ofane, but merely
amazed. In the sodden road were the unmistakable footprints of a
woman. Lone did not hesitate in naming the sex, for the wet sand held
the imprint cleanly, daintily. Too shapely for a boy, too small for
any one but a child or a woman with little feet, and with the point at
the toes proclaiming the fashion of the towns, Lone guessed at once
that she was a town girl, a stranger, probably,--and that she had
passed since the rain; which meant since daylight.

He swung his horse and rode back, wondering where she could have spent
the night. Halfway through Rock City the footprints ended abruptly,
and Lone turned back, riding down the trail at a lope. She couldn't
have gone far, he reasoned, and if she had been out all night in the
rain, with no better shelter than Rock City afforded, she would need
help,--"and lots of it, and pretty darn quick," he added to John Doe,
which was the ambiguous name of his horse.

Half a mile farther on he overtook her. Rather, he sighted her in the
trail, saw her duck in amongst the rocks and scattered brush of a small
ravine, and spurred after her. It was precarious footing for his horse
when he left the road, but John Doe was accustomed to that. He jumped
boulders, shied around buckthorn, crashed through sagebrush and so
brought the girl to bay against a wet bank, where she stood shivering.
The terror in her face and her wide eyes would have made her famous in
the movies. It made Lone afraid she was crazy.

Lone swung off and went up to her guardedly, not knowing just what an
insane woman might do when cornered. "There, now, I'm not going to
hurt yuh at all," he soothed. "I guess maybe you're lost. What made
you run away from me when you saw me coming?"

Lorraine continued to stare at him.

"I'm going to the ranch, and if you'd like a ride, I'll lend you my
horse. He'll be gentle if I lead him. It's a right smart walk from
here." Lone smiled, meaning to reassure her.

"Are you the man I saw shoot that man and then fasten him to the
stirrup of the saddle so the horse dragged him down the road? If you
are, I--I----"

"No--oh, no, I'm not the man," Lone said gently. "I just now came from
home. Better let me take you in to the ranch."

"I was going to the ranch--did you see him shoot that man and make the
horse drag him--_make_ the horse--he _slashed_ that horse with the
quirt--and he went tearing down the road dragging--it--it
was--_horrible_!"

"Y