before all this came to pass some details had to be arranged in the
lives of certain young people of the country. In one instance, at least,
Lee Snaith appointed herself adjuster in behalf of Cupid.

Goodheart reached town a few hours earlier than his chief. Lee met him
just before supper in front of the court-house.

"Where's Billie?" she asked with characteristic directness.

"He's on his way back. A wounded man couldn't be moved an' he had to stay
with him a while. The man was Joe Yankie. A messenger just got in to say
he died."

"Billie isn't wounded?"

"No. Not his fault, though. When we had the rustlers cornered, he crawled
in through the brush to their camp. Fool business, I told him. Never saw
anything gamer. Lucky for him Albeen had made his get-away."

The eyes of the girl thanked the deputy for this indirect praise. Little
patches of red burned in her dusky cheeks. The way to make a life friend
of her was to be fond of Billie.

Lee changed the subject abruptly. "Jack, you haven't half the sense I
thought you had."

"Much obliged," he answered sardonically. She was looking straight at him
and he knew what was in her mind.

"If I was a man--and if the nicest girl in the world was in love with
me--I'd try not to be as stiff as a poker."

"I'm as stiff as a poker, am I?"

"Yes." The dark eyes of the young woman were eager pools of light. "She's
the truest-hearted girl I ever saw--the best friend, the loyalest
comrade. I should think you'd be ashamed to set yourself up to judge
her."

"Of course, you're not settin' yourself up to judge _me_, Lee?"

"I'm going to tell you what I think. The others are afraid of you because
you can put on that high-and-mighty, stand-offish air. Well, I'm not."

"I see you're not."

"She told me all about it. Since she was Polly Roubideau she had to help
Jim escape. Can't you see that? She knew he was innocent, and it turned
out she was right. Suppose she made a mistake--and I don't admit it for a
minute. Can't you make allowance for other folks' judgment being
different from yours? Are you never wrong yourself?"

"It isn't a question of judgment."

He hesitated and decided to say no more. How could he tell Lee that
Pauline had deliberately misled him to give Clanton a better chance of
escape? He had fought it out a hundred times in his mind, but he could
not escape the conviction that she had made a tool of his love.

The girl went to the heart of the matter. "P