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Jean's third heavy swing caved in part of the upper half of the door Shouts and curses inter of benches across the floor and the hard shuffle of boots This confusion see yell, of different caliber, of terrible --caused him to drop the ax and snatch up his rifle

"DON'T ANYBODY MOVE!"

Like a steel whip this voice cut the silence It belonged to Blue Jean swiftly bent to put his eye to a crack in the door Most of those visible seemed to have been frozen into unnatural positions Jorth stood rather in front of his men, hatless and coatless, one arm outstretched, and his dark profile set toward a little man just inside the door Thislook at Blue's face, at his leveled, quivering guns, to understand why he had chosen this trick

"Who're---you?" deht-handreply "Once tolerable well known in Texas KING FISHER!"

The nanized this outlaw and realized his own fate In the lareenish white His outstretched hand began to quiver down

Blue's left gun seemed to leap up and flash red and explode Several heavy reportshis gun And his body sagged in the s and found their way to his abdoed its set look nor position toward Blue But his gasping utterance was one of horrible an to sway, still with that strange, rigid set of his face toward his slayer, until he fell

His fall broke the spell Even Blue, like the gunman he was, had paused to watch Jorth in his last an to draw and shoot Jean saw Blue's return fire bring down a huge man, who fell across Jorth's body Then Jean, quick as the thought that actuated hi lamp It burst in a flare It crashed to the floor Darkness followed--a blank, thick, enveloping uns emphasized the blackness Inside the store there broke loose a pande boots Jean shoved his rifle barrel inside the door and, holding it lon, he er until thehis six-shooter, he emptied that A roar of rifles from the front of the store told Jean that his coh the door he had broken Jean ran swiftly round the corner, taking care to sheer off a little to the left, and when he got clear of the building he saw a line of flashes in theinto the door of the store With niers Jean reloaded his rifle Then swiftly he ran across the road and down to get behind his co had slackened Jean saw dark for his way