be alone. He grinned at her, the grin that had been on his face
when he had shot Dal Colton, and backed away from her until he reached
the stairs.

Outside he mounted his horse and visited several saloons. There was no
sign of Dale. In the City Hotel he came upon a man who told him that
earlier in the day Dale had organized a posse and had gone to the
Double A to arrest Sanderson. This man was not a friend of Dale's, and
one of the posse had told him of Dale's plan.

Nyland mounted his horse again and headed it for the neck of the basin.
In his heart was the same lust that had been there while he had been
riding toward Okar.

And in his soul was a rage that had not been sated by the death of the
banker who, a few minutes before Nyland's arrival, had been so smugly
reviewing the pleasurable incidents of his life.

CHAPTER XXX

THE LAW TAKES A HAND

Barney Owen was tying the knot of the rope more securely when he heard
the bolt on the pantry door shoot back. He wheeled swiftly, to see
Mary Bransford emerging from the pantry, her hands covering her face in
a vain endeavor to shut from sight the grisly horror she had confronted
when she had reached her feet after recovering consciousness.

Evidently she had no knowledge of what had occurred, for when at a
sound Owen made and she uncovered her eyes, she saw Owen and instantly
fainted.

Owen dove forward and caught her as she fell, and then with a strength
that was remarkable in his frail body he carried her to the lounge in
the parlor.

Ho was compelled to leave her there momentarily, for he still
entertained fears that Dale would escape the loop of the rope. So he
ran into the pantry, looked keenly at Dale, saw that, to all
appearances, he was in the last stages of strangulation, and then went
out again, to return to Mary.

But before he left Dale he snatched the man's six-shooter from its
sheath, for his own had been lost in the confusion of the rush of
Dale's men for the door.

Mary was sitting up on the lounge when Owen returned. She was pale,
and a haunting fear, cringing, abject, was in her eyes.

She got to her feet when she saw Owen and ran to him, crying.

Owen tried to comfort her, but his words were futile.

"You be brave, little woman!" he said. "You must be brave! Sanderson
and the other men are in danger, and I've got to go to Okar for help!"

"I'll go with you," declared the girl. "I can't stay here--I won't. I
can't stand