"No, you can't; I won't let you. I ain't got that low," and Nolan, crushing his hat fiercely down upon his head, strode to the door. "Good-bye," he called over his shoulder, "an' good luck." "Good-bye," answered Allan, and watched him with something almost like respect until his figure was swallowed up in the darkness. * * * * * Outside in the night, Nolan was striding up and down, waving his clenched fists wildly in the air, his face convulsed with passion. "Th' fool!" he muttered, hoarsely. "Th' fool! Th' goody-goody ape! Wanted t' help me! Oh, I couldn't 'a' stood it--I'd 'a' been at his throat in a minute more. I'll show him! I'll show him!" He circled the shanty cautiously until he reached a spot whence, through the window, he could see Allan bending over his key. He shook his fist at the unconscious boy in a very ecstasy of rage. "I'll fix ye!" he cried. "I'll fix ye!" He saw Allan stir uneasily in his chair, as though he had heard the threat, and for an instant he stood motionless, with bated breath, his clenched fist still in the air. Then he realized the impossibility of being overheard at such a distance, and laughed weakly to himself. "You've lost yer nerve, Dan," he said. "You've lost yer nerve! No, I'm blamed if y' have!" and he straightened up again and shook his fist fiercely in the air. "Hello," said a voice just behind him, "what's all this about?" and a hand grabbed his wrist. Nolan turned with a little cry of fright. He gave a gasp of relief as he recognized Nevins. "What d' ye want t' scare a feller like that fer?" he demanded, wrenching his wrist loose. "Were you scared?" asked Nevins, with a little sneer. "Lost your nerve, hey?" "No, I ain't lost my nerve," retorted Nolan, savagely, "an' you'll soon find it out, if you tries t' git smart with _me_! I didn't tell all I knowed at th' trial!" Even in the darkness, Nolan could see how Nevins's face changed, and he laughed triumphantly. Nevins echoed the laugh, but in an uncertain key. "Oh, come, Dan," he said, "don't get mad. I didn't mean anything." But Nolan was not one to be generous with an adversary when he had him down. "No," he went on slowly, "I didn't tell all I knowed. Let's see--last fall you was night operator at Harper's--an' th' station was robbed--an' when th' day man come on in th' mornin' he found you gagged an' bound in yer chair, sufferin' terrible. I didn't tell th' court how willin' you was t' git tied up, nor how we happened t' choose th' night when th' station was full o' vallyble freight, nor how you got a share o' th' swag--" "Oh, come, Dan," Nevins broke in, "what's the use of raking all that up again? Of course you didn't tell. I knew mighty well you wouldn't give a friend away." "There's no tellin' what I'll do if I lose my nerve," said Nolan, threateningly. "Where 're you stoppin'?" "Over here at the village. And mighty dull it is."