uck the
Circle Bar trail, and before they had traveled a mile of the ten that
lay before them night had come. Hollis had been little inclined to talk
and Norton did not disturb him, but gave his attention to the horses.
There had been no moon and few stars, and darkness, as under a blanket,
had settled over them before they were many miles from Dry Bottom.

The country seemed nothing more than a vast plain, broken here and there
by ridges and depressions. Occasionally a low hill loomed out of the
darkness, the shadows deepening around it; now and then the buckboard
passed through a draw, the wheels sinking hub-deep in the loose sand.
Several dry arroyos crossed the trail, but with a knowledge that seemed
almost marvelous Norton cleverly avoided these pitfalls. Hollis could
not see a foot ahead, but the location of the trail seemed to be no
mystery to the range boss, for he drove the horses steadily on,
hesitating for nothing.

Once during the ride Norton broke the silence with a subdued cackle of
mirth, and at another time he laughed aloud.

"I'd liked to have seen Big Bill when you hit him!" he observed, regret
in his voice. "I reckon he might have been just a little surprised!"

To which Hollis made no reply. At another time Norton broke the silence
long enough to inquire:

"I reckon mebbe you wouldn't have hit him so hard if you'd knowed who he
was?"

"I think I should have hit a little harder," returned Hollis quietly.

"Why, hell!" declared Norton with a laugh; "I reckon you would have done
just that!"

About ten o'clock they came in sight of some straggling posts, and
Norton assured Hollis that the posts were strung with wire, forming a
fence which skirted one side of the Circle Bar pasture. A few minutes
later a dog barked and at Norton's call came bounding up to the
buckboard, yipping joyously. Hollis could make out his shape as he
cavorted about.

"My dog," offered the range boss. "Half wolf, the other half just dog."
He chuckled over his joke. "Best dog you ever see," he boasted; "money
couldn't buy him. Like dogs?"

Hollis nodded and then realizing that Norton could not see him in the
darkness, voiced a quick "yes".

In the distance Hollis saw a sudden square of light illuminate the wall
of darkness into which they had been driving; a door had been opened.
Evidently the dog's barking had aroused the inmates of the building, for
as the buckboard drew nearer Hollis saw several figures flit out of