he, when he was so
tantalizing, mean and sly? Perhaps if he went back home, that is, to
Aunt----

"Hands up! We've got you at last!" growled a stern voice almost in his
ear, it seemed; and poor Billiard's hands shot high into the air, he
shut his eyes, held his breath and waited for the end. But to his
utter amazement, a second voice huskily replied, after an instant,
"Yes, you've got me, boys. I knew it was no use to run away,
but--I--couldn't bear--to stay--and know that everyone looked at me as
a thief. I never took the money."

The moon, which had seemed so slow in rising, had finally mounted to
the crest of the surrounding hills, and poured a stream of mellow light
upon the waste below. Billiard, his hands still thrust stiffly above
his head, now distinguished a few feet in front of him the dark shapes
of a dozen or more men, armed with revolvers, clustering around one
whom he recognized as Atwater, the runaway post-master of Silver Bow.

"That's all right, Atwater," growled the first speaker, who was
evidently leader of the posse. "Tell your tale in court, but be a man
and face the music. Fall in, boys!"

For a long time, Billiard watched them as they marched their hapless
prisoner back to town, and the leader's words kept ringing in his ears,
"Be a man and face the music!" Suddenly a new thought flashed through
his brain. Why had he not followed them? It wasn't too late yet. He
could still see their forms indistinctly moving across the desert, and
by following their lead, would sooner or later reach Silver Bow
himself. Stepping out from the clump of Spanish bayonets which had
formed his retreat, he set out on a dog-trot in the direction the men
had taken, and after a long, rough, weary journey, actually found
himself trailing up the familiar path to the Eagles' Nest.

He paused as he reached the children's play house and took a furtive
survey of the place. One lone light burned in the low cottage.
Probably Tabitha had missed him and was waiting for his return.
Supposing she should lick him again for running away?

"Billiard!"

'Twas only a whisper from a rock nearby? but the boy almost screamed
aloud in his fright at the unexpectedness of it.

"Sh!" the voice continued. "It's only I,--Glory. I had to go to the
drug-store for some alum,--Janie has the croup,--and I saw you coming
up the trail. Tabitha hasn't missed you yet. She has been so anxious
over the baby. So sneak back to your