CHAPTER XXXVI

Larry caught and whirled around Barney Palmer just as the hand of the escaping Barney was on the knob of the outer door.

“No, you don’t, Barney Palmer!” he cried.  “You stay right here!”

Startled as Barney was by this appearance of his dearest enemy, he wasted no precious time on mere words.  He swung a vicious blow at Larry, intended to remove this barrier to his freedom.  But the experienced Larry let it glance off his forearm, and with the need of an instantaneous conclusion he sent a terrific right to Barney’s chin.  Barney staggered back, fell in a crumpled heap, and lay motionless.

Sparing only the fraction of a second to see that Barney was momentarily out of it, Larry sprang upon Joe Ellison and tried to break the deadly grips Joe held upon Old Jimmie.

“Stop, Joe—­stop!” he cried peremptorily.  “Your killing Jimmie Carlisle isn’t going to help things!”

Without relaxing his holds, Joe turned upon this interferer.

“Larry Brainard!  How’d you come in here?”

“I’ve been here all the time.  But, Joe—­don’t kill Jimmie Carlisle!”

“You keep out—­this is my business!” Joe fiercely replied.  “If you’ve been here all the time, then you know what he’s done to me, and what he’s done to my girl!  You know he deserves to have his neck twisted off—­and I’m going to twist it off!”

Larry perceived that Joe’s sense of tremendous injury had made him for the moment a madman in his rage.  Only the most powerful appeal had a chance to bring him back to sanity.

“Listen, Joe—­listen!” he cried desperately, straining to hold back the other’s furious strength from its destructive purpose.  “After what’s happened, every one is bound to know that Maggie is your daughter!  Understand that, Joe?—­every one will know that Maggie is your daughter!  It’s not going to help you to be charged with murder.  And think of this, Joe—­what’s it going to do to your daughter to have her father a murderer?”

“What’s that?” Joe Ellison asked dazedly.

Larry saw that his point had penetrated to the other’s reason.  So he drove on, repeating what he had said.

“Understand this, Joe?—­every one will now know that Maggie is your daughter!  You simply can’t prevent their knowing that now!  Remember how for over fifteen years you’ve been trying to do the best you could for her!  Do you now want to do the worst thing you can do?  The worst thing you can do for Maggie is to make her father a murderer!”

“I guess that’s right Larry,” he said huskily.  “Thanks.”

He pushed the half-strangled Jimmie Carlisle away from him.  “You’ll get yours in some other way!” he said grimly.

Old Jimmie, staggering, caught the back of a chair for support.  He tenderly felt his throat and blinked at Larry and Joe and Maggie.  He did not try to say anything.  In the meantime Barney had recovered consciousness, had struggled up, and was standing near Old Jimmie.  Their recognition that they were sharers of defeat had served to restore something of the sense of alliance between the two.