but already he was riding the
river trail; she saw him outlined in the moonlight, leaning a little
forward in the saddle, the black running with a long, swift, sure
stride. She watched them until a bend in the trail shut them from
view, and then with a sob she bowed her head in her arms.

CHAPTER XXII

NEAL TAGGART VISITS

When a little later Betty heard hoof-beats in the ranchhouse yard--the
sounds of a horseman making a leisurely approach--she left the door and
went out upon the porch.

She knew who the horseman was; she had seen him from the window of her
room when she had gone upstairs to get the money for Calumet. More
than once she had seen the sheriff coming over the hill--the same hill
upon which Calumet and Neal Taggart had fought their duel--and she
recognized the familiar figure. On his previous visits to the
ranchhouse, however, Toban had left his horse in the timber clump near
the house. She was not surprised, though, to hear him coming into the
ranchhouse yard tonight, for his errand now was different.

Toban had evidently intended to hitch his pony to the corral fence, for
it was toward it that he was directing the animal, when he caught sight
of Betty on the porch and rode up beside her.

"What's up?" he inquired, leaning over in the saddle and peering
closely at her; "you look flustered. Where's Marston?"

"Gone," she told him.

He straightened. "Gone where?" he demanded.

"Away--forever," she said weakly. "He heard you were after him
for--for killing that man Sharp--and he left."

Toban cursed. "So he got wind of it, did he? The Taggarts must have
gassed about it. Marston told you, did he? Why didn't you keep him
here? He didn't kill Sharp!"

"I know it," she said; "he told me he didn't, and I believed him. He
said you had a warrant for his arrest; that you were coming for him,
and I was afraid that if you met him out on the range somewhere there
would be shooting. I knew if I could keep him here until you came you
would be able to fix it up some way--to prove his innocence. I was so
glad, when I ran upstairs to get some money for him and looked out of
the window. For you were coming. But he wouldn't stay."

Toban dismounted and stood in front of her, his eyes probing into hers.
"I've got evidence that he didn't kill Sharp," he said; "I saw the
whole deal. But I reckon," he added, a subtle gleam in his eyes, "that
it's just as well that he's gone--he was a heap o