cks in this neck o' woods."

There was the menace of growls in the crowd. The mob spirit was
stirring. A man said something about a rail and tar and feathers.

"I'll argue with the boys and try to give you a fair start," stated the
landlord. "But you'd better pack up in a hurry. You can't wait for
to-morrow's train under my roof. I'll furnish you a livery hitch to the
junction. Take the woman with you."

It was an ugly crowd; the landlord was obliged to push back men when
Crowley followed Lida into the tavern.

Miss Elsham was just inside the door, where she had posted herself as a
spectator and listener. "There's no telling what they'll do; they're
bound to find out that I'm an operative," she quavered. "You must take
me with you, Buck."

He had been appointed her guardian and he could not refuse. But he
glowered at Lida, white and trembling.

Brophy came in after a struggle at the door; he slammed the portal and
bolted it.

"They're usually pretty genteel up here where wimmen are concerned," he
told Lida, "but they're laying it all to you. They'll let you go,
Crowley, if you'll go in a hurry. Are you one of 'em, too?" he bluntly
asked Miss Elsham, ready to suspect all strangers.

She nodded. "I'm going with Crowley."

"Understanding that you give me full credit," her associate told her,
his lips close to her ear.

"I ain't sure but what I'd better hide you till night," the landlord
informed Lida. "As I said, they're naturally genteel, but----" He
hesitated when he heard the growing grumble of voices.

"I've got trouble enough in getting away without taking you on for an
extra load," was Crowley's rough repudiation of Lida. "You have
double-crossed----"

"I'll accept your opinion as an expert in that line," she said, lashing
her courage back to meet the situation. "I am not asking any favors from
Vose-Mern or their operatives. Nor from you," she informed the landlord.

She settled Ward's cap and jacket more securely in the clutch of her
arms. "Unbar and open the door, if you please, Mr. Brophy."

He demurred.

"It's the door of a public inn. You must open it."

He obeyed, standing ready to repel intruders.

She walked straight out and through the crowd of hostile natives, who
parted to allow her to pass; her chin was up and her eyes were level in
meeting the gaze of any man who stared at her.

She had made up her mind where she was going, and the thought of that
intended destination put some of t