The Untamed | Page 4

to a
description of the lone wolf. Maybe you remember Dan found his 'dog'
lyin' in a gully with a bullet through his shoulder. If he was a dog how'd
he come to be shot--"
"Some brute of a sheep herder may have done it. What could it prove?"
"It only proves that Dan is queer--powerful queer! Satan an' Black Bart
are still as wild as they ever was, except that they got one master. An'
they ain't got a thing to do with other people. Black Bart'd tear the heart

out of a man that so much as patted his head."
"Why," she cried, "he'll let me do anything with him!"
"Humph!" said Cumberland, a little baffled; "maybe that's because Dan
is kind of fond of you, gal, an' he has sort of introduced you to his pets,
damn 'em! That's just the pint! How is he able to make his man-killers
act sweet with you an' play the devil with everybody else."
"It wasn't Dan at all!" she said stoutly, "and he isn't queer. Satan and
Black Bart let me do what I want with them because they know I love
them for their beauty and their strength."
"Let it go at that," growled her father. "Kate, you're jest like your
mother when it comes to arguin'. If you wasn't my little gal I'd say you
was plain pig-headed. But look here, ain't you ever felt that Dan is what
I call him--different? Ain't you ever seen him get mad--jest for a
minute--an' watched them big brown eyes of his get all packed full of
yellow light that chases a chill up and down your back like a wrigglin'
snake?"
She considered this statement in a little silence.
"I saw him kill a rattler once," she said in a low voice. "Dan caught him
behind the head after he had struck. He did it with his bare hand! I
almost fainted. When I looked again he had cut off the head of the
snake. It was--it was terrible!"
She turned to her father and caught him firmly by the shoulders.
"Look me straight in the eye, Dad, and tell me just what you mean."
"Why, Kate," said the wise old man, "you're beginnin' to see for
yourself what I'm drivin' at! Haven't you got somethin' else right on the
tip of your tongue?"
"There was one day that I've never told you about," she said in a low
voice, looking away, "because I was afraid that if I told you, you'd

shoot Black Bart. He was gnawing a big beef bone and just for fun I
tried to take it away from him. He'd been out on a long trail with Dan
and he was very hungry. When I put my hand on the bone he snapped.
Luckily I had a thick glove on and he merely pinched my wrist. Also I
think he realized what he was doing for otherwise he'd have cut through
the glove as if it had been paper. He snarled fearfully and I sprang back
with a cry. Dan hadn't seen what happened, but he heard the snarl and
saw Black Bart's bared teeth. Then--oh, it was terrible!"
She covered her face.
"Take your time, Kate," said Cumberland softly.
"'Bart,' called Dan," she went on, "and there was such anger in his face
that I think I was more afraid of him than of the big dog.
"Bart turned to him with a snarl and bared his teeth. When Dan saw
that his face turned--I don't know how to say it!"
She stopped a moment and her hands tightened.
"Back in his throat there came a sound that was almost like the snarl of
Black Bart. The wolf-dog watched him with a terror that was uncanny
to see, the hair around his neck fairly on end, his teeth still bared, and
his growl horrible.
"'Dan!' I called, 'don't go near him!'
"I might as well have called out to a whirlwind. He leaped. Black Bart
sprang to meet him with eyes green with fear. I heard the loud click of
his teeth as he snapped--and missed. Dan swerved to one side and
caught Black Bart by the throat and drove him into the dust, falling
with him.
"I couldn't move. I was weak with horror. It wasn't a struggle between a
man and a beast. It was like a fight between a panther and a wolf. Black
Bart was fighting hard but fighting hopelessly. Those hands were
settling tighter on his throat. His big red tongue lolled out; his struggles

almost ceased. Then Dan happened to glance at me. What he saw in my
face sobered him. He got up, lifting the dog with him, and flung away
the lifeless weight of Bart. He began to