"That's a good horse you
were riding--Government property, I think, it was. Well, it has changed
owners."

He moved noiselessly away and Durham was left alone. Bracing his
muscles, he strained at the cords which bound him, trying to writhe
himself free. The chair creaked. In a moment the man with the yellow
beard was back.

"If you wriggle for a year you won't get free," he said in a harsh
whisper. "But I tell you what you will get; that's a crack on the head
to keep you quiet. Do you hear? You lay still, or there'll be an ugly
bump on your skull."

He stepped out of sight, and Durham heard the window he had pulled-to
quietly pushed open. A rage of mingled anger and jealousy swept over
him. Regardless of the threat, he plunged and struggled till the veins
in his head were bursting, and he smothered as the muffler over his
mouth worked up and covered his nostrils.

Suddenly a sound cut through the night which sent his blood cold.

From within the house there came the wild, terrified shriek of a woman.
A hoarse shout blended with it, and then the report of a revolver-shot
echoed through the place.

For a few minutes there was silence, deathly, nerve-destroying silence.
Durham, trembling with mortification, strained his ears to catch some
further sound.

Two shots in quick succession rang out, followed by a rush of scuffling
feet, and on the air there came the thud of galloping horses' hoofs.

"They're off, Patsy! The rifle, quick! Quick! Oh, you old fool, be
quick! They'll be too far!"

Durham heard the words screamed in a high shrill voice. Thereafter he
could only hear the hum of voices dimly.

Presently they came clearer.

"I tell you only two got away, three horses and two men. I saw them.
The other's somewhere. Sure I hope I put a bullet through him, and I
believed him when he said he was a police inspector. Oh, what a country
to come to. To think that the dirty--oh, look out, Patsy! Look out, you
old fool!"

The noise of a shot rang through Durham's head as though a pistol had
been fired close to his ear. He saw a splinter fly from the verandah
post as the bullet glanced off.

"I've hit him! I've hit him! See if he's dead, Patsy. Don't be
frightened. I tell you I'll cover him if he moves."

The light spread clear as the lamp was turned up, and Durham heard the
slow-moving footsteps of the old man approaching.

"Bedad! It's all tied up he is!"

Quick footsteps came, and as Durham turned his eye