an' get him. If I'd known
it was Houck--"

"You knew it was Houck before you dragged him back, didn't you?" she
charged. "You knew it when you went to the river to get him water?"

"Truth is, I was scared so I shook," he confessed humbly. "But when a
fellow's sufferin' like Jake Houck was--"

"Even your enemy."

"Oh, well, enemies don't count when you're fightin' Utes together. I had
to look after him--couldn't duck it. Different with Dud when he rode back
to get Tom Reeves. Did you hear about that?"

She put a damper on the sudden enthusiasm that lilted into his voice.
"Yes, I heard about that," she said dryly. "But we're talking of another
man now. You've got to stand there an' take it, Bob. It won't last but a
minute anyhow. I never was so tickled in my life before. When I thought
of all you've suffered an' gone through, an' how now you've stopped the
tongues of all the folks who jeered at you, I went to my room and cried
like a little girl. You'll understand, won't you? I had to tell you this
because we've promised to be friends. Oh, I am _so_ glad for you, Bob."

He swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded. "Yes, I'll understand,
June. It--it was awful nice of you to tell me. I reckon you ought to hate
me, the way I treated you. Most girls would."

She flashed a quick look at his flaming face. His embarrassment relieved
hers.

"As if _you_ knew what most girls would think," she derided. Nevertheless
she shifted the conversation to grounds less personal and dangerous. "Now
you can tell me some more about that Dud you're always braggin' of."

Bob did not know as he talked of his friend that June found what he said
an interpretation of Robert Dillon rather than Dudley Hollister.

-----

[4] Piling up brush to protect the bank from being washed away.

CHAPTER XXXVII

A RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN

Dillon and Hollister were lounging on the bank of Elk Creek through the
heat of the day. They had been chasing a jack-rabbit across the mesa for
sport. Their broncos were now grazing close at hand.

"Ever notice how a jack-rabbit jumps high when it's crowded?" Dud asked
idly.

Bob nodded. "Like a deer. Crowd one an' he gets to jumpin' high. 'D you
see that jack turn a somersault just as I threw my rope the last time?"

Dud's keen eyes ranged the landscape. They were on the edge of the mesa
where it dipped down into the valley. Since he and Bob had decided to
preempt a quarter-section each, it had becom