Still Dunn did not answer, but somehow it appeared that his silence
was full of a very deadly significance.

"Suppose you did--what would you do?" murmured Deede Dawson again,
and his voice sank lower with each word he uttered till the last
was a scarce-audible whisper.

Dunn stopped and picked up a hoe that was lying near by. He placed
the tough ash handle across his knee, and with a movement of his
powerful hands, he broke the hoe across.

The two smashed pieces he dropped on the ground, and looking at
Deede Dawson, he said:

"Like that--if ever Rupert Dunsmore and I meet alone, only one of
us will go away alive." And he confirmed it with an oath.

Deede Dawson clapped him on the shoulder, and laughed.

"Good!" he cried. "Why, you're the man I've been looking for for
a long time. The fact is, Rupert Dunsmore played me a nasty trick
once, and I want to clear accounts with him. Now, suppose I show
him to you--?"

"You do that," said Dunn, and he repeated the oath he had sworn
before. "You show him to me, and I'll take care he never troubles
any one again."

"That's the way I like to hear a man talk," cried Deede Dawson.