"Any last request?" C.J. Harding offered Keene, as they dropped the noose around his neck. Keene squinted against the cutting rain. "I'd like my hands freed," he said calmly. "And I'd like to hear the church bells one last time." Keene's reaction to what was happening irritated C.J. Harding. He wanted to see Keene beg for his life, plead for mercy. Keene's poise was stealing Harding's satisfaction, and the big man didn't like it. "The biggest mistake you ever made was tanglin' with me, mister," Harding sneered at Keene. "I told you to leave town and you didn't listen. Now it's gonna cost you." "You can kill me," Keene replied evenly. "But that's not going to change the fact you owe Ballerat Jack five thousand dollars. You"re as dead as I am, and you know it." Harding lifted off his hat and laughed arrogantly. "I guess I'll see you in hell, then!" And he slapped the skittish mule underneath Keene on the backside with his hat.