"Whistling Dan got him at Morris's place and took him in along with the body of Tex Calder. Jim, you got to answer for it to all of us. You went to Morris's with Lee. You come away without him and let him stay behind to be nabbed by that devil Whistlin' Dan."
"Right," said Kilduff, and his teeth clicked. "Is that playin' fair?"
"Boys," said Silent solemnly, "if I had knowed that Whistlin' Dan was there, I'd of never left Haines to stay behind. Morris said nothin' about Calder havin' a runnin' mate. Me an' Haines was in the upstairs room an' about suppertime up came a feller an' told us that Tex Calder had jest come into the dinin'-room. That was all. Did Whistlin' Dan get Lee from behind?"
"He got him from the front. He beat Lee to the draw so bad that Haines hardly got his gun out of its leather!"
"The feller that told you that lied," said Silent. "Haines is as fast with his shootin' iron as I am—almost!"
The rest of the outlaws nodded to each other significantly.
Purvis went on without heeding the interruption. "After I found out about the fight I swung towards Elkhead. About five miles out of town I met up with Rogers, the deputy sheriff at Elkhead. I thought you had him fixed for us, Jim?"
"Damn his hide, I did. Is he playing us dirt now?"
"A frosty mornin' in December was nothin' to the way he talked."
"Cut all that short," said Rhinehart, "an' let's know if Rogers is goin' to be able to keep the lynching party away from Haines!"
"He says he thinks it c'n be done for a couple of days," said Purvis, "but the whole range is risin'. All the punchers are ridin' into Elkhead an' wantin' to take a look at the famous Lee Haines. Rogers says that when enough of 'em get together they'll take the law in their own hands an' nothin' can stop 'em then."
"Why don't the rotten dog give Haines a chance to make a getaway?" asked Silent. "Ain't we paid him his share ever since we started workin' these parts?"
"He don't dare take the chance," said Purvis. "He says the boys are talkin' mighty strong. They want action. They've put up a guard all around the jail an' they say that if Haines gets loose they'll string up Rogers. Everyone's wild about the killin' of Calder. Jim, ol' Saunderson, he's put up five thousand out of his own pocket to raise the price on your head!"
"An' this Whistlin' Dan," said Silent. "I s'pose they're makin' a hero out of him?"
"Rogers says every man within ten miles is talkin' about him. The whole range'll know of him in two days. He made a nice play when he got in. You know they's five thousand out on Haines's head. It was offered to him by Rogers as soon as Dan brought Lee in. What d'you think he done? Pocketed the cheque? No, he grabbed it, an' tore it up small: 'I ain't after no blood money,' he says."
"No," said Silent. "He ain't after no money—he's after me!"
"Tomorrow they bury Calder. The next day Whistlin' Dan'll be on our trail again—an' he'll be playin' the same lone hand. Rogers offered him a posse. He wouldn't take it."
"They's one pint that ain't no nearer bein' solved," said Bill Kilduff in a growl, "an' that's how you're goin' to get Haines loose. Silent, it's up to you. Which you rode away leavin' him behind."
Silent took one glance around that waiting circle. Then he nodded.
"It's up to me. Gimme a chance to think."
He started walking up and down the room, muttering. At last he stopped short.
"Boys, it can be done! They's nothin' like talkin' of a woman to make a man turn himself into a plumb fool, an' I'm goin' to make a fool out of Whistlin' Dan with this girl Kate!"
"But how in the name of God c'n you make her go out an' talk to him?" said Rhinehart.
"Son," answered Silent, "they's jest one main trouble with you— you talk a hell of a pile too much. When I've done this I'll tell you how it was figgered out!"
22. THE WOMAN'S WAY
It was a day later, in the morning, that a hand knocked at Kate's door and she opened it to Jim Silent. He entered, brushing off the dust of a long journey.
"Good-mornin', Miss Cumberland."
He extended a hand which she overlooked.
"You still busy hatin' me?"
"I'm simply—surprised that you have come in here to talk to me."
"You look as if you seen somethin' in my face?" he said suspiciously. "What is it? Dirt?"
He brushed a hand across his forehead.
"Whatever it is," she answered, "you can't rub it away."
"I'm thinkin' of givin' you a leave of absence—if you'll promise to come back."
"Would you trust my honour?"
"In a pinch like this," he said amiably, "I would. But here's my business. Lee Haines is jailed in Elkhead. The man that put him behind the bars an' the only one that can take him out agin is Whistlin' Dan. An' the one person who can make Dan set Lee loose is you. Savvy? Will you go an' talk with Dan? This wolf of his would find him for you."
She shook her head.
"Why not?" cried Silent in a rising voice.
"The last time he saw me," she said, "he had reason to think that I tried to betray him because of Lee Haines. If I went to him now to plead for Haines he'd be sure that I was what he called me—Delilah!"
"Is that final?"
"Absolutely!"
"Now get me straight. They's a crowd of cowpunchers gatherin' in Elkhead, an' today or tomorrow they'll be strong enough to take the law into their own hands and organize a little lynchin' bee, savvy?"
She shuddered.
"It ain't pleasant, is it, the picture of big, good-lookin' Lee danglin' from the end of a rope with the crowd aroun' takin' pot-shots at him? No, it ain't, an' you're goin' to stop it. You're goin' to start from here in fifteen minutes with your hoss an' this wolf, after givin' me your promise to come back when you've seen Whistlin' Dan. You're goin' to make Dan go an' set Lee loose."
She smiled in derision.
"If Dan did that he'd be outlawed."
"You won't stir?"
"Not a step!"
"Well, kid, for everything that happens to Lee somethin' worse will happen to someone in the next room. Maybe you'd like to see him?"
He opened the door and she stepped into the entrance. Almost opposite her sat old Joe Cumberland with his hands tied securely behind his back. At sight of her he rose with a low cry. She turned on big Silent and whipped the six-gun from his hip. He barely managed to grasp her wrist and swing the heavy revolver out of line with his body.
"You little fiend," he snarled, "drop the gun, or I'll wring your neck."
"I don't fear you," she said, never wincing under the crushing grip on her wrists, "you murderer!"
He said, calmly repossessing himself of his gun, "Now take a long look at your father an' repeat all the things you was just sayin' to me."
She stared miserably at her father. When Silent caught Kate's hand Cumberland had started forward, but Kilduff and Rhinehart held him.
"What is it, Kate," he cried. "What does it mean?"
She explained it briefly: "This is Jim Silent!"
He remained staring at her with open mouth as if his brain refused to admit what his ear heard.
"There ain't no use askin' questions how an'