't found out yit fer sartain whether hit has er
not--an' until we knows fer sure we're still held in our bonds of
peace. Meanwhile I've done give my hand ter Kinnard Towers hyar, in my
name an' yourn, thet he kin ride home, safe. If he speaks ther truth
he's entitled ter respect. If he lies thar'll be time a plenty an' men
a plenty ter deal with him hereafter. Kinnard aims ter talk ter ye, an'
I wants thet ye hearken till he gits through."

The hereditary foeman, who knew that he was being pilloried in bitter
disbelief, stood with an erect calmness as he was introduced. His face
held an almost ministerial tranquillity, though his sense apprised him
of the hush that goes ahead of the storm. He saw the green patches of
the pines against the unaltered blue of the sky and the dull sparkle
awakened by the sunlight on the barrels and locks of fiercely-caressed
firearms.

As he moved a pace forward a chorused growl of truculent hatred was his
reception, but that was a demonstration for which he was prepared--and
against which he had steeled himself. He was less accustomed to making
public pleas than to giving orders in cloistered privacy--but he was a
lord of lies, and deeply versed in the prejudices upon which he hoped
to play.

"I come over hyar this day," he declared by way of preface, "of my own
free will--an' unsolicited by any man. I come open-eyed an' chancin'
death, because I knowed I'd done kept ther compact of ther peace--an' I
trusted myself ter ther upstandin' honesty of ther Stacys ter do
likewise. Ef harm overtakes me hit'll be because I trusted thet honesty
over-much."

CHAPTER XIX

As the snarling restiveness moderated to curiosity under Kinnard's
uncouth forcefulness and seemingly candid words, he repeated the
mendacious story of his outraged righteousness, when he had learned
that in his tavern the murder of a gentleman from the lowlands had been
attempted. His place, he pointed out, was open to all comers--the law
required that he extend its entertainment to every man who paid the
price. He himself had not been present in time to prevent the outbreak.
Had he entertained a prior and guilty knowledge of the plot, he would
scarcely have interfered last night. He would not have come to-day with
his assurance of sympathy and his proffer of aid into a nest of
swarming hornets.

Mr. Henderson's life had been attempted by some unknown foe once
before, he reminded them. Apparently it had been his misf