face and laughed, but there was something in Hopalong's eyes that made
his flesh creep.

He glanced quickly past his foe and took in the scene with one flash
of his eyes. There was the crowd, eager, expectant, scowling. There
were Buck and Red, each lounging against a boulder, Buck on his right,
Red on his left. Before him stood the only man he had ever feared.
Hopalong shifted his feet and Thirsty, coming to himself with a start,
smiled. His nerve had been shaken, but he was master of himself once
more.

"Well!" he snarled, scowling.

Hopalong made no response, but stared him in the eyes.

Thirsty expected action, and the deadly quiet of his enemy oppressed
him. He stared in turn, but the insistent searching of his opponent's
eyes scorched him and he shifted his gaze to Hopalong's neck.

"Well!" he repeated uneasily.

"Did yu have a nice time at th' dance last night?" Asked Hopalong,
still searching the face before him.

"Was there a dance? I was over in Alameda," replied Thirsty shortly.

"Ya-as, there was a dance, an' yu can shoot purty durn far if yu was
in Alameda," responded Hopalong, his voice low and monotonous.

Thirsty shifted his feet and glanced around. Buck and Red were still