orse
than the outlaws they hunt. Some of them were outlaws and gun fighters
before they became Rangers.

"This Steele is one of the worst of the lot. He's keen, intelligent,
smooth, and that makes him more to be feared. For he is to be feared. He
wanted to kill. He meant to kill. If your father had made the least move
Steele would have shot him. He's a cold-nerved devil--the born gunman.
My God, any instant I expected to see your father fall dead at my feet!"

"Oh, George! The--the unspeakable ruffian!" cried Diane, passionately.

"You see, Diane, this fellow Steele has failed here in Linrock. He's
been here weeks and done nothing. He must have got desperate. He's
infamous and he loves his name. He seeks notoriety. He made that play
with Snell just for a chance to rant against your father. He tried to
inflame all Linrock against him. That about law-suits was the worst!
Damn him! He'll make us enemies."

"What do you care for the insinuations of such a man?" said Diane
Sampson, her voice now deep and rich with feeling. "After a moment's
thought no one will be influenced by them. Do not worry, George, tell
papa not to worry. Surely after all these years he can't be injured in
reputation by--by an adventurer."

"Yes, he can be injured," replied George quickly. "The frontier is a
queer place. There are many bitter men here, men who have failed at
ranching. And your father has been wonderfully successful. Steele has
dropped some poison, and it'll spread."

Then followed a silence, during which, evidently, the worried Wright
bestrode the floor.

"Cousin George, what became of Steele and his prisoner?" suddenly asked
Sally.

How like her it was, with her inquisitive bent of mind and shifting
points of view, to ask a question the answering of which would be gall
and wormwood to Wright!

It amused while it thrilled me. Sally might be a flirt, but she was no
fool.

"What became of them? Ha! Steele bluffed the whole town--at least all of
it who had heard the mayor's order to discharge Snell," growled Wright.
"He took Snell--rode off for Del Rio to jail him."

"George!" exclaimed Diane. "Then, after all, this Ranger was able to
arrest Snell, the innocent man father discharged, and take him to jail?"

"Exactly. That's the toughest part...." Wright ended abruptly, and then
broke out fiercely: "But, by God, he'll never come back!"

Wright's slow pacing quickened and he strode from the parlor, leaving
behind him a sile