Then--most strange of all!--his eyes
shifted and wandered away from the face of Whistling Dan. The others
exchanged incredulous glances. The impossible had happened--Sandy had
taken water! The sheriff was the first to recover, though his forehead
was shining with perspiration.
"What's all this stuff about?" he called. "Hey, Sandy, quit pickin'
trouble with the stranger!"
Sandy seized the loophole through which to escape with his honour. He
settled back in his chair.
"All right, gov'nor," he said, "I won't go spoilin' your furniture. I
won't hurt him."
CHAPTER XX
ONE TRAIL ENDS
But this deceived no one. They had seen him palpably take water. A
moment of silence followed, while Sandy stared whitefaced down at the
table, avoiding all eyes; but all the elements of good breeding exist
under all the roughness of the West. It was Jacqueline who began with
a joke which was rather old, but everyone appreciated it--at that
moment--and the laughter lasted long enough to restore some of the
colour to Sandy's face. A general rapid fire of talk followed.
"How did you do it?" queried Calder. "I was all prepared for a
gun-play."
"Why, you seen I didn't do nothin'.
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