If I stay here, if I see that yaller
light once more, they won't be no waitin'. Him and me'll have to have it
out right then. Am I a dog, maybe, that I got to stand around and jump
when he calls me?"
"My dear fellow--my dear Mr. Daniels!" cried the horrified Doctor Byrne.
"Surely you're wrong. He wouldn't go so far as to make a personal attack
upon you!"
"Wouldn't he? Bah! Not if he was a man, no. I tell you, he ain't a man;
he's what the canuks up north call a were-wolf! There ain't no mercy or
kindness in him. The blood of a man means nothin' to him. The world
would be better rid of him. Oh, he can be soft and gentle as a girl.
Mostly he is. But cross him once and he forgets all you done for him.
Give him a taste of blood and he jumps at your throat. I tell you, I've
seen him do it!"
He broke off with a shudder.
"Doc," he said, in a lower and solemn voice. "Maybe I've said too much.
Don't tell Kate nothin' about why I'm goin'. Let her go on dreamin' her
fool dream. But now hear what I'm sayin'; If Dan Barry crosses me once
more, one of us two dies, and dies damned quick. It may be me, it may be
him, but I've come to the end of my rope. I'm leavin' this place till
Barry gets a chance to come to his senses and see what I've done for
him. That's all. I'm leavin' this place because they's a blight
on it, and that blight is Dan Barry. I'm leaving this place
because--doc--because I can smell the comin' of bloodshed in it.
Pages:
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214