Silent asked: "What news, Jordan?"

Jordan kept his regretful eyes a moment longer on his empty coffee
cup.

"There ain't a pile to tell," he answered at last. "I suppose you
heard about what happened to the chap you beat up at Morgan's place
the other day?"

"Who knows that _I_ beat him up?" asked Silent sharply.

"Nobody," said Jordan, "but when I heard the description of the man
that hit Whistling Dan with the chair, I knew it was Jim Silent."

"What about Barry?" asked Haines, but Jordan still kept his eyes upon
the chief.

"They was sayin' pretty general," he went on, "that you _needed_ that
chair, Jim. Is that right?"

The other three glanced covertly to each other. Silent's hand bunched
into a great fist.

"He went loco. I had to slam him. Was he hurt bad?"

"The cut on his head wasn't much, but he was left lyin' in the saloon
that night, an' the next mornin' old Joe Cumberland, not knowin' that
Whistlin' Dan was in there, come down an' touched a match to the old
joint. She went up in smoke an' took Dan along."

No one spoke for a moment. Then Silent cried out: "Then what was that
whistlin' I've heard down the road behind us?"

Bill Kilduff broke into rolling bass laughter, and Hal Purvis chimed
in with a squeaking tenor.

"We told you all along, Jim," said Purvis, as soon as he could control
his voice, "that there wasn't any whistlin' behind us. We know you
got powerful good hearin', Jim, but we all figger you been makin'
somethin' out of nothin'. Am I right, boys?"

"You sure are," said Kilduff, "I ain't heard a thing."

Silent rolled his eyes angrily from face to face.

"I'm kind of sorry the lad got his in the fire. I was hopin' maybe
we'd meet agin. There's nothin' I'd rather do than be alone five
minutes with Whistlin' Dan."

His eyes dared any one to smile. The men merely exchanged glances.
When he turned away they grinned broadly. Hal Purvis turned and caught
Bill Kilduff by the shoulder.

"Bill," he said excitedly, "if Whistlin' Dan is dead there ain't any
master for that dog!"

"What about him?" growled Kilduff.

"I'd like to try my hand with him," said Purvis, and he moistened his
tight lips. "Did you see the black devil when he snarled at me in
front of Morgan's place?"

"He sure didn't look too pleasant."

"Right. Maybe if I had him on a chain I could change his manners some,
eh?"

"How?"

"A whip every day, damn him--a whip every time he showed his teeth at
me. No