, Mr. Chadron! For the memory of your daughter, be a
man!"

"I'm actin' for the best, Miss Frances." Chadron softened in speech,
but unbent in will. "You must stay here till we settle them fellers. I
ain't got time to bring any more men up from Cheyenne--I've got to
have help within the next twenty-four hours. You can see how your
misplaced feelin's might muddle and delay me, and hold off the
troopers till they've killed off all of my men in that canyon back
yonder in the hills. It's for the best, I tell you; you'll see it that
way before daylight."

"It's a pity about your gallant cutthroats! It's time the rest of this
country knew something about the methods of you cattlemen up here, and
the way you harass and hound and murder honest men that are trying to
make homes!"

"Oh, Miss Frances! ca'm down, ca'm down!" coaxed Chadron, spreading
his hands in conciliatory gesture, as if to smooth her troubled
spirits, and calm her down by stroking her, like a cat.

"Now you want to call out the army to rescue that pack of villains,
you want to enlist the government to help you murder more children!
Well, I'm a daughter of the army; I'm not going to stand around and
see you pull it down to any such business as yours!"

"You'd better make up your mind to take it easy, now, Miss Frances.
Put down your hat and things, now, and run along off to bed like a
good little girl."

She turned from him with a disdainful toss of the head, and walked
across to the window where Mrs. Chadron's great chair stood beside her
table.

"Do you want it known that I was forced to leave your house by the
window?" she asked, her hand on the sash.

"It won't do you any good if you do," Chadron growled, turning and
throwing the door open with gruff decision. He stood a moment
glowering at her, his shoulders thrust into the room. "You can't leave
here till I'm ready for you to go--I'm goin' to put my men on the
watch for you. If you try it afoot they'll fetch you back, and if you
git stubborn and try to ride off from 'em, they'll shoot your horse.
You take my word that I mean it, and set down and be good."

He closed the door. She heard his heavy tread, careless, it seemed,
whether he broke the troubled sleep of his wife, pass out by way of
the kitchen. She returned to the fire, surging with the outrage of it,
and sat down to consider the situation.

There was no doubt that Chadron meant what he had said. This was only
a mild proceeding to sup