Max Brand

“ Purvis viewed him with compassion.
"Me bein' your friend, Buck," he said, "take my tip an' don't try no fool stunts around that girl. Which she once belongs to Whistlin' Dan Barry an' therefore she's got the taboo mark on her for any other man. Everything he's ever owned is different, damned different!" ”

“ She's got her heart set on another man, an' she's that funny sort that don't never love twice. Maybe you'll guess who the man is?"
Buck frowned thoughtfully to cover his growing excitement.
"Give it up, Buck," advised Purvis. "The feller she loves is Whistlin' Dan Barry. You wouldn't think no woman would look without shiverin' at that hell-raiser. But she's goin' on a hunger strike on account of him. Since yesterday she wouldn't eat none. She says she'll starve herself to death unless we turn her loose. The hell of it is that she will. ”

“ She's makin' us more miserable than a whole army of men. We had her in the house for a while, an' then Silent rigged up the little shack that stands a short ways——"
"I know the one you mean."
"She an' her dad is in that. We have to guard 'em at night. She ain't had no good word for any of us since she's been up there. ”