Page:Harvey O'Higgins--Silent Sam and other stories.djvu/103

Rh big mouth an' clutch at a-splatter av blood on bis throat an' go down with a gurgle!

"The bullet had took him fair in the neck, an' bruk his spine. He was dead whin they picked him up off the sawdust, an' I dropped the gun an' run fer dear life.

I was with Molly whin the police caught up to me—waitin' fer thim—sittin' on the side av the bed, an' Molly propped up with the pillows, in her night-clothes—waitin' fer thim.… I mind the ruffles on 'round her neck, an' all.… Niver a word she 'd said, but jus' screamed whin I 'd told her—an' caught hold av me hand, an' held to it, dumb.… She sat up whin they come in, starin', an' her lips as white as her teeth, breathin' hard. An' whin I kissed her good-by, she did n't take her two big eyes off thim, an' the sweat was drippin' off her face like water.… I cud n't speak. Me voice was dried up in me throat.… An' that was the last I iver saw av Molly."

He dropped his hands between his knees and stared out at the white street. "The last I saw av Molly.… They swoore I 'd walked into the 'Tiger' an' had words with Sleeman an' pulled out me gun an' shot 'm. One after th' ither, they got up an' swoore to it—the whole gang—Tweed's gang. An' they told av th' old inmity between us two, an' how Sleeman 'd took me job from me. An' they had the gun with the chamber impty, an' the broken bullet. An' they had me, like a man in a dream, listenin' an' watchin' till the cold crep' up from me feet, an' me heart toorned over an' died inside me."