d by the American press; but cruel things were done by each side,
and it took a strong force of United States cavalry to restore order. Then
broken men who had lost their livelihood, and some with a price upon their
heads, made their name a terror on both sides of the frontier and kept the
troopers busy.

So I was glad that those particular outlaws had journeyed south, and was
even more pleased when I reached the coulee, for the cold was increasing
and the ride had grown inexpressibly dreary. It was warmer down in the
hollow among the trees, but so black that it was the horse rather than I
that avoided them, while now and then a branch lashed my forehead like a
whip. There were cypress among them resembling solid masses of gloom, and
the wind howled weirdly; but at last I blundered up the winding trail into
sight of Carrington Manor. The big log-and-frame-built house was dark and
silent, and though I knew that at least the majority of its inhabitants
were at Lone Hollow the sight depressed me. Then, just as we drew clear of
the trees, I checked the horse, for, silhouetted blackly against the sky,
a single mounted figure kept watch over it. Perhaps it was instinctive
caution, or it may have been that Grace's uneasiness had infected me, but
I led Jasper's horse back into the coulee and hitched him to a tree, then,
unslinging the rifle, stood still shivering as I watched the figure.

There was something sinister about it, and it might have been frozen stiff
but for a faint rattle as the horse moved its head, while once I caught a
rigid line across the saddle which suspiciously resembled a rifle. Then,
recalling what Sergeant Macfarlane had said, I knew that while the police
rode hot-foot toward the boundary the rustlers had doubled on their tracks
to hold up Carrington Manor. It also struck me that as the main trail ran
straight across the prairie the watcher knew nothing about the bridle-path
through the coulee. In any case, it was plainly my duty to reach the
homestead and render assistance if I could.

I made sure that the Winchester cylinder was filled with cartridges by
pressing back the slide, and then I crept cautiously, with the dark trees
for a background, toward the building, observing as I did so that the
latter rendered the scout invisible to any one approaching by the direct
trail. Then, stooping low, I crossed the bare space which divided me from
the house, trusting that a humming bullet might not overtake me