t she did not worry over him at all. She
also felt that she could afford to badger him into telling her some of
the things she wanted to know.

"Where did you hang Buck?" she asked naively.

"Huh?" Ward's eyes bored into hers with his intent look, trying to
read her thoughts.

"Where was it you hanged Buck Olney?"

"Nowhere. I put the fear of the Lord into him, that's all. How did
you hear about it?"

"From you." Billy Louise was maddeningly calm. "You told me all about
it yesterday. And about those cattle in the corral up here. I found
them yesterday myself, Ward--only it seems a month ago!--down in the
Cove."

"Did you?"

"Yes, and I drove them up to the corral and read the riot act to Marthy
and Charlie Fox--"

"Huh! What did they say?"

"Oh, they denied it, of course! What are we going to do about it,
Ward?"

"Nothing, I guess. What did you want to do?"

"I don't know. I don't want to hurt them, and I don't want them to
hurt anyone else. Do you know Seabeck? He's an awfully square old
fellow. I believe--" An idea formed vaguely in the back of Billy
Louise's mind. "I believe I could persuade him--"

"I believe you could persuade the devil himself, if you took a notion
to try," Ward affirmed sincerely, when she hesitated. "What do you
want to persuade him into?"

"Oh, nothing, I guess! How do you feel, Ward? We've got to stick to
the job of getting you fit to leave here and go on down to the ranch
with me. When do you think you could manage to ride?"

Ward looked longingly out of the window, just as he had been looking
for six weeks. "I think I could manage it now," he said doggedly,
because of his great longing. "I set my own leg--"

"Yes, and I'm willing to admit you're a wonder, and have gotten the
stoics beaten at their own game. Still, there's a limit to what the
human body will stand. I'm going down to tend the horses, and if you
think you can walk without hurting your leg, I'll hunt some forked
sticks for crutches. We'll see how you make out with them, first,
before we talk about riding twenty miles on horseback. Besides, you'd
catch more cold if you went out to-day."

While she talked, her plans took definite shape in the back of her
mind. She took Buck Olney's knife that was lying on the window-sill
and went in search of crutches among the willows along the creek.
Forked sticks were plentiful enough, but it was not so easy to find two
that would support even