f
Duncan Sheila told him the story of her danger and subsequent rescue by
Dakota and she saw his eyes narrow with a strange light.

"Dakota!" he said. "Isn't that the chap who shot that half-breed over in
Lazette the day I came?"

To Sheila's nod he ejaculated: "He's a trump!"

"He is a brute!" As the words escaped her lips--she had not meant to utter
them--Sheila caught a glint in Duncan's eyes which told her that she had
echoed the latter's sentiments, and she felt almost like retracting the
charge. She had to bite her lips to resist the impulse.

"A brute, eh?" laughed Langford. "It strikes me that I wouldn't so
characterize a man who had saved my life. The chances are that after
saving you he didn't seem delighted enough, or he didn't smile to suit
you, or----"

"He ain't so awful much of a man," remarked Duncan disparagingly.

Langford turned and looked at Duncan with a comprehending smile.
"Evidently you owe Dakota nothing, my dear Duncan," he said.

The latter's face darkened, and with Sheila listening he told the story of
the calf deal, which had indirectly brought about the death of Blanca.

"For a long time we had suspected Texas Blanca of rustling," said Duncan,
"but we couldn't catch him with the goods. Five years ago, after the
spring round-up, I branded a bunch of calves with a secret mark, and then
we rode sign on Blanca.

"We had him then, for the calves disappeared and some of the boys found
some of them in Blanca's corral, but we delayed, hoping he would run off
more, and while we were waiting he sold out to Dakota. We didn't know that
at the time; didn't find it out until we went over to take Blanca and
found Dakota living in his cabin. He had a bill of sale from Blanca all
right, showing that he'd bought the calves from him. It looked regular,
but we had our doubts, and Dakota and me came pretty near having a run-in.
If the boys hadn't interfered----"

He hesitated and looked at Sheila, and as her gaze met his steadily his
eyes wavered and a slow red came into his face, for the recollection of
what had actually occurred at the meeting between him and Dakota was not
pleasant, and since that day Duncan had many times heard the word "Yellow"
spoken in connection with his name--which meant that he lacked courage.

"So he wasn't a rustler, after all?" said Sheila pleasantly. For some
reason which she could not entirely explain, she suspected that Duncan had
left many things out of his story of