With two swift
shots Larry killed both men. Mull fell across the width of the hall.
And as Allie stumbled over his body she looked down to see his huge
head, his ruddy face, and the great ox-eyes, rolling and ghastly. In
that brief glance she saw him die.
The cowboy strode fast now. Allie, with hands clenched in his coat,
clung desperately to him. Hollow booms of guns filled the
passageway, and hoarse shouts of alarmed men sounded from the
street. Burned powder smoke choked Allie. The very marrow of her
bones seemed curdled. She saw the red belches of fire near and far;
she passed a man floundering and bellowing on the floor; she felt
Larry jerk back as if struck, and then something hot grazed her
shoulder. A bullet had torn clear through him, from breast to back.
He staggered, but he went on. Another man lay on the threshold of
the wide door, his head down the step, and his pallid face blood-
streaked. A smoking gun lay near his twitching hand. That pallid
face belonged to Dayss.
Larry King staggered out into an empty street, looking up and down.
"Wal, I reckon--thet's--aboot--all!" he drawled, with low, strangled
utterance.
Then swaying from side to side he strode swiftly, almost falling
forward, holding tight to Allie. They drew away from the brighter
lights.
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