spoke with a dreary apathy that betrayed how
the reaction had set in. "She stayed in the Cove, in case anyone came
prowling down there. It seems there's a wire fastened to the gate, and
it rings a bell down at the house somewhere when the gate is opened.
And besides that she had a dog that would tackle strangers. I don't
believe," she went on, after a little silence, "that Marthy would have
turned dishonest for herself. She was grasping, and all she cared for
was getting ahead. It--sort of grew on her, after the years of trying
to dig a bare living out of the ground. I--can understand that; and I
can see how she would go to any length almost for--Charlie. But--"

"Well, let's not think any more about them until we have to." There
was a certain crude attempt at soothing her anxieties. "You've trusted
me, Miss MacDonald. I'll try and not disappoint you in the matter,
though, unless they are quite separate from the gang which is being run
down, it may be hard to protect them. Do you know--whether--any other
cowman has suffered from their--mm-mm--haste to get rich?"

"I don't think there's anyone but you," Billy Louise replied lifelessly.

"Hm-mm--do you know, Miss MacDonald, whether there was any intimacy
between--your friends--and the man we had for stock inspector, Mr.
Olney?"

"I--can't say, as to that." Billy Louise, you see, did not know much
about details, but the little she did know made her hedge.

"There's a queer story about Olney. You know he has left the country,
don't you? It seems he rode very hurriedly up to the depot at Wilmer
to take the train. Just as he stepped on, a fellow who knew him by
sight noticed a piece of paper pinned on the back of his coat. He
jerked it loose. It was a--m-m--very peculiar document for a man to be
wearing on his back." Seabeck pulled at his whiskers, but it was not
the pulling which quirked the corners of his lips. "The man said Olney
seemed greatly upset over something and had evidently forgotten the
paper until he felt it being pulled loose. He said Olney looked back
then, and he was the color of a pork-rind. The train was pulling out.
The man took the paper over to a saloon and let several others read it.
They--mm-mm--decided that it should be placed in the hands of the
authorities. Have--m-m--your--friends ever mentioned the matter to
you?"

"No," said Billy Louise, and her eyes were wide.

"Hm-mm! We must discover, if we can, Miss MacDonald,