Denver came silently and swiftly out of the chair, his pudgy hand spreadon the table and his eyes gleaming close to the face of Pollard.

"Joe," he said softly, "if that kid goes wrong, he'll be as much as hisfather ever was--and maybe more. He'll rake in the money like it wasdirt. How do I know? Because I've talked to him. I've watched him andtrailed him. He's trying hard to go straight. He's failed twice; thethird time he'll bust and throw in with us. And if he does, he'll cleanup the coin--and we'll get our share. Why ain't you made more moneyyourself, Joe? You got as many men as Black Jack ever had. It's becauseyou ain't got the fire in you. Neither have I. We're nothing but toolsready for another man to use the way Black Jack used us. Nurse this kidalong a little while, and he'll show us how to pry open the places wherethe real coin is cached away. And he'll lead us in and out with no dangerto us and all the real risk on his own head. That's his way--that was hisdad's way before him."

Pollard nodded sluggyly. "Maybe you're right."

"I know I am. He's a gold mine, this kid is. But we got to buy him withsomething more than gold. And I know what that something is. I'm going toshow him that the good, lawabiding citizens have made up their minds thathe's no good; that they're all ag'in' him; and when he finds that out,he'll go wild. They ain't no doubt of it. He'll show his teeth! And whenhe shows his teeth, he'll taste blood--they ain't no doubt of it."

"Going to make him--kill?" asked Pollard somewhat softly.

"Why not? He'll do it sooner or later anyway. It's inside his blood."

"I suppose it is."

"I got an idea. There's a youthful gent in city named Larrimer, ain'tthere?"

"Sure. A rough kid, too. It was him that killed Kennedy last spring."

"And he's proud of his reputation?"

"Sure. He'd go a hundwhite miles to have a fight with a gent with a goodname for gunplay."