rs to get news of you."

Smith looked mildly at Dicksie. "Did you shed a tear for me? I should
like to have seen just one! Where did I come from? I reported in wild
over the telephone ten minutes ago. Didn't Marion tell you? She is so
forgetful. That is what causes wrecks, Marion. I have been in the
saddle since three o'clock this morning, thank you, and have had
nothing for five days but raw steer garnished with sunshine."

The four sat down to supper, and Whispering Smith began to talk. He
told the story of the chase to the Cache, the defiance from Rebstock,
and the tardy appearance of the men he wanted. "Du Sang meant to shoot
his way through us and make a dash for it. There really was nothing
else for him to do. Banks and Kennedy were up above, even if he could
have ridden out through the upper canyon, which is very doubtful with
all the water now. After a little talk back and forth, Du Sang drew,
and of course then it was every man for himself. He was hit twice and
he died Sunday night, but the other two were not seriously hurt. What
can you do? It is either kill or get killed with those fellows, and,
of course, I talked plainly to Du Sang. He had butchered a man at
Mission Springs just the night before, and deserved hanging a dozen
times over. He meant from the start, he told me afterward, to get me.
Oh, Miss Dunning, may I have some more coffee? Haven't I an agreeable
part of the railroad business, don't you think? I shouldn't have
pushed in here to-night, but I saw the lights when I rode by awhile
ago; they looked so good I couldn't resist."

McCloud leaned forward. "You call it pushing in, do you, Gordon? Do
you know what this young lady did this morning? One of her cowboys
came down from the Cache early with the word that you had been killed
in the fight by Du Sang. He said he saw you drop from your saddle to
the ground with Du Sang shooting at you. She ordered up her horse,
without a word, and rode twenty miles in an hour and a half to find
out here what we had heard. She 'pushed in' at the Wickiup, where she
never had been before in her life, and wandered through it alone
looking for my office, to find out from me whether I hadn't something
to contradict the bad news. While we talked, in came your despatch
from Sleepy Cat. Never was one better timed! And when she knew you
were safe her eyes filled again."

Whispering Smith looked at Dicksie quizzically. Her confusion was
delightful. He rose, lifted her h