g away the sleeve of his
woollen shirt. Twisting the sleeve into the form of a rude rope, he
tied it loosely around his leg, just above the ankle. Then he thrust
his knife between the improvised rope and the leg, forming a crude
tourniquet. He twisted the knife until tears of pain formed in his
eyes. Then he fastened the knife by tucking the haft under the rope.
His movements had been very deliberate, but sure, and in a few minutes
he hobbled to his pony and swung into the saddle.

He had seen men who had been bitten by rattlers--had seen them die.
And he knew that if he did not get help within half an hour there would
be little use of doing anything further. In half an hour the virus
would have so great a grip upon him that it would be practically
useless to apply any of the antidotes commonly known to the inhabitants
of the country.

Inquiries that he had made at Dry Bottom had resulted in the discovery
that the Two Diamond ranch was nearly thirty miles from the town. If
he had averaged eight miles an hour he had covered about twenty-four
miles of the distance. That would still leave about six. And he could
not hope to ride those six miles in time to get any benefit from an
antidote.

His lips straightened, he stared grimly at a ridge of somber hills that
fringed the skyline. They had told him back in Dry Bottom that the Two
Diamond ranch was somewhere in a big basin below those hills.

"I reckon I won't get there, after all," he said, commenting aloud.

Thereafter he rode grimly on, keeping a good grip upon himself--for he
had seen men bitten by rattlers who had lost their self-control--and
they had not been good to look upon. Much depended upon coolness;
somewhere he had heard that it was a mistake for a bitten man to exert
himself in the first few minutes following a bite; exertion caused the
virus to circulate more rapidly through the system. And so he rode at
an even pace, carefully avoiding the rough spots, though keeping as
closely to the trail as possible.

"If it hadn't been a diamond-back--an' a five-foot one--this rope that
I've got around my leg might be enough to fool him," he said once,
aloud. "But I reckon he's got me." His eyes lighted savagely for an
instant. "But I got him, too. Had the nerve to think that he could
get away after throwin' his hooks into me."

Presently his eyes caught the saffron light that glowed in the western
sky. He laughed with a grim humor. "I've heard