of town. Then he went to Mike Flynn's to see
and, if it were possible, to cheer up his wounded friend, Swing
Tunstall. But he was not allowed to see him. Swing, it appeared, had
been given an opiate by Joy Blythe, who was acting as nurse, and she
refused to awaken her patient for anybody. So there.

Racey went to the Happy Heart to while away the remainder of the
hour set by Judge Dolan. The bartender greeted him respectfully and
curiously. So did several other men he knew. For that respect and
that curiosity he understood the reason. It lay on a bunk in Nebraska
Jones's shack.

No one asked him to drink. People are usually a little backward in
social intercourse with a citizen who has just killed his fellowman.
Of course in time the coolness wears off. In this case the time would
be short, Doc Coffin having been one of those that more or less
encumber the face of the earth. But for the moment Racey felt his
ostracism and resented it.

He set down his drink half drunk and walked out of the Happy Heart.

* * * * *

"See anything of Luke Tweezy lately?" asked Judge Dolan when Racey was
sitting across the table from him in the Judge's office.

"Saw him to-day."

"Where?"

"Moccasin Spring."

Judge Dolan nodded and rasped a hand across his stubbly chin. "Luke is
in town now," said he.

"I ain't lost any Luke Tweezys," observed Racey, looking up at the
ceiling.

"I wonder how long Luke is figuring on staying in town," went on Judge
Dolan, sticking like a stamp to his original subject.

"Nothing to me."

"It might be. It might be. You never can tell about them things,
Racey."

Racey Dawson's eyes came down from the ceiling. He studied the Judge's
face attentively. What was Dolan driving at? Racey had known the Judge
for several years, and he was aware that the more indirect the Judge
became in his discourse the more important the subject matter was
likely to be.

"No," said Racey, willing to bite, "you never can tell."

"We was talking one day about a feller making mistakes." The tangent
was merely apparent.

"Yep," acquiesced Racey. "We were saying Luke Tweezy made a good
many."

"Something like that, yeah. You run across any of Luke's mistakes yet,
Racey?"

Racey shook his head. "No."

"Did you go to Marysville?"

"Why for Marysville?"

"Luke Tweezy lives in Marysville."

"And you think there's somebody in Marysville would talk?"

Judge Dolan looked pained.