"Then," said Royce at the end of it, his mind catching eagerly one outstanding fact, "I was right, Steve? An' it was Blenham as gave me both barrels of Johnny Mills's shot-gun? It was Blenham for sure, wasn't it, Steve?"
"Yes, Bill. It was Blenham."
"An'—an' Blenham's right across there now? It's him I can hear breathin', Steve?"
"Yes, Bill."
"An'—an' what for did you sen' for me, Steve? What are you goin' to do to him?"
Packard beckoned to Barbee. The boy came quickly to his side, giving him the blacksnake. Steve laid it across Bill Royce's hand.
"I'm going to give him a taste of that, Bill," he said. "And I wanted you here. You can't see it; but before I am through with him, you can hear it!"
"Goin' to tie him up an' whip him, Steve? That it?"
"Pack of low-bred mongrel pups!" cried Blenham wrathfully, for the first time breaking his silence. "Sneakin', low-lived curs an' cowards!"
"That it, Steve?" persisted Royce. "Goin' to tie him up an' give him a whippin' with a blacksnake?"