hances, an' I didn't do it. Ain't that
proof enough?"

"No," she returned, her voice thrilling with a sudden, bitter irony,
"you didn't shoot him. That is, you didn't shoot him while he was
looking at you--when there was a chance that he might have given you as
good as you sent. No, you didn't shoot him then--you waited until his
back was turned. You--you coward!"

Ferguson's lips whitened. "You're talkin' extravagant, ma'am," he said
coldly. "Somethin' is all mixed up. Has someone been shootin' Ben?"

She sneered, pinning him with a scornful, withering glance. "I
expected that you would deny it," she returned. "That would be
following out your policy of deception."

He leaned forward, his eyes wide with surprise. If she had not been
laboring under the excitement of the incident she might have seen that
his surprise was genuine, but she was certain that it was mere
craftiness--a craftiness that she had hitherto admired, but which now
awakened a fierce anger in her heart.

"When was he shot?" he questioned quietly.

"Last night," she answered scornfully. "Of course that is a surprise
to you too. An hour after you left he rode up to the cabin and fell
from his horse at the edge of the porch. He had been shot twice--both
times in the back." She laughed--almost hysterically. "Oh, you knew
enough not to take chances with him in spite of your bragging--in spite
of the reputation you have of being a 'two-gun' man!"

He winced under her words, his face whitening, his lips twitching, his
hands clenched that he might not lose his composure. But in spite of
the conflict that was going on within him at the moment he managed to
keep his voice quiet and even. It was admirable acting, she thought,
her eyes burning with passion--despicable, contemptible acting.

"I reckon I ain't the snake you think I am, ma'am," he said, looking
steadily at her. "But I'm admittin' that mebbe you've got cause to
think so. When I left Ben last night I shook hands with him, after
fixin' up the difference we'd had. Why, ma'am," he went on earnestly,
"I'd just got through tellin' him about you an' me figgerin' to get
hooked up. An' do you think I'd shoot him after that? Why, if I'd
been wantin' to shoot him I reckon there was nothin' to stop me while
he was standin' there. He'd never knowed what struck him. I'm tellin'
you that I didn't know he was shot; that----"

She made a gesture of impatience. "I don't think I care t