,
Lawler drew Red King down and waited for Shorty to reach him. He knew
Shorty did not permit himself to become excited without cause.

And when Shorty drew his horse to a sliding halt within half a dozen
paces of Red King, Lawler saw that Shorty was in the grip of a cold,
deadly passion. His eyes were glittering, his lips were stiff and white,
and he was drawing great, long breaths that could be heard above the
shuddering gasps of the horse he rode.

The giant's fingers were working--clenching and unclenching near the
butts of the two guns he wore; and his eyes were pools of icy rage that
chilled Lawler.

Twice he tried to speak as Lawler shot a short question at him, and
twice he failed, making guttural sounds that betrayed the awful
agitation that had seized him. At the third attempt he blurted:

"Lawler, Antrim's gang has cleaned up the Circle L! Damn their sneakin',
dirty hides! They've run off our cattle--takin' 'em through Kinney's
canon! They've wiped out the Circle L outfit! Blackburn's
left--Blackburn an' three more poor fellows they plugged, an' didn't
finish!

"Blackburn made me ride for help--damn him, anyway, Lawler! I wanted to
stay with the bunch!" Shorty's voice broke; his lips quivered; his voice
rose to a screech of impotent, awful rage. Brokenly, he told Lawler what
had happened after the stampeding of the cattle by Antrim's men. He
related, in tumbling, rapid, quavering sentences, how he had got the
help Blackburn had sent him for--Caldwell's outfit--with the exception
of two men who had been sent in different directions to other ranches.
And how, later in the morning, he had returned to the shallow gulley on
the plains where he had left Blackburn and the others, to find most of
them dead. Blackburn and three more had been wounded, but had survived.

"Fifteen men, Lawler!" raged Shorty; "fifteen men wiped out by that
miserable gang of coyotes! But damn them!" he added with a fierce,
savage joy; "they didn't get away without payin' toll, either! There's
twenty of them layin' out there, Lawler--twenty of them for the coyotes
to find. For Caldwell an' his outfit wouldn't touch 'em. When I left, to
come an' tell you--thinkin' you was in jail--Caldwell an' his boys was
plantin' our fellows, an' takin' Blackburn and the three others to the
Hamlin shack!"

He looked hard at Lawler, noted the paleness of the man's face, and then
spoke less excitedly, and with deep regret in his voice.

"Lawler, I