"Let your friend Mike," said Jim Silent carelessly, and he placed
fifty dollars in gold 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.
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