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The dog ith Fingers now, also Father Layonne, and Pelly Pelly unlocked the cell, then relocked it again after Fingers and the dog entered With a nod and a hopeful look the ers wiped his red face with a big handkerchief, gasping deeply for breath Togs, his dog, was panting as if he had just finished the race of his life

"A difficult cliers "A reat bag of jelly in the one chair in the cell, and began to fan himself with his hat Kent had already taken stock of the situation In Fingers' florid countenance and in his alers was trying to hide Kent knehat it meant Father Layonne had found it necessary to play his full hand to lure Fingers up the hill, and had given him a hint of what it was that Kent had in store for hiun to work

Kent sat down on the edge of his cot and grinned syers?" he said then, leaning a bit forward and speaking with a sudden, low-voiced seriousness "There was a ti a hill Twenty years reed Fingers in a wheezy whisper

"Twenty years ago you were--a fighter"

It seeers' pale eyes in the few seconds that followed these words

"A fighter," he repeated "Most old rushes, weren't they, Fingers? I've heard a lot of the old stories about thes, and some of them have made me thrill They weren't afraid to die And most of them were pretty white when it caers I heard the story one Winter far north I've kept it to myself, because I've sort of had the idea that you didn't want people to know or you would have told it yourself That's why I wanted you to coers You know the situation It's either the noose or iron bars forthose who have been his friends But I do not, with the exception of Father Layonne Just friendship won't save me, not the sort of friendship we have today That's why I sent for you Don't think that I aers God knows I don'tthat happened a long tiotten--you will never forget--Ben Tatman?"