en, hey?" he said, showing his teeth in an angry
snarl; "you wait and see."

"I don't know whether you're beaten or no," said Merritt contemptuously,
"but any one can see that you've been licked."

"You t'ink this forest good place. By Gar, I make him so bad you
ashamed to live here."

"A threat's no more use than a lie, Peavey Jo," replied the Supervisor
sharply. "I don't bluff worth a cent, and the government's behind me."

The half-breed spat on the ground.

"That for your American government," he said. "I, me, make your American
government look sick. I warn you fairly now. You win this time, yes, but
always, no. Bon! My turn come by and by."

"All right," replied the head of the forest indifferently, turning away
as McGinnis and Ben came up, "turn on your viciousness whenever you
like." Saying which, he rode away without paying further heed to the
muttered response of the millman.

The ride home was singularly silent. Neither McGinnis nor the
half-witted lad were in any mood for speaking, Ben nursing a badly
swollen jaw, and McGinnis weak from the body blows and the lame shoulder
he had received in the fight. The Supervisor was angry that the trouble
had come to blows, but in justice could not blame McGinnis for the part
he had taken. It annoyed him, especially, to feel that he had been
compelled to take the part of a mere spectator, although this feeling
was partly soothed by the knowledge that he had discovered and proved
the very thing he had set out to find.

On arriving at headquarters, the four horses were turned into the
corral, and the men went in to get supper. Merritt immediately commenced
a full report to Washington on the case, and McGinnis and Ben were glad
to lie down. At supper Wilbur took occasion to congratulate McGinnis on
the result of the encounter. The Irishman nodded.

"He's a better man than me," he admitted readily, "and that uppercut was
the only thing I had left. But 'tis a darlin' of a punch, is that same,
when ye get it in right. But I don't think we're through with him. He
looks like the breed that harbors a grudge."

"He threatened Merritt while you were away," said Wilbur, dropping his
voice so as not to disturb the rest.

"The mischief he did! The nerve of him! Tell me what he said."

Wilbur repeated the conversation word for word, and the Irishman
whistled.

"There, now," he said. "What did I tell ye? Not that I can see there's
much that he can do."

"Do you suppose