applause Silent strode towards Morgan with his hand outstretched.

"After all," he said. "I knowed you wasn't really hard of heart. It
only needed a little time and persuasion to make you dig for coin when
I pass the box."

Morgan, red of face and scowling, handed over his late winnings and
his own stakes.

"It took you two shots to do it," he said, "an' if I wanted to argue
the pint maybe you wouldn't walk off with the coin."

"Partner," said Jim Silent gently, "I got a wanderin' hunch that
you're showin' a pile of brains by not arguin' this here pint!"

There followed that little hush of expectancy which precedes trouble,
but Morgan, after a glance at the set lips of his opponent, swallowed
his wrath.

"I s'pose you'll tell how you did this to your kids when
you're eighty," he said scornfully, "but around here, stranger, they
don't think much of it. Whistlin' Dan"--he paused, as if to calculate
how far he could safely exaggerate--"Whistlin' Dan can stand with
his back to the coins an' when they're thrown he drills four dollars
easier than you did one--an' he wouldn't waste three shots on one
dollar. He ain't so extravagant!"