Page:Frederick Faust--Free Range Lanning.djvu/125

Rh His voice became thin and rose as he spoke; his breath was a series of gasps, and Hal Dozier changed color.

"I think," said Andrew, regaining his self-control, "that I'd kill you. I think I'm just a split second surer and faster than you are with a gun. But don't you see, Dozier?"

He cast out his left hand, but his right hand held the revolver like a rock.

"Don't you see? I've got the taint in me. I've killed my man. If I kill another I'll go bad. I know it. Life will mean nothing to me. I can feel it in me."

His voice fell and became deeper.

"Dozier, give me my chance. It's up to you. Stand aside now, and I'll get across those mountains and become a decent man. Keep me here, and I'll be a killer. I know it; you know it. Dozier, you can make me or break me. You can make me a good citizen, or you can turn me into something that people will remember around here for a long time. Why are you after me? Because your brother was killed by me. Dozier, think of your brother and then look at me. Was his life worth my life? He was your brother, and that's the reason I say it. You're a cool-headed man. You knew him, and you knew what he was worth. A fighter, he loved fighting, and he picked his chances for it. His killings were as long as the worst bad man that ever stepped, except that he had the law behind him. When he got on my trail he knew that I was just a scared kid who thought he'd killed a man. But he ran me down with his gang. Why didn't he give me a chance? Why didn't he let me run until I found out that I hadn't killed Buck Heath? Then he knew, and you know, that I'd have come back. But he wouldn't give me the chance. He ran me into the ground, and I shot him down. And that minute he