"Who's he?"
"Ain't you heard of Whistlin' Dan? The one that killed Jim Silent and
busted up his gang. Why, they say he's got a wolf that he can talk to like
it was a man."
Old Lew chuckled.
"They say a lot of things," he nodded, "but I'll tell a man that a wolf is
a wolf and they ain't nothin' that can tame 'em. Don't you let 'em feed you
up on lies like that, Lorrimer. But Helm was sure bad. He killed for the
sake of killin', but he died game. When the boys run him down he swore on
the bible that he's never killed a man, and they made him swear it over
again just to watch his nerve; but he never batted an eye."
The picture of that wild time grew up for Vic Gregg, and the thought of
free men who laughed at the law, strong men, fierce men. What would one of
these have done if the girl he intended to marry had treated him like a
foil?
"Then they got him ready for the rope," went on Lew Perkins.
"'I've seen a tolerable lot of death,' says Helm. 'I ain't afraid of it.'"
"There was about six thousand folks had come in to see the end of Boone
Helm.
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