At the sight Boss McGinty gave the roar of a wounded bear and
plunged for the half-opened door. A levelled revolver met him
there with the stern blue eyes of Captain Marvin of the Mine
Police gleaming behind the sights. The Boss recoiled and fell
back into his chair.
"You're safer there, Councillor," said the man whom they had
known as McMurdo. "And you, Baldwin, if you don't take your hand
off your pistol, you'll cheat the hangman yet. Pull it out, or
by the Lord that made me--There, that will do. There are forty
armed men round this house, and you can figure it out for
yourself what chance you have. Take their pistols, Marvin!"
There was no possible resistance under the menace of those
rifles. The men were disarmed. Sulky, sheepish, and amazed,
they still sat round the table.
"I'd like to say a word to you before we separate," said the man
who had trapped them. "I guess we may not meet again until you
see me on the stand in the courthouse. I'll give you something
to think over between now and then. You know me now for what I
am. At last I can put my cards on the table. I am Birdy Edwards
of Pinkerton's.
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