'Oh, Bettles and Lon McFane had an argument, and they'll be down
by the waterhole in a few minutes to settle it.' The incident was
repeated for his benefit, and Malemute Kid, accustomed to an
obedience which his fellow men never failed to render, took
charge of the affair. His quickly formulated plan was explained,
and they promised to follow his lead implicitly.

'So you see,' he concluded, 'we do not actually take away their
privilege of fighting; and yet I don't believe they'll fight when
they see the beauty of the scheme. Life's a game and men the
gamblers. They'll stake their whole pile on the one chance in a
thousand.

'Take away that one chance, and--they won't play.' He turned to
the man in charge of the Post. 'Storekeeper, weight out three
fathoms of your best half-inch manila.

'We'll establish a precedent which will last the men of
Forty-Mile to the end of time,' he prophesied. Then he coiled the
rope about his arm and led his followers out of doors, just in
time to meet the principals.

'What danged right'd he to fetch my wife in?' thundered Bettles
to the soothing overtures of a friend. ''Twa'n't called for,' he
concluded decisively. ''Twa'n't called for,' he reiterated again
and again, pacing up and down and waiting for Lon McFane.

And Lon McFane--his face was hot and tongue rapid as he flaunted
insurrection in the face of the Church. 'Then, father,' he cried,
'it's with an aisy heart I'll roll in me flamy blankets, the