a good time, you see, and the struggle was slowly crushing the life out
of me."

Winston spoke quietly, without bitterness, but Courthorne, who had
never striven at all but stretched out his hand and taken what was
offered, the more willingly when it was banned alike by judicial and
moral law, dimly understood him. He was a fearless man, but he knew
his courage would not have been equal to the strain of that six years'
struggle against loneliness, physical fatigue, and adverse seasons,
during which disaster followed disaster. He looked at the bronzed
farmer as he said, "Still, you would do a little in return for a
hundred dollars that would help you to go on with the fight?"

A faint sparkle crept into Winston's eyes. It was not hope, but rather
the grim anticipation of the man offered a better weapon when standing
with his back to the wall.

"Yes," he said slowly. "I would do almost anything."

"Even if it was against the law?"

Winston sat silent for almost a minute, but there was no indecision in
his face, which slightly perplexed Courthorne. "Yes," he said.
"Though I kept it while I could, the law was made for the safe-guarding
of prosperous men, but with such as I am it is every man for his own
hand and the devil to care for the vanquished. Still, there is a
reservation."

Courthorne nodded. "It's unlawful, but not against the unwritten code."

"Well," said Winston quietly. "When you tell me what you want I should
have a better opinion."

Courthorne laughed a little, though there was something unpleasant in
his eyes. "When I first came out to this country I should have
resented that," he said. "Now, it seems to me that I'm putting too
much in your hands if I make the whole thing clear before you commit
yourself in any way."

Winston nodded. "In fact, you have got to trust me. You can do so
safely."

"The assurance of the guileless is astonishing and occasionally hard to
bear," said Courthorne. "Why not reverse the position?"

Winston's gaze was steady, and free from embarrassment. "I am," he
said, "waiting for your offer."

"Then," said Courthorne dryly, "here it is. We are running a big load
through to the northern settlements and the reserves to-morrow, and
while there's a good deal of profit attached to the venture, I have a
notion that Sergeant Stimson has had word of it. Now, the Sergeant
knows just how I stand with the rustlers though he can fasten no charge
on me, and he will