n arguing.

Shorty permitted Lawler to hold the lead he had taken when they reached
the Willets' trail. But Shorty kept a vigilant eye upon the big horse
and his rider as they went over the plains toward town. Twice Shorty saw
Lawler reel in the saddle, and both times Shorty urged his horse forward
to be close to him when he fell. But each time Lawler stiffened and rode
onward--silent, grimly determined, with Shorty riding behind him,
watching him with awed admiration.

Lawler had not mentioned the purpose of his ride to town, and Shorty was
lost in a maze of futile conjecture. Shorty knew, however, that a man in
Lawler's condition would not ride to town to gratify a whim; and the
longer he watched Lawler the deeper became his conviction that another
tragedy was imminent. For there was something in Lawler's manner, in the
steady, unflagging way he rode; in the set of his head and the cold
gleam of his eyes, that suggested more of the kind of violence in which
both had participated at the Dickman cabin.

The sun was low when Lawler and Shorty rode into town--Lawler riding
ahead, as he had ridden all along; Shorty a few yards behind him, keenly
watching him.

There were many men on the street; for word had been brought in
regarding the big fight between the Circle L outfit and the
rustlers--and a doctor had gone, summoned to the Hamlin cabin by a wild
rider on a jaded horse--and Willets' citizens were eagerly curious. And
when they saw Lawler coming, swaying in the saddle as he rode, they
began to run toward him.

However, they were brought to a halt by Shorty--who waved a hand
savagely at them, his face expressing a cold intolerance that warned
them away. And so they retreated to the sidewalk, wonderingly, to watch
Lawler and Shorty as they rode down the street--Lawler looking neither
to the right nor left, but keeping his gaze straight ahead as though in
that direction lay what he had come to seek.

Shorty's eyes gleamed with understanding when he saw Lawler halt Red
King in front of the building in which was Warden's office. He was out
of the saddle before Lawler clambered slowly out of his, and he stood
near as Lawler walked to the door of the building and began to mount
the stairs--going up slowly, swaying from side to side and placing his
hands against the wall on either side of him for support. And when
Lawler finally reached the top of the stairs and threw open the door of
Warden's office, Shorty was so clo