Silver in the Blood by George G. Gilman Page B

legs had the length and girth of immovable tree trunks. Strength also showed in his face, round and smooth, but looking as hard as it was black, with widely spaced eyes under a high shiny forehead, flaring nostrils in a bulbous nose and a wide, protruding mouth, all topped off by long, crinkly hair that instead of falling about his face sprouted upwards and to the sides like painted wire. He was dressed in an Eastern business suit, pin-striped with a red velvet vest visible beneath the open jacket. The, whole outfit seemed a size too small for him so that he showed a lot of wrist at the sleeve cuffs and his pants ended a good two inches above his white trimmed, patent leather shoes. He wore no gunbelt, but the throwing of the spear did not leave him without a weapon. He clasped the handle of a wicked-looking club in his enormous right fist.
    "I don't understand."
    Edge knew he was not a southern slave enjoying new-found freedom after the end of the war. For there was no twang of any American influence in his voice. His English had more of a British accent.
    "Kid's rhyme," Edge explained, "You throw a mean spear."
    "My assegai save you life?"
    Edge snapped a glance at BIue. "It sure didn't do a lot for his."
    "So you give me Mr. Wilder's money now."
    His tone didn't suggest a query this time. Edge had a Winchester and the Zulu only a club, but Anatali made the statement with bland confidence.
    "Miller Tabor and his boys had the money," Edge pointed out. "Maybe I know where they got it, but I don't care. It's mine now. You fixed the fire at the mine?"
    "One of Mr. Wilder's mines," Anatali answered. "I know about smoke hole. I follow the robbers there. I light fire and climb cliff to block smoke hole. Smoke, them out. You spoil my plan. I hear others say you have money. I follow two who follow you."
    Edge nodded. "Wilder's got a smart boy working for him. But it rifle against a club says you lose out, feller."
    Anatali's blank expression did not change as he began to move towards Edge. Edge held his ground and his eyes narrowed to glinting slits as he pumped the action of the Winchester, sliding a shell into the breech. "I'm obliged to you," Edge said evenly, raising the angle of the rifle so the Zulu could look full into the black hole of the muzzle. "So don't get stupid and make me kill you."
    Anatali stopped in his tracks, aware that the white man was prepared to use the Winchester. Edge grinned without warmth and began to sidestep, keeping the rifle aimed and never taking his unblinking eyes off the Zulu.
    "I hear your boss is a very rich man," he said.
    The Zulu remained immobile, staring straight ahead, his round face still devoid of expression. "Mr. Wilder has more money than anyone in Virginia City. That why he cannot allow any man to steal from him."
    Edge nodded. "I see the point, let one get away with it and every bum in the west will figure him for a sucker."
    He had made a wide circle of the Zulu and was now behind him. From the back he seemed bigger than ever in the tight-fitting suit. Edge wondered if he bought his clothes small on purpose to emphasis his bulk. But he decided not: a man such as this needed no false trimmings. "Own many mines?"· Edge asked, looking at the mass of wiry hair and considering the dampening effect it would have on a blow.
    "Many mines, but all flooded," Anatali replied as Edge began to move forward, towards the broad back, stepping light and easy. "All over Comstock mines are flooded. But him still rich man."
    Edge brought the rifle in towards the side of the hirsute head, gripping the stock with both hands, and the barrel crashed against bone just above the Zulu's right ear. The man's body remained stiff, as if paralyzed by the blow, and fell like a redwood. He hit the ground with a sickening thud, the club slipping from limp fingers. Untrusting, Edge moved in close, the Winchester aimed, and hooked a toe under the club to kick it aside. Anatali's eyes were closed, his mouth slightly