as dark as a wolf's mouth.

"It won't do to move before 10 o'clock. When everything is ready I
will light a cigarette and flirt the match around my head once, as
if to put it out. That will mean that the way is open. Steal out
of the back door and dodge to the stables; your mare will be
ready, and when another chance opens you can make a break. No one
can overtake you, and I don't think it will be suspected who you
are.

"If you succeed, I hope you will have sense enough to stay out of
Wyoming, at least until this flurry is over. If you are detected
while trying to reach the stables you can dart back, for I don't
think anyone will shoot at you, since we have orders not to do
that until after you folks begin the rumpus.

"Inman means to set fire to the house to-night. He won't be able
to hold back the boys much longer. When ready, he will send word
and ask the two ladies to come out to him, where he will hold them
beyond reach of fire and bullet. He expects there will be the
hottest kind of shooting, and it will be a bad thing for you
folks. Capt. Asbury may as well make his will, for I'm not the
only one that will lay for him.

"Don't forget my directions. It will not be before 10 o'clock, and
may be a little later. Don't let any one see this, and don't drop
a hint to Asbury. It is meant for your good, and you will act like
a sensible man.

"D.V."

CHAPTER XXVII.

ON PAROLE.

A new matter of interest claimed the immediate attention of the
defenders within the home of ranchman Whitney.

It will be remembered that the sister had reported the approach of a
horseman, whom she believed to be her brother. The rider was now in
plain sight, and a brief scrutiny through the glass by Hawkridge
removed all doubt; she was right.

He was coming at an easy, swinging gallop, straight toward his home.
He must have seen the rustlers while yet a considerable way off, for
he quickened the pace of his animal, stirred by a natural anxiety for
his loved ones and by a curiosity to know the meaning of the strange
condition of affairs.

Had he understood matters fully, while yet at a distance, he would
have avoided a mistake which occasioned him and his friends intense
regret, and which proved irreparable.

He did not cease his advance until within a hundred yards, when the
cattlemen, who were watching his every movement, sa