This time nobody stopped him as Black Bert hammered on the door again. Sarah's angry face glared at them from the half-opened door, and ihey drowned her protests with a clamour for the definite time by the clock in the house.
"Well, half after or a minute more.
And that was all that they condi get out of her.
"Next forenoon Pete "Stinks's" store was more than usually full and men discussed Doc MeTim's luck.
Pete had put the time of Lil's passing as 327 a.m. and the Doc, aving drawn 3.30, was the winner When the Doc himself walked into the drug store he greeted the crowd th a flip of his hand and strode to the counter. "Well, hand over, Pete.
The pots mine." As the doctor's big hand closed over the tobacco tin con-alning the kitty, as big a hand closed "Oh, I don't know four to 24 hours."
Anything from "Teo bad. Are them the lim ed Macgillivray, Stake my name on it affirmed the doctor.
There was silence for a bit, as they red at the clock, And then Pete reached for a sheet of packing paper id a stub of pencil and, beginning with a time four hours ahead, wrote down the times in ten minute intervals.
In the heavy silence that continued the men sat around expressionlessly and watched him tear up another sheet and mark the times on the slips.
Black Bert took off his hat and he wrote each slip, de-folded it and dropped it into the upturned hat When this solemn operation was finished, Pete rested his hands on the counter-top and surveyed the faces before him.
Well, boys," he at last broke the silence, "what's it to be?"
The crowd opined she had been "a good guy," so they settled on a dollar a draw.
Doc MeTim drew his ip early, and Macgillivray kidded him, fter not be your kitty this time. Doc.
MeTim responded with, a wide mouthed grin, "TIL do me best, son And he went about his busine "We ought to check up on that buy. said one assay man. "He's too fly for me."
"Me, I guess check up, too," agreed Black Bert.
"The does square" said Macgillivray "Square nothing," retorted th y ran. "Tell you what, Black: you and me'll watch him Turn and turn about. What do you say Black Bert rubbed his thumb over h of so quick."
Doc MeTim looked up at Black Bert towering beside him. "Take your a off." he ordered.
No, Lil she no die 327, You have ticket 3.30. You dotter, you fix it.
Lil she die 321. Your clock she lie."
The Doc laughed good humouredly Ask Maisie and Sue. Now get out."
He gave the prospector a powerful shove sending him to the centre of the room. The Bohunk brought up alongside a chair and quick as thought he lifted and flung it at the doctor's head MeTir dodged it and the great plate-glass mirror behind the counter with the highly coloured cherubs sporting airily in the top corners splintered in a thousand pieces Black Bert came lumbering for ward, and the doctor stopped him with a well-aimed bottle of cough mixture grabbed from the pyramid on ihe counter, Black roared with rage as the sticky brown fluid flecked with bits of broken glass flowed down his face and beard.
One or two consistently neutral, onlookers had slipped hastily' through the door on to the sidewalk. But some of the boys had dodged by miracles the flying bits of mirror and one or two had been splashed with cough mixture Tempers are tricky things in th man's country, and it only needed one imprudent onlooker to express his opinion that the doctor was all right.
Some other yelled a challenge: "Yah; he can't take "Oh. no?" responded several Lefevre flung a knife at Macgilli vray, who had ranged himself beside MeTim And so, before Pete Stinks" could more than open his the fight started. auth to protest, through his scrubby beard and thought slowly. "No good," he decided at length, "I don't know you. We both watch all de time, yes?
"AN the time! But thats twenty hours. Wait; fell you w we'll watch round the Doc's time, He won't pull any fast stuff cept fe himself."
"Dot good. OK. ced Black Bert, after another period of heavy thought Macgillivray watched them 1 and commented to the world at large.
"Some guys wouldn't trust their grandmothers.
te neither," said a prospector, a big fair headed Dane. "That feller, Black Bert—" His sentence hung unfinished on the air as he shook his head ponderously "Where's Lil hang out?" asked driller.
"In a shack two doors east of the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.