ard
endeavoring to peer within. His heart throbbed from the pain of that
sudden message of death he brought.

"Beth," he called, perceiving no movement within, and compelling his
voice to calmness. "Miss Norvell."

There was a slight movement near the farther wall, but it was the voice
of the wounded sheriff which answered.

"Who are yer? What was all that firin' about just now? Damn if I ain
't too weak ter git up, but I got a gun yere, an' reckon I kin pull the
trigger."

"It's Winston and Hicks. We 've had a skirmish out beyond the dump.
Those fellows tried to blow up our shaft, and we caught them at it. Is
Miss Norvell here?"

"No, I reckon not; she was sittin' yere talkin' to me when that
shootin' begun, an' then she ran out the door thar. Anybody git hurt?"

"The little Mexican girl was killed. We have brought her body here."

"Good God!"

"And we 've also got a prisoner, sheriff. It 's that same Jack Burke
you arrested me for killing. He seems very much alive."

There was a rustling back in the darkness, as if the man within was
endeavoring to draw his body into a sitting posture. Then he swore
savagely, pounding his fist into the side of the bunk, as though
seeking thus to relieve his feelings.

"Burke!" he fairly exploded at last, his anger appearing to stifle
utterance. "Jack Burke! Hell! Is that true? Oh, Lord! but I wish I
could git out o' yere. That damn Farnham swore out that warrant down
in San Juan, ther blame, ornery cur. It was a low-down, measly trick,
an' he actually had the nerve ter use me ter play out his game fer him.
Lord! if ever I git my hand on him I 'll shut down hard."

No one answered him, the thought of all recurring reverently to the
motionless, silent dead without. Bareheaded, the two men, groping
through the darkness, bore Mercedes within in all tenderness, and
placed the slender form upon the bed, covering it with the single
sheet. Hicks remained motionless, bending over her, the kindly
darkness veiling the mist of tears dimming his old eyes and the
trembling of his lips as he sought, for the first time in years, to
pray. But Winston turned instantly and walked over toward Hayes, his
heart already filled with fresh anxiety.

"Where did she go, do you know?"

"Who? the young actress woman? I could n't see exactly, only she went
outside. I thought I heard voices talkin' out thar later on, over
beyond toward the window, but maybe I imagined it. Dar