d. Have you any
money?"

She stood gazing at him, her anger, shame, all forgotten in the
fascination of Winston's determined face. For the first time she
thoroughly comprehended the cool, compelling power of this man, and it
mastered her completely. She felt no longer the slightest doubt of
what he purposed doing, and her woman heart swelled responsively to his
masculine strength.

"I--I have n't got a dollar," she confessed simply, her lashes drooping
over her lowered eyes.

"What does that fellow owe you?"

"Two hundred and sixty dollars; he has merely dribbled out what little
I have been actually compelled to ask for."

A moment he remained standing there, breathing hard. Once she ventured
to glance up inquiringly, only to catch his stern eyes, and as
instantly lower her own.

"All right, Miss Norvell," he said finally, the words seeming fairly to
explode from between his lips. "I understand the situation now, and
you are to remain here until I come back. I 'll get your money, don't
fear, if I have to trail him clear to Denver, but I 'll take what
little the miserable thief owes me out of his hide."

The next moment he was down below in the office rapidly preparing for
action, and Miss Norvell, leaning far out across the banister, listened
to his quick, nervous words of instruction with an odd thrill of pride
that left her cheeks crimson.

CHAPTER V

IN OPEN REBELLION

"It wus about the durndest fight as ever I see," explained Bill Hicks
confidentially to a group of his cronies in the bar-room of the
Poodle-Dog, while he tossed down a glass of red liquor, and shook the
powdered snowflakes from his bearskin coat. "He wus a sorter slim,
long-legged chap, thet young actor feller I showed the trail down ter
Bolton ter, an' he scurcely spoke a word all durin' thet whol' blame
ride. Search me, gents, if I c'd git either head er tail outer jist
whut he wus up to, only thet he proposed ter knock ther block off some
feller if he had the good luck ter ketch 'im. Somehow, I reckoned he
'd be mighty likely ter perform the job, the way his jaw set an' his
eyes flared. Leastwise, I didn't possess no rip-roarin' ambition fer
ter be thet other feller. Still, I didn't suppose he was no whirlwind."

Bill mechanically held out his drained glass, and, warming up somewhat,
flung his discarded overcoat across a vacant bench, his eyes beginning
to glow with reawakened enthusiasm.

"But, by gory, he wus! H