137

XVIII THE ARM OUTREACHING 142

XIX BILL MAKES THREE DISCOVERIES 155

XX IN THE FAR REACHES 166

XXI WORD FROM HEADQUARTERS 176

XXII MOVES IN THE GAME OF LOVE 184

XXIII STORM CLOUDS 195

XXIV THE SOUL OF A MAN 206

XXV THE BROKEN CHAIN 215

XXVI ROCKY SPRINGS HEARS THE NEWS 221

XXVII AT THE HIDDEN CORRAL 235

XXVIII A WAGER 241

XXIX BILL'S FRESH BLUNDERING 256

XXX THE COMMITTEE DECIDE 261

XXXI ANTAGONISTS 265

XXXII TREACHERY 272

XXXIII PLAYING THE GAME 278

XXXIV AN ENCOUNTER 286

XXXV ON MONDAY NIGHT 296

XXXVI STILL MONDAY NIGHT 299

XXXVII THE NIGHT TRAIL 307

XXXVIII THE FALL OF THE OLD PINE 315

XXXIX FROM THE ASHES 327

XL THE DAWN 335

THE LAW-BREAKERS

CHAPTER I

WATCHING THE LINE

There was no shade anywhere. The terrible glare of the summer sun beat
down upon the whole length of the wooden platform at Amberley. Hot as
was the dry, bracing air, it was incomparable with the blistering
intensity of heat reflected from the planking, which burned through
to the soles of the feet of the uniformed man who paced its length,
slowly, patiently.

This sunburnt, gray-eyed man, with his loose, broad shoulders,
his powerful, easy-moving limbs, seemed quite indifferent to the
irritating climatic conditions of the moment. Even the droning of the
worrying mosquitoes had no power to disturb him. Like everything else
unpleasant in this distant northwestern land, he accepted these things
as they came, and brushed them aside for the more important affairs he
was engaged upon.

He gazed out across the wide monotony of prairie with its undulating
wavelets, a tawny green beneath the scorching summer sun. He was
thinking deeply; perhaps dreaming, although