s
Hammond. An' tryin' to arrest her would be such a damned outrage as
won't be stood fer in El Cajon. If you're sore on me send me to jail.
I'll go. If you want to hurt Al Hammond, go an' do it some man kind of
way. Don't take your spite out on us by insultin' a lady who has come
hyar to hev a little visit. We're bad enough without bein' low-down as
Greasers.'

"It was a long talk for Gene, an' I was as surprised as the rest of the
fellers. Think of Gene Stewart talkin' soft an' sweet to thet red-eyed
coyote of a sheriff! An' Pat, he looked so devilishly gleeful thet
if somethin' about Gene hedn't held me tight I'd hev got in the game
my-self. It was plain to me an' others who spoke of it afterwards thet
Pat Hawe hed forgotten the law an' the officer in the man an' his hate.

"'I'm a-goin', an' I'm a-goin' right now!' he shouted. "An' after thet
any one could hev heerd a clock tick a mile off. Stewart seemed kind
of chokin', an' he seemed to hev been bewildered by the idee of Hawe's
confrontin' you.

"An' finally he burst out: 'But, man, think who it is! It's Miss
Hammond! If you seen her, even if you was locoed or drunk, you--you
couldn't do it.'

"'Couldn't I? Wal, I'll show you damn quick. What do I care who she is?
Them swell Eastern women--I've heerd of them. They're not so much. This
Hammond woman--'

"Suddenly Hawe shut up, an' with his red mug turnin' green he went for
his gun."

Stillwell paused in his narrative to get breath, and he wiped his moist
brow. And now his face began to lose its cragginess. It changed, it
softened, it rippled and wrinkled, and all that strange mobility focused
and shone in a wonderful smile.

"An' then, Miss Majesty, then there was somethin' happened. Stewart took
Pat's gun away from him and throwed it on the floor. An' what followed
was beautiful. Sure it was the beautifulest sight I ever seen. Only it
was over so soon! A little while after, when the doctor came, he hed
another patient besides the wounded Greaser, an' he said thet this new
one would require about four months to be up an' around cheerful-like
again. An' Gene Stewart hed hit the trail for the border."

IV. A Ride From Sunrise To Sunset

Next morning, when Madeline was aroused by her brother, it was not yet
daybreak; the air chilled her, and in the gray gloom she had to feel
around for matches and lamp. Her usual languid manner vanished at a
touch of the cold water. Presently, when Alfred knocked on h