ause you
helped him, an' bluffed the Doc. Oh, I'm wise to you."

"You look wise to a good deal," retorted Jim, with a cold smile. Then
without further concern he went on with his story. "I came to her
house and found her bound and gagged. Will had not long left her. She
told me what had happened, that he had gone off to kill Elia, and I
rode out at once to the bluff. I found Will kicking the life out of
the poor boy. I jumped from my horse and hit him with my fist. I
frankly admit I desired to kill him, and my whole intent was in that
blow. He fell to the ground with his jaw badly smashed, and--and I was
glad. I left him there and looked to Elia. He was in a pretty bad way,
but he did not seem so bad as I now realize he must have been.
However, when I saw that I had been in time to save him, my anger
began to pass, and I felt I could not leave the wretched man lying
there with his wound dripping, and--well, I thought I'd better do what
I could for him. So I sent Elia over to my horse--I intended that he
should ride home--while I fixed Will's face up some.

"Well, I had nothing much to do it with except my handkerchiefs," he
went on, "so I knelt down beside him, took out my sheath-knife and
ripped up my white handkerchief into a bandage and folded my
neck-scarf into a pad, and bound it on his broken jaw. Then I got up,
and now I know I must have left my knife on the ground beside him. I
didn't know it at the time. Anyway, I left him and went back to my
horse expecting to find Elia. But he was not there. I was alarmed at
once, and began to search round for him, calling at the same time. You
see, I thought he'd maybe collapsed somewhere near by. But I got no
answer, and so circling round and round I again came to where Will
Henderson was lying. At first I didn't notice anything, it was fairly
dark; then, of a sudden, I saw he was lying on his back, where before
he had been on his side. The next thing was that I realized the
bandages were off his face. Then, as I knelt down beside him again, I
found that--other. My knife was sticking up in his chest. Then I knew
the reason of Elia's absence, and--what he had done."

Jim ceased speaking, and presently his eyes sought Eve's face with a
look of trouble in their dark depths. He had wanted to spare her all
this, and now--

The doctor's voice was questioning him.

"And you come right into the village, wher' your flavor was mighty
strong, to tell us he was dead?" he asked al