"My dear Mr. Barry!" he called. The other turned again and waited. "Do
you mean that you will leave us while Mr. Cumberland is in this critical
condition?"

A shadow crossed the face of Barry.

"I'd stay if I could," he answered. "But it ain't possible!"

"What takes you away is your affair, sir," said the doctor. "My concern
is Mr. Cumberland. He is in a very precarious condition. The slightest
nerve shock may have--fatal--results."

Dan Barry sighed.

"Seemed to me," he answered, "that he was buckin' up considerable. Don't
look so thin, doc."

"His body may be well enough," said the doctor calmly, "but his nerves
are wrecked. I am afraid to prophesy the consequences if you leave him."

It was apparent that a great struggle was going on in Barry. He answered
at length: "How long would I have to stay? One rain could wipe out all
the sign and make me like a blind man in the desert. Doc, how long would
I have to stay?"

"A few days," answered Byrne, "may work wonders with him."

The other hesitated.

"I'll go up and talk with him," he said, "and what he wants I'll do."

CHAPTER XXIX

TALK

He was long in getting his answer. The hours dragged on slowly for Kate
and the doctor, for if Joe Cumberland could hold Dan it was everything
to the girl, and if Barry left at once there might be some root for the
hope which was growing stronger and stronger every day in the heart of
Randall Byrne. Before evening a not unwelcome diversion broke the
suspense somewhat.

It was the arrival of no less a person than Marshal Jeff Calkins. His
shoulders were humped and his short legs bowed from continual riding,
and his head was slung far forward on a gaunt neck; so that when he
turned his head from one to another in speaking it was with a peculiar
pendulum motion. The marshal had a reputation which was strong over
three hundred miles and more of a mountain-desert. This was strange, for
the marshal was a very talkative man, and talkative men are not popular
on the desert; but it has been discovered that on occasion his six-gun
could speak as rapidly and much more accurately than his tongue. So
Marshal Calkins waxed in favour.

He set the household at ease upon his arrival by announcing that "they
hadn't nothin' for him there." All he wanted was a place to bunk in,
some chow, and a feed for the horse. His trail led past the Cumberland
Ranch many and many a dreary mile.

The marshal was a politic man, and he had e