e care of myself in a day or two," went on
Duane. "Then I'll go--I'd like to talk to you about Jennie."

"She's welcome to a home here with us."

"Thank you, Andrews. You're a kind man. But I want Jennie to get farther
away from the Rio Grande. She'd never be safe here. Besides, she may be
able to find relatives. She has some, though she doesn't know where they
are."

"All right, Duane. Whatever you think best. I reckon now you'd better
take her to some town. Go north an' strike for Shelbyville or Crockett.
Them's both good towns. I'll tell Jennie the names of men who'll help
her. You needn't ride into town at all."

"Which place is nearer, and how far is it?"

"Shelbyville. I reckon about two days' ride. Poor stock country, so you
ain't liable to meet rustlers. All the same, better hit the trail at
night an' go careful."

At sunset two days later Duane and Jennie mounted their horses and said
good-by to the rancher and his wife. Andrews would not listen to Duane's
thanks.

"I tell you I'm beholden to you yet," he declared.

"Well, what can I do for you?" asked Duane. "I may come along here again
some day."

"Get down an' come in, then, or you're no friend of mine. I reckon there
ain't nothin' I can think of--I just happen to remember--" Here he led
Duane out of earshot of the women and went on in a whisper. "Buck, I
used to be well-to-do. Got skinned by a man named Brown--Rodney Brown.
He lives in Huntsville, an' he's my enemy. I never was much on fightin',
or I'd fixed him. Brown ruined me--stole all I had. He's a hoss an'
cattle thief, an' he has pull enough at home to protect him. I reckon I
needn't say any more."

"Is this Brown a man who shot an outlaw named Stevens?" queried Duane,
curiously.

"Shore, he's the same. I heard thet story. Brown swears he plugged
Stevens through the middle. But the outlaw rode off, an' nobody ever
knew for shore."

"Luke Stevens died of that shot. I buried him," said Duane.

Andrews made no further comment, and the two men returned to the women.

"The main road for about three miles, then where it forks take the
left-hand road and keep on straight. That what you said, Andrews?"

"Shore. An' good luck to you both!"

Duane and Jennie trotted away into the gathering twilight. At the moment
an insistent thought bothered Duane. Both Luke Stevens and the rancher
Andrews had hinted to Duane to kill a man named Brown. Duane wished
with all his heart that they had not men