here at all."

Her sense of approaching triumph had carried her a little too far. It
aroused Helen to bitter resentment, and when she began to speak Dorothy
was sorry that she had not kept silent.

"Father, don't do it!" Miss Rexhill burst out. "It is insufferable that
this woman should threaten us so. I would rather run any risk, I don't
care what, than give in to her. I won't tolerate such a thing."

"You may be urging him to his death," Dorothy warned her. "I will not
stop at anything now. If I tell the cattlemen what I know they will go
wild. I mean what I say, believe me!"

"I know you will not stop at anything. I have seen that," Helen
admitted. "A woman who can do what you've already done...."

"Helen!" The Senator was carrying with him a sense of gratitude toward
Dorothy, and in the light of her spirit he was a little ashamed of the
part he had played against her. "Let's try to forget what has past. At
least, this young woman is offering us a chance."

"Listen!" Dorothy cried out suddenly.

Outside, in the street, a galloping horseman was shouting to some one as
he rode. The girl ran to the window and raised the shade to look out.
The lusty voice of the horseman bore well into the room. "They've caught
Bailey at Sheridan. He'll be here to-morrow."

"Senator Rexhill," said Dorothy, turning away from the window, "you'd
better take the chance I've offered you, while you can. Do it for the
sake of the old friendship between you and Gordon Wade, if for no other
reason. No matter how bitter he may feel toward you, he would not want
you in Crawling Water when Tug Bailey confesses. It would be too awful."
She shuddered at the thought. "Tell me where he is and get out of town
at once."

"Bailey hasn't confessed yet," Helen cut in gamely.

"No; but he will," Dorothy declared positively. "They'll put a rope
around his neck, and he'll confess. Such men always do. Try to remember
the position you are in. You'd be sorry if your father were lynched. Go
with him, while you can. I know these people better than you do."

The Senator swallowed hard and mopped his damp forehead with his
handkerchief. There was nothing to do but follow the girl's advice, and
that quickly, he knew. After all, in the face of death, financial ruin
seemed a mere bagatelle.

"So far as I have been informed, Wade is confined at Coyote Springs,
somewhere in the mountains," he said bluntly. "That's all I know of the
matter. I hope you will fi