

"Goin' to ride?" he said. "Oh, don't! Them horses look dead tired.
Leave them here; they need a rest. Besides, a man can't do any
thinkin' to amount to anything when he's forkin' a horse, an' I reckon
you two coyotes will be doin' a heap of thinkin' on your way back to
the Arrow."

"Good Lord!" said the elder Taggart; "you don't mean that? Why, it's
fifteen miles to the Arrow!"

"Shucks," said Calumet; "so it is! An' it's after midnight, too. But
you wouldn't want them poor, respectable critters to be gallivantin'
around at this time of the night, when they ought to be in bed dreamin'
of the horse-heaven which they're goin' to one of these days when the
Taggarts don't own them any more. You can send a man over after them
when you get back, an' if they want to go home, why, I'll let them."
His voice changed again; it rang with a menacing command.

"Walkin' is good!" he said; "get goin'! You've got three minutes to
get to that bend in the trail over by the crick. It's about half a
mile. I'm turnin' my back. If I see you when I turn around I'm
workin' that rifle there."

There was a silence which might have lasted a second. Only this small
space of time was required by the Taggarts to convince them that
Calumet was in de