up Pritchen. He was not satisfied
at the silence which followed when Sol finished, and the impression he
had made upon the men.

"Weak fool! Weak fool, did ye say?" returned Sol. "But mebbe yer
right when I come to think of it. An' I guess thar are many more of us
who are weak fools, too, fer what do we do? Walk right into a saloon
an' see writin' there plainer than on the walls of Bill Shazzar's
palace, which doesn't need a Dann'l to tell its meanin', either."

"I never saw any writing on saloons," sneered Pritchen. "You've had
the D. T.'s, old man, that was the trouble with you. What you thought
was writing was nothing but snakes."

"Ye see, b'ys," continued Sol, ignoring Pritchen's thrust, "the words,
'Homes Ruined Here,' 'Disease, Insanity, an' Murder Found Here,' 'This
Way to the Poor House an' the Grave.' That's what we see, an' yit we
walk right in an' buy with them words a-starin' us in the face."

"You're a d-- fool and a liar," shouted Pritchen, at which his men set
up a roar, delighted to know that something was about to happen.

Caribou Sol started; the colour fled from his face, and with one bound
he leaped forward, scrambled over the seats, and confronted the man who
had dared to use such insulting words.

"Take 'em back!" he cried. "Take back them words, or by heavens I'll
pin ye to the wall!"

Pritchen was taken by surprise, it was easy to see that. He had
reckoned on a disturbance, but had not expected the sudden action of
Caribou Sol. Inwardly he cursed his men for their slowness in stirring
up the meeting. He wished to remain in the background in order to
further his future designs. But with this towering form confronting
him matters assumed a different aspect. He shrunk back from those
blazing eyes, but only for an instant. It would not do to show any
sign of weakening in the presence of the miners.

"To h-- with you!" he cried. "Do you think I'm a dog? I mean all I
give, and I give more than words."

Quick as lightning his hand slipped to his hip pocket, a revolver
flashed for an instant in sight, and then whirled through the room to
strike heavily against the opposite wall, while Pritchen staggered
back, and sank heavily to the floor, felled like an ox by one blow of
Caribou Sol's clenched fist.

Instantly an uproar arose. Pritchen's followers with a cry of rage
surged forward and bore down upon the gray-haired giant, while the rest
of the men sprang to his assistance