"Comin' back to you and Dan, we was all of us sayin' that you and Dan
kind of had an eye for each other. I s'pose we was all wrong. You see,
that was back in the days before Dan busted loose. When he was about the
range most usually he was the quietest man I ever sat opposite to
barrin' one--and that was a feller that went west with a bum heart at
the chuck table! Ha, ha, ha!" The marshal's laughter boomed through the
big room as he recalled this delightful anecdote. He went on: "But after
that Jim Silent play we all changed our minds, some. D'you know, doc, I
was in Elkhead the night that Dan got our Lee Haines?"
"I've never heard of the episode," murmured the doctor.
"You ain't? Well, I be damned!--askin' your pardon, Kate----But you
sure ain't lived in these parts long! Which you wouldn't think one man
could ride into a whole town, go to the jail, knock out two guards that
was proved men, take the keys, unlock the irons off'n the man he wanted,
saddle a hoss, and ride through a whole town--full of folks that was
shootin' at him. Now, would you think that was possible?"
"Certainly not."
"And it _ain't_ possible, I'm here to state. But they was something
different about Dan Barry. D'you ever notice it, Kate?"
She was far past speech.
"No, I guess you never would have noticed it. You was livin' too close
to him all the time to see how different he was from other fellers.
Anyway, he done it.
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