kitchen and chatted with Aunt Jane, who had read of the killing of the
outlaws in Phoenix, and had many questions to ask. It had been a
terrible tragedy. And Mr. Bartley had actually seen the shooting?

Aunt Jane was glad that Cheyenne had not been mixed up in it, especially
as that man Sears had been killed. But now that he had been killed,
people would talk less about her brother. It really had seemed an act of
Providence that Cheyenne had had nothing to do with the shooting. Of
course, Mr. Bartley knew about the trouble that her brother had had--and
why he had never settled down--

"His name was not mentioned in the papers," said Bartley, thinking that
he must say something.

"There's Dorry, now," said Aunt Jane, glancing through the kitchen
window.

Bartley promptly excused himself and stepped out to the gate, which he
vaulted and opened as Dorothy waved a greeting. Bartley carried the
groceries in, and later helped unhitch the team. They chatted casually
neither referring to the subject uppermost in their minds.

When Cheyenne returned, riding on a load of alfalfa with Uncle Frank and
Little Jim, Bartley managed to let Uncle Frank know that he was not
supposed to have had a hand in the Phoenix affair. Cheyenne thanked him.

"But you ain't talked with Dorry, yet, have you?" queried Cheyenne.

Bartley shook his head.

"She'll find out," stated Cheyenne. "You can't fool Dorry."

That evening, while Uncle Frank and Cheyenne were discussing a matter
which seemed confidential to themselves, and while Aunt Jane was quietly
keeping an eye on Jimmy, who could hardly keep from interrupting his
seniors--Bartley and Dorry didn't count, just then, for _they_ were
also talking together--Dorothy intimated to Bartley that she would like
to talk with him alone. She did not say so, nor make any gesture to
indicate her wish, yet Bartley interpreted her expression correctly.

He suggested that they step out to the veranda, where it was cooler.
From the veranda they strolled to the big gate, and there she asked him,
point-blank, to tell her just what had happened in Phoenix. She had read
the papers, and she surmised that there was more to the affair than the
papers printed. For instance, Senator Brown, upon his return to the
Box-S, had kindly sent word to Aunt Jane that Cheyenne was all right.
Bartley thought that the thoughtful Senator had rather spilled the
beans.

"Did Cheyenne--" and Dorothy hesitated.

"Cheyenne did