ee Will hang--but--I'd rather git the gold."

"Well," said Peter, with a sigh of relief, "ther's just one way for
you to get it. You've got to put us wise how to get to Will to warn
him before Doc gets him. If Will hangs, you don't get your gold."

A sudden hope lit Eve's troubled face. This man, she knew, was to be
Will's savior--her savior. Her heart swelled with thankfulness and
hope. This man, without a second's demur, had embraced her cause, was
ready to incriminate himself, to save the worst criminal a cattle
country knows, because--just because he wanted to help a woman, who
was nothing to him, and never could be anything to him. It was the
love he had for all suffering humanity, the wonderful charity of his
kindly heart, that made him desire to help all those who needed his
help.

She was listening now to the manner in which he extracted from her
unwilling brother the information he sought. He did it bit by bit,
with much care and deliberation. He wanted no mistake. The direction
in which Will's secret corrals lay must be given with the last word in
exactness, for any delay in finding him might upset his purpose.

Having extracted all the information necessary, he gave the lad a
final warning.

"Now, see here, Elia, you're a good lad--better than you seem; but I'm
not going to be played with. I've got gold in plenty, sure, and you're
going to get it if you stay right here, and don't say a word to any
one about Will or this cattle-rustling. If you do anything that
prevents Will getting clear away, or let folks know that he's the
rustler, then you get no gold--not one cent."

"Then, wot's this I've heerd about Jim? Guess you want him to get the
blame. You want 'em to hang Jim Thorpe?"

The boy's cunning was paralyzing. Eve's eyes widened with a fresh
fear, and, for a moment, Peter was gravely silent.

"Yes," he said presently, "for a while he must still have the blame."

Then he turned to the woman.

"I wish I could get hold of Jim," he said regretfully. "Amongst other
things, I want his horse."

In an instant Eve remembered.

"He's over in your shack. I saw him go there at sundown."

Peter's face cleared.

"Good," he cried. "Come on, we'll all go over there. I'll go by the
front way, with Elia. You sneak out the back way after we're gone."

CHAPTER XXIV

FOR A WOMAN

Seated before the cold stove in Peter Blunt's hut, Jim Thorpe was lost
in moody thought. His day had been long and wea