ree," he added, stopping under a cottonwood that flung a
big branch out over the narrow cow-trail they were traveling. "The
chances are friend Floyd will be ambling around this way in a day or
two," he said hearteningly. "He can tend to the last sad rites and
take charge of your horse. He's liable to be sore when he reads your
pedigree, but I don't reckon that will make a great deal of difference.
You'll get buried, all right, Buck."

Ward dismounted with a most businesslike manner and untied Buck Olney's
rope from the saddle. "I can't spare mine," he explained laconically.
He had some trouble in fashioning a hangman's noose. He had not had
much practice, he remarked to Buck after the first attempt.

"How do you do it, Buck? You know more about these things than I do,"
he taunted. "You've helped hang lots of poor devils that will be glad
to meet yuh in hell to-day."

Buck Olney moistened his dry lips. Ward glanced at his face and looked
quickly away. Staring, abject terror is not nice to look upon, even
though the man is your worst enemy and is suffering justly for his
sins. Ward's fingers fumbled the rope as though his determination were
weakening. Then he remembered some things, hunched his shoulders,
impatient of the merciful impulse, and began the knot again. An old
prospector had shown him once how it was done.

"Of course, a plain slip-knot would do the business all right," he
said. "But I'll try and give you the genuine thing, same as you gave
the other fellows."

"Ward, for God's sake, let me go!"

Ward started. He did not know that a man's voice could change so much
in so short a time. He never would have recognized the tones as coming
from Buck Olney's loose, complacent lips.

"Ward, I'll never--I'll leave the country--I'll go to South America, or
Australia, or--"

"You'll go to hell, Buck," Ward cut in inexorably. "You've got your
ticket."

"I'll own up to everything. I'll tell you where some of the money's
cached we got in that Hardup deal, Ward. There's enough to put you on
Easy Street. I'll tell you who helped--"

"You'd better not," advised Ward harshly, "or I'll make hanging a
relief to you. I know pretty well, right now, all you could tell. And
if I wanted to send your pardners up, I wouldn't need your help. It's
partly to give them a chance that I'm sending you out this way, myself.
I don't call this murder, Buck. I'm saving the State a lot of time and
trouble, that'