Just like that! Damn him! And then he stood over poor dead Fitz and kicked him in those busted ribs and turned over to the bar and says to me: 'Gimme!' "Like a damned beast! He wanted to drink right there with his dead man beside him.

And what was worse, I had to give him the bottle.

There was a sort of haze in front of my eyes.

I wanted to pump that devil full of lead, but I knowed it was plain suicide to try it.
"So there he stood and ups with a glass that was brimmin' full, and downs it at a swallow--gurglin'-- like a hog! Fatty, how long will it be before there's an end to Mac Strann ?" But Fatty Matthews shrugged his thick shoulders and poured himself another drink.
"There ain't a hope for Jerry Strann ?" cut in Buck Daniels.
"Not one in a million," coughed Fatty, disposing of another formidable potion.
"And when Jerry dies, Mac starts for this Barry ?" "Who's been tellin' you ?" queried O'Brien dryly.

"Maybe you been readin' minds, stranger ?" Buck Daniels regarded the bartender with a mild and steadfast interest.
He was smiling with the utmost good-humour, but there was that about him which made big O'Brien flush and look down to his array of glasses behind the bar.
"I been wondering," went on Daniels, "if Mac Strann mightn't come out with Barry about the way Jerry did.