ng. What cold-blooded fiends they were to be able to conduct
themselves in this manner when they intended to do a murder before the
day had ended! And indeed, it was only for this meal they seemed to
have planned to wait.

Before the afternoon was well begun, there was saddling and mounting
and then Hervey, Little Joe, Shorty, Macintosh, and Scotty climbed
onto their mounts and jogged out towards the east. Her heart leaped
with only a momentary hope when she saw the direction, but instantly
she undeceived herself. They would, of course, swing north as soon as
they were well out of sight from the house, and then they would head
for the shack on the mountain-side, aiming to reach it at about the
fall of twilight. And what could she do to stop them?

She ran out through the patio and to the front of the house. The
dust-cloud already had swallowed the individual forms of the riders.
And turning to the left, she saw McGuire and Hastings lolling in full
view near the corrals. With consummate tact, Hervey had chosen those
of his men who were the oldest, the hardest, the least liable to be
melted by her persuasions.

Moaning, she turned back and looked east. The dust-cloud was dwindling
every minute. And without hope, she cast another glance towards the
corrals. Evidently, the men agreed that it was unnecessary for two of
them to stay in the heat of the sun to prevent her from getting at
a horse. Hastings had turned his back and was strolling towards the
bunkhouse. McGuire was perched on a stump rolling a cigarette and
grinning broadly towards her.

He would be a hard man to handle. But at least there was more hope
than before. One man was not so hard to manage as two, each shaming
the other into indifference. She went slowly towards McGuire, turning
again to see the dust-cloud roll out of view over a distant hill.

In that cloud of dust, Hervey kept the pace down to an easy dog-trot.
From mid-afternoon until evening--for he did not intend to expose
himself primarily and his men in the second place, to the accurate gun
of Red Jim in broad daylight--was a comfortable stretch in which
to make the journey to the shack on the mountain-side. Like a good
general, he kept the minds of his followers from growing tense by
deftly turning the talk, on the way, to other topics, as they swung
off the east trail towards Glosterville and journeyed due north over
the rolling foothills. There was only one chance in three that he
could hav