nie, his red face appearing above his father's shoulder, hailed
the Swede again. "Did you say I cheated?"

The Swede showed his teeth. "Yes."

"Then," said Johnnie, "we must fight."

"Yes, fight," roared the Swede. He was like a demoniac. "Yes, fight!
I'll show you what kind of a man I am! I'll show you who you want to
fight! Maybe you think I can't fight! Maybe you think I can't! I'll
show you, you skin, you card-sharp! Yes, you cheated! You cheated! You
cheated!"

"Well, let's go at it, then, mister," said Johnnie, coolly.

The cowboy's brow was beaded with sweat from his efforts in
intercepting all sorts of raids. He turned in despair to Scully. "What
are you goin' to do now?"

A change had come over the Celtic visage of the old man. He now seemed
all eagerness; his eyes glowed.

"We'll let them fight," he answered, stalwartly. "I can't put up with
it any longer. I've stood this damned Swede till I'm sick. We'll let
them fight."

VI

The men prepared to go out-of-doors. The Easterner was so nervous that
he had great difficulty in getting his arms into the sleeves of his
new leather coat. As the cowboy drew his fur cap down over his cars
his hands trembled. In fact, Johnnie and old Scully were the only ones
who displayed no agitation. These preliminaries were conducted without
words.

Scully threw open the door. "Well, come on," he said. Instantly a
terrific wind caused the flame of the lamp to struggle at its wick,
while a puff of black smoke sprang from the chimney-top. The stove was
in mid-current of the blast, and its voice swelled to equal the roar
of the storm. Some of the scarred and bedabbled cards were caught up
from the floor and dashed helplessly against the farther wall. The men
lowered their heads and plunged into the tempest as into a sea.

No snow was falling, but great whirls and clouds of flakes, swept up
from the ground by the frantic winds, were streaming southward with
the speed of bullets. The covered land was blue with the sheen of an
unearthly satin, and there was no other hue save where, at the low,
black railway station--which seemed incredibly distant--one light
gleamed like a tiny jewel. As the men floundered into a thigh deep
drift, it was known that the Swede was bawling out something. Scully
went to him, put a hand on his shoulder and projected an ear. "What's
that you say?" he shouted.

"I say," bawled the Swede again, "I won't stand much show against this
gang. I kn