Page:The Cross Pull.pdf/194

 the stranger was an enemy to them all. Then he noticed that Moran’s gun menaced Nash. Moran must intend to kill this man himself. Flash backed close to where the girl sat upright on the bunk, her blanket held close about her. He stood guard there, his hair bristling and his lips drawn back from the dripping fangs. For the first time the girl really knew the absolute savagery that was part of Flash.

Moran spoke again, his voice as flat as before.

“All right, Nash, you can go on now and state your case,” he said.

Nash’s nerves were twitching from the nearness of the beast who seemed eager to try for his throat again but he sensed that he had an implacable judge in Moran and strove for self-control.

“Watch that hound,” he said hoarsely. “I’m on lawful business. She’s mine and I’ve come to take my own.”

“She may have been yours once,” Moran returned. “Whatever she may have been to you is past. Your claim is smashed. She’s mine from now on out.”

The girl knew then that he had spoken the truth when he had held her in his arms and told her that he wanted her regardless of what had