All was still within the house an hour later. A low-turned lamp burned in the living room, and a man sat in a chair asleep. Outside, two shadows glided up the trail and carefully picked their way toward the house. A foot snapped a twig, and both shadows sank to the ground. A pause, and they again crept toward the house. They hugged the wall and slowly turned the corner and approached the lighted sitting-room window. Behind them came another shadow, a strange thing that looked as if it were part animal and part man. A hunched beast. Yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. The first two shadows peered through the window, and one whispered: "Yuh knock, an' I'll watch." While one shadow remained by the window, the other knocked loudly on the door. The shadow by the window glided forward and joined the one by the door, while the third shadow moved closely behind them. "He's comin'," came in a hoarse whisper. "Who's there?" called a voice from inside the house. "This is Hard-rock. Open up, Pop," the answer came. A sound of a door being unbolted, a creak of hinges, and a shadowy figure appeared in the doorway. Two streams of red fire, the boom of two shotguns split the night. Then a long streak of jagged red flame coming from the crouching third shadow. A scream of agony, of surprise, of terror! A sound of falling bodies, and then silence. "Come on out, Slivers! I got 'em both," Allen called, as he straightened up. Slivers appeared at the doorway and cautiously peered down at the two sprawled figures. "Hell! I thought I was goin' to get in on the gun play," he grumbled. Then he added: "Hey! Them fellas must have used cannon, 'cause they sure peppered ol' Pop's overcoat an' hat!" Allen glanced at the straw-stuffed overcoat lying on the floor. It was riddled by buckshot. "Pop would sure be in kingdom come if he had been in that coat. Take a look at them fellers, Slivers," Allen directed. Slivers stooped and examined the two bodies by the light of a match. "One of 'em is Ben Jones what works for Steve Brandon, an' tother is Big Anderson who works for the Blue Sky," Slivers announced. "Anderson will know better the next time not to mix with the Allens." Jim Allen grinned at his joke, and Slivers chuckled. "Take a look at Anderson's hands an' see if they looks like a miner's hands," suggested the little man. "Naw, not a callous on 'em," Slivers announced a moment later. "That gent never worked none with a drill." "Thought so. Reckon I knows now where Baldy Kane gets that there gold he is so proud about." "Yuh mean he steals it an' then pertends to mine it?" Slivers asked. "I get you. Quartz is plumb heavy to move an' hard to market, if yuh don't have a mine." "Correct! An' I figgers I knows why certain gents got Jack down here!" "They're double crossin' Baldy an' plannin' to have Jack drop him, 'cause they is scared to do it themselves!" Slivers whistled softly.