t was near or far
to its encircling wall.

Then, just as she was beginning to think the willows would never end,
she came quite suddenly out into the open, and Blue lifted himself and
jumped a dry ditch. The cattle were before her, shambling along the
fenced border of a meadow.

CHAPTER XXII

THE BILLY OF HER

Since she had closed up on the cattle and had read on their sides the
shameful story of theft, Billy Louise had known that she would
eventually come out at the lower end of the Cove; and that in spite of
the fact that the Cove was not supposed to have any egress save through
the gorge. What surprised her was the short distance; she had not
realized that the bluff and the upland formed a wide curve, and that
she had cut the distance almost in half by riding next the river.

She seemed in no doubt as to what she would do when she arrived. Billy
Louise was not much given to indecision at any time. She drove the
cattle into the corral farthest from the house, rode on to the stable,
and stopped Blue with his nose against the fence there and with his
reins dragging. Then, tight-lipped still, she walked determinedly
along the path to the gate that led through the berry-jungle to the
cabin.

She opened the gate and stepped through, closing it after her. She had
not gone twenty feet when there was a rush from the nearest thicket,
and Surbus, his hair ruffed out along his neck, growled and made a leap
at her with bared fangs.

Billy Louise had forgotten about Surbus. She jumped back, startled,
and the dog missed landing. When he sprang again he met a thirty-eight
calibre bullet from Billy Louise's gun and dropped back. It had been a
snap shot, without any particular aiming; Billy Louise retreated a few
steps farther, watching the dog suspiciously. He gathered himself
slowly and prepared to spring at her again. This time Billy Louise,
being on the watch for such a move, aimed carefully before she fired.
Surbus dropped again, limply--a good dog forever more.

Billy Louise heard a shrill whistle and the sound of feet running. She
waited, gun in hand, ready for whatever might come.

"Hey! Charlie! Somebody's come; the bell, she don't reeng." Peter
Howling Dog, a pistol in his hand, came running down the path from the
cabin. He saw Billy Louise and stopped abruptly, his mouth half open.

From a shed near the stable came Charlie, also running. Billy Louise
waited beside the gate. He did not se