ickin' close to the Rancho Seco, not lettin' Barbara
out of your sight. That's what I wanted you an' the other guys for. I'm
playin' the rest of it a lone hand."

Leaving Linton standing near the bunkhouse, he went to the stable, where
he threw saddle and bridle on Purgatory. Then he mounted, waved a hand at
Linton, who was watching him, and rode to the ranchhouse. At the
northwest corner--around which Haydon had ridden on the occasion of his
last visit--he brought Purgatory to a halt, for he saw Barbara just
emerging from the _patio_ gate.

She halted in the opening when she observed him; making a picture that
was vivid in his memory for many days afterward--for her eyes were alight
with wonder, her cheeks were flushed, and she was breathing fast.

For she had watched from a window the coming of the T Down men; she had
noted the conference between Harlan and Linton; and she had seen Harlan
waving a hand at the red-haired man, seemingly in farewell. She stood
now, afflicted with a strange regret, suddenly aware that she would feel
the absence of the man who sat on his horse before her--for she divined
that he was going.

"I'm sayin' so-long to you, ma'am," smiled Harlan.

"Oh!" she said, aware of the flatness of her tone. "Are you going away?"

"I'm figurin' to go. I ain't used to hangin' around one place very long.
But I'm comin' back some day. Red Linton an' the boys will be seein' that
things go smooth with you. You can depend on Red, and all the boys.
They're Simon-pure, dyed-in-the-wool, eighteen-carat men." And now he
grinned, gravely. "Remember this, Barbara: A man will do things when he's
handlin' a gold chain--things that he wouldn't do if there didn't happen
to be any chain."

He doffed his hat and slapped Purgatory sharply, heading the animal
westward, toward the yawning mouth of the big basin that stretched its
mighty length into the mystery of distance.

But his words left her with a conviction that she had again misjudged
him, and that when he had appeared to fawn on Haydon he had been merely
acting, merely pretending. She watched him, regretfully, longingly,
assailed by emotions that she could not understand--until he and
Purgatory grew small in the gulf of distance; until horse and rider were
swallowed in the glowing haze.

CHAPTER XIX

HARLAN JOINS THE GANG

At the edge of the big level, where it merged into the floor of the
basin, Harlan drew Purgatory to a halt. For an instant he