rom our Whistlin' Dan.
So I've been hidin' him from himself. You see, he's my boy if he
belongs to anybody. Maybe when time goes on he'll get tame. But I
reckon not. It's like takin' a panther cub--or a wolf pup--an tryin'
to raise it for a pet. Some day it gets the taste of blood, maybe its
own blood, an' then it goes mad and becomes a killer. An' that's what
I fear, Kate. So far I've kept Dan from ever havin' a single fight,
but I reckon the day'll come when someone'll cross him, and then
there'll be a tornado turned loose that'll jest about wreck these
parts."

Her anger had grown during this speech. Now she rose.

"I won't believe you, Dad," she said. "I'd sooner trust our Dan than
any man alive. I don't think you're right in a single word!"

"I was sure loco," sighed Cumberland, "to ever dream of convincin' a
woman. Let it drop, Kate. We're about to get rid of Morgan's place,
an' now I reckon there won't be any temptation near Dan. We'll see
what time'll do for him. Let the thing drop there. Now I'm goin' over
to the Bar XO outfit an' I won't be back till late tonight. There's
only one thing more. I told Morgan there wasn't to be any gun-play in
his place today. If you hear any shootin' go down there an' remind
Morgan to take the guns off'n the men."

Kate nodded, but her stare travelled far away, and the thing she saw
was the yellow light burning in the eyes of Whistling Dan.

CHAPTER III

SILENT SHOOTS

It was a great day and also a sad one for Morgan. His general store
and saloon had been bought out by old Joe Cumberland, who declared
a determination to clear up the landscape, and thereby plunged the
cowpunchers in gloom. They partially forgave Cumberland, but only
because he was an old man. A younger reformer would have met armed
resistance. Morgan's place was miles away from the next oasis in the
desert and the closing meant dusty, thirsty leagues of added journey
to every man in the neighbourhood. The word "neighbourhood," of
course, covered a territory fifty miles square.

If the day was very sad for this important reason, it was also very
glad, for rustling Morgan advertised the day of closing far and wide,
and his most casual patrons dropped all business to attend the big
doings. A long line of buckboards and cattle ponies surrounded the
place. Newcomers gallopped in every few moments. Most of them did not
stop to tether their mounts, but simply dropped the reins over the
heads of the ho