ut he did not move his
hand.

"Got enough?" he panted again.

The answer came brokenly, weakly, almost inarticulate. But it did come
and the men drawn close heard it:

"Yes."

"You'll get out of the country?"

"Yes."

Bud Lee drew back and rose, going to the door swiftly. He stooped for
his hat and passed out. And as Bayne Trevors got unsteadily to his
feet and sank slumping into the chair offered him, two big tears formed
in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. The first tears in many a
year, the tears of a strong man broken for the first time in his life.

"Sand did it!" grunted Melvin. "Just sand, Carson."

"I'll stick aroun' an' see he moves on, Bud," Carson followed Lee to
say. "Oh, he'll go. But I'll just tell him how the boys is headed
this way by now an' it's tar an' feathers for him if he don't mosey
right along. That's something he couldn't stand right now. An',
Bud----"

He put out his hand and locked Lee's in a grip that made the sore
fingers wince. Then, swinging upon the heel of his boot, he went back
to collect a hundred dollars from Melvin and help Bayne Trevors shape
his plans.

But Bud Lee did not wait. He was on his horse, swaying a little, an
arm caught in a rude sling, glad to be out in the late sunlight.

"Fog along, little horse," he was saying dully. "Fog right along.
She's waiting, little horse. Judith is waiting! Think of that.
That's right--fog right along."

CHAPTER XXXI

YES, JUDITH WAS WAITING . . .

At the old cabin above the lake Bud Lee dismounted. His hand in its
rude sling was paining him terribly, demanding some sort of first-aid
treatment. To-morrow he could take it to a doctor; perhaps in an hour
or so he could get Tripp to look to it; just now he must do what he
could for it himself with hot water and strips torn from an old shirt.

The hand treated first, it was slow, tedious business seeking to remove
the traces of his recent encounter with Trevors; and, though he could
wash his face and manage a change of clothes, there was nothing dapper
about the result. But at length, shaking his head at the bruised face
looking at him from his bit of mirror, he went out to his horse and
rode down the trail that led to the ranch headquarters. Judith was
waiting for him--that was vastly more important than the fact that he
had a crippled hand and a cut or so upon his face.

Night had descended, serene with stars. He wondered if the boys were
bac