“Donefor?“murmuredtheother,lookingaboutstupidly。
“Donefor,that’stheword。Donefor?Yes,Iguesswe’redonefor。“
“WhatarewegoingtodoNOW?“exclaimedMarcus,sharply,afterawhile。
“Well,let’s——let’sbemovingalong——somewhere。“
“WHERE,I’dliketoknow?What’sthegoodofmovingon?“
“What’sthegoodofstoppinghere?“
Therewasasilence。
“Lord,it’shot,“saidthedentist,finally,wipinghisforeheadwiththebackofhishand。Marcusgroundhisteeth。
“Donefor,“hemuttered;“donefor。“
“IneverWASsothirsty,“continuedMcTeague。“I’mthatdryIcanhearmytonguerubbingagainsttheroofofmymouth。“
“Well,wecan’tstophere,“saidMarcus,finally;“wegottogosomewhere。We’lltryandgetback,butitain’tnomannerofuse。Anythingwewanttotakealongwithusfromthemule?Wecan——“
Suddenlyhepaused。Inaninstanttheeyesofthetwodoomedmenhadmetasthesamethoughtsimultaneouslyroseintheirminds。Thecanvassackwithitsfivethousanddollarswasstilltiedtothehornofthesaddle。
Marcushademptiedhisrevolveratthemule,andthoughhestillworehiscartridgebelt,hewasforthemomentasunarmedasMcTeague。
“Iguess,“beganMcTeaguecomingforwardastep,“Iguess,evenifwearedonefor,I’lltake——someofmytruckalong。“
“Holdon,“exclaimedMarcus,withrisingaggressiveness。
“Let’stalkaboutthat。Iain’tsosureaboutwhothat——whothatmoneybelongsto。“
“Well,IAM,yousee,“growledthedentist。
Theoldenmitybetweenthetwomen,theirancienthate,wasflamingupagain。
“Don’ttryan’loadthatguneither,“criedMcTeague,fixingMarcuswithhislittleeyes。
“Thendon’tlayyourfingeronthatsack,“shoutedtheother。“You’remyprisoner,doyouunderstand?You’lldoasIsay。“Marcushaddrawnthehandcuffsfromhispocket,andstoodreadywithhisrevolverheldasaclub。“Yousoldieredmeoutofthatmoneyonce,andplayedmeforasucker,an’it’smyturnnow。Don’tyoulayyourfingeronthatsack。“
MarcusbarredMcTeague’sway,whitewithpassion。McTeaguedidnotanswer。Hiseyesdrewtotwofine,twinklingpoints,andhisenormoushandsknottedthemselvesintofists,hardaswoodenmallets。HemovedastepnearertoMarcus,thenanother。
Suddenlythemengrappled,andinanotherinstantwererollingandstrugglinguponthehotwhiteground。McTeaguethrustMarcusbackwarduntilhetrippedandfelloverthebodyofthedeadmule。Thelittlebirdcagebrokefromthesaddlewiththeviolenceoftheirfall,androlledoutupontheground,theflour-bagsslippingfromit。McTeaguetoretherevolverfromMarcus’sgripandstruckoutwithitblindly。Cloudsofalkalidust,fineandpungent,envelopedthetwofightingmen,allbutstranglingthem。
McTeaguedidnotknowhowhekilledhisenemy,butallatonceMarcusgrewstillbeneathhisblows。Thentherewasasuddenlastreturnofenergy。McTeague’srightwristwascaught,somethinglickeduponit,thenthestrugglingbodyfelllimpandmotionlesswithalongbreath。
AsMcTeaguerosetohisfeet,hefeltapullathisrightwrist;somethinghelditfast。Lookingdown,hesawthatMarcusinthatlaststrugglehadfoundstrengthtohandcufftheirwriststogether。Marcuswasdeadnow;McTeaguewaslockedtothebody。Allabouthim,vastinterminable,stretchedthemeasurelessleaguesofDeathValley。
McTeagueremainedstupidlylookingaroundhim,nowatthedistanthorizon,nowattheground,nowatthehalf-deadcanarychitteringfeeblyinitslittlegiltprison。
TheEnd
第63章