the fightin' instinct of the ancestors of man. So far I've kept him
away from other men. Which I may say is the main reason I bought Dan
Morgan's place so's to keep fightin' men away from our Whistlin' Dan.
So I've been hidin' him from himself. You see, he's my boy if he
belongs to anybody. Maybe when time goes on he'll get tame. But I
reckon not. It's like takin' a panther cub--or a wolf pup--an tryin'
to raise it for a pet. Some day it gets the taste of blood, maybe its
own blood, an' then it goes mad and becomes a killer. An' that's what
I fear, Kate. So far I've kept Dan from ever havin' a single fight,
but I reckon the day'll come when someone'll cross him, and then
there'll be a tornado turned loose that'll jest about wreck these
parts."

Her anger had grown during this speech. Now she rose.

"I won't believe you, Dad," she said. "I'd sooner trust our Dan than
any man alive. I don't think you're right in a single word!"

"I was sure loco," sighed Cumberland, "to ever dream of convincin' a
woman. Let it drop, Kate. We're about to get rid of Morgan's place,
an' now I reckon there won't be any temptation near Dan. We'll see
what time'll do for him. Let the thing drop there. Now I'm goin' over
to the Bar XO outfit an' I won't be back till late tonight. There's
only one thing more. I told Morgan there wasn't to be any gun-play in
his place today. If you hear any shootin' go down there an' remind
Morgan to take the guns off'n the men."

Kate nodded, but her stare travelled far away, and the thing she saw
was the yellow light burning in the eyes of Whistling Dan.