anic suddenly beset it. It shied. It
reared and plunged. The fierce reminder of the spur was powerless to
affect it beyond driving it to even more strenuous rebellion. The
terror-stricken creature would not approach another step in the
direction of those ominous swinging bodies.

Jeff finally leaped from the saddle and released his horse. It turned
to bolt, but Bud reached its hanging reins and secured it. Then he sat
still, observing the movements of his companion with strained, intent
gaze.

Jeff passed under the great limbs of the tree. He cautiously
approached the first of the hanging bodies. It was hideous. There was
a bandage drawn tightly over the dead eyes, but its folds were
powerless to disguise the rest of the contorted features. The head was
tilted over on one side. Its flesh was ghastly, and deep
discolorations blotched it from the neck up. The body was clad in the
ordinary garb of the prairieman, with the loose waistcoat hanging open
over a discolored cotton shirt, and the nether part of it sheathed in
dirty moleskin trousers. The ankles were lashed securely together, and
the arms firmly pinioned.

For some moments Jeff stared up at the dead man. His blue eyes were
quite unsoftening. There was no real pity in him for the fate of a
cattle thief. He understood only the justice of it from the point of
view of the cattle grower. So his cold eyes gazed up at the horrid
spectacle unflinchingly.

After some moments he passed on to the second body. The same
conditions prevailed. A colored handkerchief concealed the glazed
eyes, and the dropping jaw displayed the blackened cavity beyond the
lips.

He moved away to the third. Its back was turned to him, and the bared
head displayed a close mass of fair curling hair. In this instance the
bandage over the eyes had fallen from its place, and lay lodged against
the raw hide rope about the dead man's neck. He moved round quickly.
In a moment he was facing the dreadful dead features.

He stood there without a sound. But his eyes had changed from their
cold regard to a horror unspeakable. Once his lips parted, and there
was an automatic effort to moisten them with a parching tongue. He
swallowed with a visible effort. But no other movement came from him.

The moments passed. Hideous, dreadful moments of an agony that was
displayed in the drawn lines which had suddenly taken possession of his
strong features. It was the face of a man who