z found
that his blow had not struck home. What was it that restrained him?
It seemed to the conqueror that he felt again the gentle finger-tips
which had worked down the muscles of his shoulder and trailed down his
neck. More than that, he heard the smooth murmur of the man's voice
like a kindly ghost beside him. He dreaded Red Perris still, but hate
the fallen rider he could not. Presently a loud rushing of the wind
among the branches above made him turn and in a panic he left the
forest at a shambling trot.

CHAPTER XIX

HERVEY TAKES A TRICK

The night before, when Perris rode off from the ranchhouse after
defying Hervey and his men, his hoofbeats had no sooner faded to
nothing than the cowpunchers swarmed out from the patio and into the
open; as though they wished to put their heads together and plan the
battle which the command of Hervey, to-night, had postponed. All of
that was perfectly clear to Marianne. Her call brought Hervey back to
her and she led him at once off the veranda and to the living room
where she could talk secure of interruption or of being overheard.
There he slumped uninvited into the first easy chair and sat twirling
his sombrero on his finger-tips, obviously well satisfied with
himself and the events of the evening. She herself remained standing,
carefully turning her back to the light so that her face might, as
much as possible, be in shadow. For she knew it was pale and the eyes
unnaturally large.

Hervey must not see. He must not guess at the torment in her mind and
all the self-revelations which had been pouring into her consciousness
during the past few moments. Greatest of all was one overshadowing
fact: she loved Red Jim Perris! What did it matter that she had seen
him so few times, and spoke to him so few words? A word might be a
thunderclap; a glance might carry into the very soul of a man. And
indeed she felt that she had seen that proud, gay, impatient soul in
Jim. What he thought of her was another matter. That he found a bar
between them was plain. But on the night of his first arrival at the
ranch, when she sang to him, had she not felt him, once, twice and
again, leaning towards her, into her life. And if they met once more,
might he not come all the way? But no matter. The thing now was to use
all her cunning of mind, all her strength of body, to save him from
imminent danger; and the satisfied glint of Hervey's eye convinced
her that the danger was imminent indeed.