me to call him a liar, and then he'll
know I've been there."

"Must be great!" he said offhand.

During the last spell Imbrie slept part of the time. Stonor dared not
close his eyes, though he needed sleep sorely. He sat smoking and
watching Imbrie, trying to speculate on what lay behind that smooth,
comely mask.

"It's like a book I read once," he thought. "A man had two natures in
him, one good, one bad. At one time the good nature would have the upper
hand; at another time the bad. He was like two entirely different
people. A case of double personality, they called it. It must be
something like that with this man. Clare married the good man in him,
and the bad turned up later. No doubt that was why she left him. Then
the good man reappeared, and she felt she had done him a wrong. It
explains everything."

But a theory may work too perfectly to fit the haphazard facts of life.
There was still the dead man to be explained. And a theory, however
perfect, did not bring him any nearer to solving the personal problems
concerned. What was one to do with a man who was at once sane and
irresponsible? He could give up Clare like a man, he told himself, if it
were necessary to her happiness; but to give her up to this----! He
jumped up and shook himself with the gesture that was becoming habitual.
He could not allow himself to dwell on that subject; frenzy lay that
way.

CHAPTER XIII

THE RESCUE

They had struck off from the main trail between the two Indian villages,
and were within a mile or two of Stonor's camp. Their pace was slow, for
the going was bad, and Stonor's horse was utterly jaded. The trooper's
face was set in grim lines. He was thinking of the scene that waited
ahead.

Imbrie, too, had the grace to look anxious and downcast. He had been
exasperatingly chipper all the way, until it had occurred to him just
now to ask Stonor what he had done with the women. Upon learning that
they were waiting just ahead, his feathers drooped. A whine crept into
his voice, and, without saying anything definite, he began to hedge in
an odd way.

"The truth about this case hasn't come out yet," he said.

"I never thought it had," said Stonor.

"Well, a man under arrest has the right to lie to protect his interests,
at least until he has the opportunity to consult a lawyer."

"Sure, and an officer has the right to draw his own inferences from the
lies."

"Hell! I don't care what you think. As you said, you'