e _Belmont_, where
Lefingwell had gone. Other men, on the board sidewalk and in the dust of
the street, were running, shouting, gesticulating. In an instant the town
had become a bedlam of portentous force; it was the first time in its
history that the people of Manti had looked with collective vision, and
the girl reeled against the iron wall of the shed, appalled at the
resistless power that had been set in motion. On a night when she sat on
the porch of the Bar B ranchhouse she had looked toward Manti, thrilled
over a pretty mental fancy. She had thought it all a game--wondrous,
joyous, progressive. She had neglected to associate justice with it
then--the inexorable rule of fairness under which every player of the game
must bow. She brought it into use now, felt the spirit of it, saw the dire
tragedy that its perversion portended, groaned, and covered her face with
her hands.

She looked around after a while. She saw Judge Lindman walking across the
street toward the _Castle_, supported by two other men. A third followed;
she did not know him, but Corrigan would have recognized him as the hotel
clerk who had grown confidential upon a certain day. The girl heard his
voice as he followed after the Judge and the others--raucous, vindictive:

"We need men like Trevison in this town. We can get along without any
Corrigans."

She heard a voice behind her and she turned, swiftly, to see Hester Harvey
walking toward her. She would have avoided the meeting, but she saw that
Hester was intent on speaking and she drew herself erect, bowing to her
with cold courtesy as the woman stopped within a step of her and smiled.

"You look ready to flop into hysterics, dearie! Won't you come over to my
room with me and have something to brace you up? A cup of tea?" she added
with a laugh as Rosalind looked quickly at her. She did not seem to notice
the stiffening of the girl's body, but linked her arm within her own and
began to walk across the street. The girl was racked with emotion over the
excitement of the morning, the dread of impending violence, and half
frantic with anxiety over Trevison's safety. Hester's offense against her
seemed vague and far, and very insignificant, relatively. She yearned to
exchange confidences with somebody--anybody, and this woman, even though
she were what she thought her, had a capacity for feeling, for sympathy.
And she was very, very tired of it all.

"It was fierce, wasn't it?" said Hester a few