The crowd look on as a deathly silence falls over the Forum
[RWP]DJM’s pistol came out, and his hand lay on the table, holding it unaimed. And with a voice as gentle as ever, the voice that sounded almost like a caress, but drawling a very little more than usual, so that there was almost a space between each word, he issued his orders to the man Stu:
"When you say that,
!"
And he looked at Stu across the table. Yes, the voice was gentle. But in my ears it seemed as if somewhere the bell of death was ringing; and silence, like a stroke, fell on the large room.
The Virginian, Horseman of the Plains — Owen Wister