Amazed and disgusted with the man's weakness, Kelley kicked him in the ribs. "Get up!" he said, shortly.
Mink arose, but no sooner was he on his feet than his courage returned. "I'll have your heart for this," he said, venomously. Then his mind took a sudden turn. "Who pushed that screen onto me?" he asked. "I'll kill the man who did that."
"You'll have time to figure out that problem in the quiet of 'the jug,'" said Kelley. "Come along."
At the door of the calaboose the gambler braced himself. "I won't go in there!" he declared. "I won't be jugged—I'll die right here—"
Kelley's answer was a jerk, a twist, and a sudden thrust, which landed the redoubtable boaster in the middle of his cell. "You can die inside if you want to," he said, and turned the key on him. "My responsibility ends right here."
IV
The street was crowded with excited men and women as Kelley came back up the walk. One or two congratulated him on his escape from sudden death, but the majority resented him as "the hired bouncer" of the land-boomers in the town.
"Who pushed that screen?" was the question which everybody asked of Kelley.
"I didn't see," he responded. "I was busy just about that time."
In truth he had only glimpsed a darting figure, but one he knew! Who else but Rosa Lemont could have been so opportune and so effective in her action? She alone knew of his presence in the alley.