old in the hands of the Irishman. Morgan followed
suit. The crowd hurried outdoors.

A dozen bets were laid in as many seconds. Most of the men wished to
place their money on the side of Morgan, but there were not a few who
stood willing to risk coin on Jim Silent, stranger though he was.
Something in his unflinching eye, his stern face, and the nerveless
surety of his movements commanded their trust.

"How do you stand, Jim?" asked Lee Haines anxiously. "Is it a safe
bet? I've never seen you try a mark like this one!"

"It ain't safe," said Silent, "because I ain't mad enough to shoot my
best, but it's about an even draw. Take your pick."

"Not me," said Haines, "if you had ten chances instead of one I might
stack some coin on you. If the dollar were stationary I know you could
do it, but a moving coin looks pretty small."

"Here you are," called Morgan, who stood at a distance of twenty
paces, "are you ready?"

Silent whipped out his revolver and poised it. "Let 'er go!"

The coin whirled in the air. Silent fired as it commenced to fall--it
landed untouched.

"As a kind, Christian soul," said Morgan sarcastically, "I ain't in
your class, stranger. Charity always sort of interests me when I'm on
the receivin' end!"

The crowd chuckled, and the sound infuriated Silent.

"Don't go back jest yet, partners," he drawled. "Mister Morgan, I got
one hundred bones which holler that I can plug that dollar the second
try."

"Boys," grinned Morgan, "I'm leavin' you to witness that I hate to do
it, but business is business. Here you are!"

The coin whirled again. Silent, with his lips pressed into a straight
line and his brows drawn dark over his eyes, waited until the coin
reached the height of its rise, and then fired--missed--fired again,
and sent the coin spinning through the air in a flashing semicircle.
It was a beautiful piece of gun-play. In the midst of the clamour of
applause Silent strode towards Morgan with his hand outstretched.

"After all," he said. "I knowed you wasn't really hard of heart. It
only needed a little time and persuasion to make you dig for coin when
I pass the box."

Morgan, red of face and scowling, handed over his late winnings and
his own stakes.

"It took you two shots to do it," he said, "an' if I wanted to argue
the pint maybe you wouldn't walk off with the coin."

"Partner," said Jim Silent gently, "I got a wanderin' hunch that
you're showin' a pile of brains by not arguin'