"I'm trailin' the man who sent you out after me," he asserted with a
little less assurance.
Calder tore open the front of his shirt and pushed back one side of
it. Pinned there next to his skin was his marshal's badge.
He said: "My name's Tex Calder."
It was a word to conjure with up and down the vast expanse of the
mountain-desert. Dan smiled, and the change of expression made him
seem ten years younger.
"Git down, Bart. Stand behind me!" The dog obeyed sullenly. "I've
heard a pile of men talk about you, Tex Calder." Their hands and their
eyes met. There was a mutual respect in the glances. "An' I'm a pile
sorry for this."
He picked up the gun from the ground and extended it butt first to the
marshal, who restored it slowly to the holster. It was the first time
it had ever been forced from his grasp.
"Who was it you talked about a while ago?" asked Dan.
"Jim Silent."
Dan instinctively dropped his hand back to his revolver.
"The tall man?"
"The one you fought with in Morgan's place."
The unpleasant gleam returned to Dan's eyes.
"I thought there was only one reason why he should die, but now I see
there's a heap of 'em."
Calder was all business.
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