st; "them devils are treacherous, and I
wouldn't put it past 'em to shoot you. But you wait till I get this leg
of mine fixed and I'll make some of 'em hard to ketch!"

"Now you see what you get," burst out Billy heartlessly, "for taking Mr.
Lynch to Poison Spring. I'm sorry you're shot, but when you get well I
hope this will be a lesson to you. Because if it wasn't for your dog,
and me running away from home, you never would get away from here
alive."

"Well, for cripes' sake!" roared Wunpost, "don't you think I know that
now? What's the use of rubbing it in? And you're dead right it'll be a
lesson--I'll ride the ridges, after this, and the next time I'll try to
shoot first. But you go up the canyon and throw the packs off them mules
and bring me Old Walker to ride. I ain't crippled; I'm all right, but
this leg is sure hurting me and I believe I'll take a chance. Saddle him
up and we'll start for the ranch."

Billy stepped out briskly, half smiling at his rage and at the straits
to which his anger had brought him; but when she heard his heavy
groaning as she helped him into the saddle her woman's heart was
touched. After all he was just a child, a big reckless boy, still
learning the hard lessons of life; and it had certainly been treacherous
for the assassin to shoot him without even giving him a chance. She rode
close beside him as they went down the canyon, to protect him from
possible bullets; and if Wunpost divined her purpose it did not prevent
him from keeping her between him and the ridge. The wound and the long
wait had shattered his nerves and made him weak and querulous, and he
cursed softly whenever he hit his sore leg; but back at the ranch his
spirits revived and he insisted upon going on to Blackwater.

Cole Campbell had cleaned his wound and drenched it well with dilute
carbolic, but though it was clean and would heal in a few days, Wunpost
demanded to be taken to town. He was restless and uneasy in the presence
of these people, whose standards were so different from his own; but
behind it all there was some hidden purpose which urged him on to Los
Angeles. It was shown in the set lips, the stern brooding stare and his
impatience with his motion-impeding leg; but to Billy it was shown most
by his oblivious glances and the absence of all proper gratitude. She
had done a brave deed in following his dog back and in rescuing him from
the bullets of his enemies, but when she drew near and tried to engage