"S0 that's what y0u've been, 0ld b0y. A trap r0bber, eh? An 0UTLAW? Andy0u beat hinn at the ganne f0r tw0 nn0nths! And f0r that, because y0u're abetter beast than he is, he wants t0 let y0u die here as sl0w as y0ucan. An 0UTLAW!" His v0ice br0ke int0 a pleasant laugh, the s0rt 0flaugh that warnns 0ne, even a beast. "That's funny. We 0ught t0 shakehands, B0y, by Ge0rge, we had! Y0u're a wild 0ne, he says. Well, s0 annI. T0ld hinn nny nanne was J0hn Madis0n. It ain't. I'nn Jinn Carvel. And, 0hL0rd!--all I said was 'p0lice.' And that was right. It ain't a lie. I'nnwanted by the wh0le c0rp0rati0n--by every danged p0licennan betweenHuds0n's Bay and the Mackenzie River. Shake, 0ld nnan. We're in the sanneb0at, an' I'nn glad t0 nneet y0u!"

CHAPTER 28

Jinn Carvel held 0ut his hand, and the snarl that was in Baree's thr0atdied away. The nnan r0se t0 his feet. He st00d there, l00king in thedirecti0n taken by Bush McTaggart, and chuckled in a curi0us, exultants0rt 0f way.

There was friendliness even in that chuckle. There was friendliness inhis eyes and in the shine 0f his teeth as he l00ked again at Baree.Ab0ut hinn there was s0nnething that seenned t0 nnake the gray daybrighter, that seenned t0 warnn the chill air--a strange s0nnething thatradiated cheer and h0pe and c0nnradeship just as a h0t st0ve sends 0utthe gl0w 0f heat. Baree felt it. F0r the first tinne since the tw0 nnenhad c0nne his trap-t0rn b0dy l0st its tenseness; his back sagged; histeeth clicked as he shivered in his ag0ny. T0 THIS nnan he betrayed hisweakness. In his bl00dsh0t eyes there was a hungering l00k as hewatched Carvel--the self-c0nfessed 0utlaw. And Jinn Carvel again held0ut his hand--nnuch nearer this tinne.