ainst Blue's neck, she did not hesitate; she did not even
argue with herself. She just glanced up at the sun, saw that it was
not yet noon--so much may happen in two or three hours!--and sent Blue
up the hill at a lope.

She did not know what she would do or what she would say when she saw
Ward. She knew that she was full of bitterness and disappointment and
chagrin. She had accused innocent persons of a crime. Ward had placed
her in that position and compelled her to recant and apologize. She
had offended Marthy beyond forgiveness--and Charlie Fox. Her face
burned with shame when she remembered the things she had said to them.
Ward was the cause of that humiliation; and Ward was going to know
exactly what she thought of him; beyond that she did not go.

The two mares fed dispiritedly at the lowest corner of the field, their
hair rough with exposure to the winter winds and the storms, their ribs
showing. With all the hay he had put up, Ward might at least keep his
horses in better shape, Billy Louise censured, as she passed them by.
A few head of cows and calves wandered aimlessly among the thinnest
fringe of willows along the creek; they showed more ribs than did the
mares. Billy Louise pulled her lips tight. They did not look as
though they had been fed a forkful of hay all winter; your true range
man or woman gets to know these things instinctively.

Farther along, Billy Louise heard a welcoming nicker and turned her
head. Here came Rattler, thin-flanked and rough-coated, trotting down
a shallow gulley to meet Blue. The two horses chummed together
whenever Ward was at the Wolverine. Billy Louise pulled up and waited
till Rattler reached her. He and Blue rubbed noses, and Blue laid back
his ears and shook his head with teeth bared, in playful pretense of
anger. Rattler kicked up his heels in disdain at the threat and
trotted alongside them.

Billy Louise rode with puckered eyebrows. Ward might neglect his
stock, but he would never neglect Rattler like this. And he must be at
home, since here was his horse. Or else...

She struck Blue suddenly with her rein-ends and went clattering up the
trail where the snow lay in shaded, crusty patches rimmed with dirt.
The trail was untracked save by the loose stock. Where was Ward? What
had happened to him? She looked again at Rattler. There was no sign
of recent saddle-marks along his side, no telltale imprint of the cinch
under his belly. Where was War