's arrival scarcely interrupted the jangle of voices. The boys
had bruises of their own to nurse, and they had scant sympathy for
Riley, and they told him so.

Lance went into the house. He supposed he would have to replace
Riley's clothes, which he did, very matter-of-factly and without any
comment whatever, restitution being in this case a mere matter of
sorting out three suits of his own underwear, which were much better
than Riley's, and placing them on the cook's bed.

"That you, Lance? Where in the world have you been all this while? I
came mighty near going gunning after the man that stole my team, let
me tell you--and I would have, if Tom hadn't found your horse tied up
to the fence and guessed you'd gone to take Mary Hope home. But I must
say, honey, you never followed any short cut!"

This was much easier than Lance had expected, so he made shift to
laugh, though it hurt his lip cruelly. "Had to take her to Jumpoff,
Belle. Then I had to clean up that crowd of toughs that--"

"You cleaned up Tom's leavin's, then!" Belle made grim comment through
Lance's closed door. "I didn't think there was enough left of 'em to
lick, by the time our boys got through. Haven't you been to bed yet,
for heaven's sake!"

"I'm going to bed," mumbled Lance, "when I've had a bath and a meal.
And to-morrow, Belle, I think I'll hit the trail for 'Frisco. Hope you
don't mind if I leave a few days early. I've got to stop off anyway to
see a fellow in Reno I promised--any hot water handy?"

There was a perceptible pause before Belle answered, and then it was
not about the bath water. She would not have been Belle Lorrigan
if she had permitted a quiver in her voice, yet it made Lance
thoughtful.

"Honey, I don't blame you for going. I expect we are awful rough--and
you'd notice it, coming from civilized folks. But--you know, don't
you, that the Lorrigans never spoiled your party for you? It--it just
happened that the Jumpoff crowd brought whisky out from town. We
_tried_ to make it pleasant--and it won't happen again--"

"Bless your heart!" Clad with superb simplicity in a bathrobe, Lance
appeared unexpectedly and gathered her into his arms. "If you think
I'm getting so darn civilized I can't stay at home, take a look at me!
By heck, Belle, I'll bet there isn't a man in the whole Black Rim that
got as much fun out of that scrap as I did! But I've got to _go_." He
patted her reassuringly on the head, laid his good cheek against her