leave
the decision to Potter, and if it suited the latter he would be
satisfied. He would keep the boys posted on the boss's condition. Then
he rode away toward the ranchhouse.

Late in the afternoon he again visited the Hazelton cabin. He found the
Cimarron doctor already there. Hollis was still unconscious, though
resting easier. The doctor declared that he would remain with him
throughout the night. He followed Norton out on to the porch and told
him that at present he could not tell just how serious Hollis's injuries
were. There was a great wound in his head which he feared might turn out
seriously, but if not, Hollis would recover quickly and be as good as
ever within a few weeks--except for his left wrist--which was broken. He
praised Nellie Hazelton for the care she was giving the injured man.
Convinced that there was nothing more to be done, Norton returned to the
Circle Bar to give his attention to his work.

CHAPTER XIII

"WOMAN--SHE DON'T NEED NO TOOTER"

The Cimarron doctor's fears for the wound on Hollis's head had proved
unfounded and on the tenth day after his experience on the night of the
storm, Hollis was sitting on the Hazelton porch, his head still swathed
in bandages, his left wrist in a splint, but his spirit still untouched.
The marks on his face had all disappeared, except an ugly gash under his
right eye--which still showed a slight discoloration--and a smaller cut
on the chin. The Cimarron doctor had told him that the wound under his
eye would leave a permanent scar--the wound had been deep and in spite
of the doctor's care, had drawn together queerly, affecting the eye
itself and giving it an odd expression. Many times since becoming able
to move about had Hollis looked at his face in his mirror, and each time
there had come into his eyes an expression that boded ill for the men
who had been concerned in the attack on him.

It was mid-afternoon and the sun was coming slant-wise over the roof of
the cabin, creating a welcome shade on the porch. Ed Hazelton had been
gone since morning, looking after his cattle, and Nellie was in the
house, busily at work in the kitchen--Hollis could hear her as she
stepped about the room.

Norton had left the cabin an hour before and a little later Potter had
stopped in on his way over to Dry Bottom to set up an article that he
had written at Hollis's dictation. Hollis had told Norton of his
experiences on the night of the storm.

After the flas