drifted together--eight of them,
she found herself counting. And as they drew together a murmur arose.

Instantly James' gun flew from its holster; and he stood, the
personification of cold authority.

"Another word an' I empty this into your lousy hides!" she heard him
cry. And instantly the murmur died out.

But the threatening weapon did not return to its holster. James stood
there waiting. And presently she beheld the two men he had despatched
returning, bringing in their custody, tottering awkwardly between
them, the man Abe Conroy, with his arms tightly fastened behind his
back, and a pair of horse-hobbles securing his ankles. They came
slowly, for the hobbles allowed but little play, and halted less than
five yards away from their leader.

As they paused the woman shivered. Some premonition of what was about
to happen got hold of her, and struck terror to her heart. She stood
staring now, unable to move. A hideous fascination seemed to paralyze
her.

The next thing that reached her comprehension was that James was
speaking in a harsh metallic voice. She had never heard him speak like
that before, and her fears swiftly increased as his words floated in
through the open window.

"Now, you skunk," he was saying, "you guess you're man enough to run
this lay-out. You guess you're a bigger man than me. You guess you got
me squealin' around like a suckin' kid. You! An' I took you out o'
jail, wher' they was goin' to set you swingin'. Gee! I could tell you
a heap, but I ain't no time talkin' to bastards of your kidney.
Swingin's too good fer sech as you. Anyway, when I got work to do I do
it myself. Here, you, Ned, an' you, Sully, stand aside!"

She saw the two men withdraw. She wanted to scream, without quite
knowing why. But no sound came. Her eyes were starting out of her head
with the horror of what she knew to be about to happen. But she had no
power to stir hand or foot.

She saw James move forward. She saw the bloodless, horror-stricken
face of the prisoner. She saw him stumble as he attempted to move
away. There was no escape.

James moved forward with body crouching, and strides that covered the
intervening space with almost feline stealth.

He came right up to the man, his gun leading. She heard a report and
one dreadful cry of terror and pain. She saw Conroy crumple and fall
writhing upon the ground. She saw the blood streaming from his
stomach. Then the further horror came to her staring eyes as