he stood, watching him, her eyes
wide, her face dead white.

Warden, leaning far over the table, saw her eyes close as she stood
there; saw her fingers grip the edge of the table; noted that her chin
had dropped and that she seemed to be on the point of fainting.

Warden's back was toward the front door; he had to slip sideways to get
around the table, and as he did so his profile was brought toward the
door. He saw a shadow at his feet--a shadow cast by the last effulgent
glow of the setting sun--a shadow made by a man standing in the doorway.

Warden halted and held hard to the table edge. Reason, cold, remorseless
reason surged back into his brain, accompanied by a paralyzing fear.
Some prescience told him that the man in the doorway was Kane Lawler.
And though he was convinced of it, he was a long time lifting his head
and in turning it the merest trifle toward the door. And when he saw
that the dread apparition was indeed Lawler, and that Lawler's heavy
pistol was extending from his side, the hand and arm behind it rigid, he
stiffened, flung himself around and faced Lawler, his mouth open, his
eyes bulging with the terrible dread of death and the awful certainty
that death was imminent.

For an instant there was a silence--breathless, strained, pregnant with
the promise of tragedy. Then the silence was rent by Lawler's voice,
dry, light, and vibrant:

"Warden, if you move a quarter of an inch I'll blow you to hell!"

Lawler walked slowly to Ruth, took her by the shoulders and steadied
her.

"It's Lawler, Ruth," he said reassuringly. "I want you to tell me what's
wrong here." He shook her, gently, and she opened her eyes and looked at
him dazedly. Then, as she seemed to recognize him, to become convinced
that it was really Lawler whom she had seen in the doorway, she smiled
and rested her head on his shoulder, her hands patting his arms and his
back as though to convince herself beyond doubt.

For an instant she stood there, holding tightly to him; and then she
released herself, stepping back with flushed cheeks and shamed eyes.

"Kane, I am so glad you came!" she said. "Why, Kane! that man--" She
shuddered and covered her face with her hands.

"I reckon that's all!" said Lawler. There was a cold, bitter grin on his
lips as he stepped around the table and stood in front of Warden.

"Warden, I'm going back to town with you. We're going right now. Go out
and get on your horse!"

Lawler's voice, the cold