erision, after their savage way. Stolidly as an
Indian he rode among them to what end he could not imagine; but at the
worst, he believed they would not go beyond some further torture of him
to give him an initiation into what he must expect unless he accepted
their decree that he quit the country forthwith.

As his senses cleared Lambert recognized the men beside him as Sim
Hargus and the half-Indian, Tom. Behind him he believed Nick Hargus
rode, making it a family party. In such hands, with such preliminary
usage, it began to look very grave for him.

When they saw there was no danger of his collapse, they began to
increase their pace. Bound as he was, every step of the horse was
increased torture to Lambert. He appealed to Sim Hargus to release his
hands.

"You can tie them behind me if you're afraid," he suggested.

Hargus cursed him, refusing to ease his situation. Kerr turned on
hearing this outburst and inquired what it meant. Hargus repeated the
prisoner's request with obscene embellishment. They made no secret of
each other's identity, speaking familiarly, as if in the presence of one
who would make no future charges. Kerr found the request reasonable, and
ordered Hargus to tie Lambert's hands at his back.

"I guess you might as well take your last ride comfortable, kid," Hargus
commented, as he shifted the bonds.

They proceeded at a trot, keeping it up for two hours or more. Lambert
knew it was about ten o'clock when he stopped to investigate the man in
the road. There was a feel in the air now that told him it was far past
the turn of night. He knew about where they were in relation to the
ranch by this time, for a man who lives in the open places develops his
sense of direction until it serves him as a mole's in its underground
tunneling.

There was no talking among his conductors, no sound but the tramp of the
horses in unceasing trot, the scraping of the bushes on the stirrups as
they passed. Lambert's legs were drawn close to his horse's belly, his
feet not in the stirrups, and tied so tightly that he rode in painful
rigidity. The brush caught the loose stirrups and flung them against
Whetstone's sides, treatment that he resented with all the indignation
of a genuine range horse. The twisting and jumping made Lambert's
situation doubly uncomfortable. He longed for the end of the journey, no
matter what awaited him at its conclusion.

For some time Lambert had noticed a glow as of a fire directly