The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-12-25

~ 1 Aciit (dutHpH. lou | LIN AOu S1A
fight, mebbe?"
Lee, mindful of the rigid code of
conduct that bound him. shook his
head.
Il never fight if l can help it," he
answered.
The two men %snickered. and there
came a murmur of disgust from the
crowd. which, till that moment had
been decidedly favorable to Lee.
The breed turned about. "He never
fight if he can help it," he 1eered.
"You hear dat, boys?" He turned to
Lee again. ''Mebbe YOU like to set
up de drinks, DEM" he inquired
blandly.
q don't drink" answered Lee with
complete equanimity.
well, whadya fink of dat?' cried
Pierre to the crowd again. He don
fight an he dom drink. You sure are
one d-n f~our-fusher," he grinned
belligerently in Lees face.
Lee, relieved to see, without turn
ing his head, that the girl had taken
the opportunity to slip away, returned
Pierre's glare calmly. The breed was
poising himself ready to strike, but
something in Lees aspect, some un-
certainty, the inability to size him
up, checked him. Perhaps he sensed
how quickly Lees right arm, hang
ing negligently before him, would rise
to the defensive perhaps he did not
like tbn look Of Idpp'S left
He took refuge in irony. "Well,
whadya t'ink of him, boys?" he de-
manded again of the men, who had
formed a close circle around the pair.
He don fight an he got de nerve to
say dat IL be all to Pierre Cauchon.
No, by gar, l guess you know better
dan to fight" he continued, adding a
foul epithet; and, grinning, he lurched
insolently past toward the bar, shout
dering Lee as he passed.
He looked back for an instant to
see whether the other would accept
the proyocation, and, seeing that he
showed no signs of doing so, he went
his way with Shorty The crowd
gave Lee the once-over cOntemptu-
ously. 1t had no love for the bully,
but an individual without the fighting
instinct is not supposed to pose as q
champion and then back down.
The minds of the prospectors were
too obtuse to see that Lee had simply
been satisfied with gaining his point
and enabling the girl to get away I'M
nolested.
Lee paced the stoop for a while,
finished a pipe, and went early to his
blankets.
He interested himself in specializing
Who the girl was. She vas almost
certainly going to the mission; there
.ould be no other destination. Perhaps
lie would see her again. He thought
# the possibility quite without emo
ion. He ceased to think Of her, and,
ired after the days ride, began to
.oze. :
He was awakened when the men be
an to stagger into the parlOr. Nearly :
Il of them were drunk, some were :
bling drunk, and, after sporadic, :,
oisy alterations, they were soon :
orawled out like logs all over the {
cor, and snoring loudly. Several ;
mes Lee was obliged to remove
eads, arms, and feet from various
of his anatomy.
He was just falling asleep again :
hen the sound of a name, whispered .
most in his ear, startled him into I
slant ~wakefulness. =
Lee recognized the voice as that of =
e breed, Pierre Cauchon. II
For a moment or two he could not
from where the man was 81
eaking. Then he discovered that the Il
ice came from the other side of the o.
rye, empty stove which stood at his fe
.ad, a little out from the wall. His
ce and Pierre's were separated, III
e%refore, by no more than the cir al
inference of the metal cOntainer, G.
ough Pierre, of course, did not guess I
at Lee lay on the other side of it, OF
r that he would he likely to have |
Y particular interest in what he was in
wing. OF
But the name that had startled Lee tn
% wakefulness was that of Pelly. he
8 alert iuIouSh
Imber, had caught it and communi- re
ed the warning.
Lee had quite attuned his at
IS to catch Pierre's remark, Shorty, la
other man, broke in:
You fool, Pierre, you nearly give LIE
game away tonight fer shore. You
It got no sense at all, buttin' in TT
e that and frightenin' her away. RI,
u didn't s'pose she'd got our photy- ho
in her pocket, did va? The
uble with you is you CANT hold yer
(.
'ierre growled: Il didn't have no a
INST to say a word before that four
her butted In. / wish I'd beat him
now. Mebbe I'll git the chanst In %
mornin'." ~.
Well, and why didn't va? I'll tell A.
why. Because you saw he amt ~
f~our-fiusher. He's tough, that fell -.
r. -, l.. -,n%nhint xo liEn q ~