"Wal, I reckon I sha'n't tell you unless you promise not to tell Las
Vegas. Thet cowboy is plumb off his head. He thinks he knows who shot
me an' I've been lyin' somethin' scandalous. You see, if he learns--then
he'll go gunnin'. An', Miss Helen, thet Texan is bad. He might get
plugged as I did--an' there would be another man put off your side when
the big trouble comes."

"Roy, I promise you I will not tell Las Vegas," replied Helen,
earnestly.

"Wal, then--it was Riggs!" Roy grew still paler as he confessed this and
his voice, almost a whisper, expressed shame and hate. "Thet four-flush
did it. Shot me from behind Beasley! I had no chance. I couldn't even
see him draw. But when I fell an' lay there an' the others dropped back,
then I seen the smokin' gun in his hand. He looked powerful important.
An' Beasley began to cuss him an' was cussin' him as they all run out."

"Oh, coward! the despicable coward!" cried Helen.

"No wonder Tom wants to find out!" exclaimed Bo, low and deep. "I'll bet
he suspects Riggs."

"Shore he does, but I wouldn't give him no satisfaction."

"Roy, you know that Riggs can't last out here."

"Wal, I hope he lasts till I get on my feet again."

"There you go! Hopeless, all you boys! You must spill blood!" murmured
Helen, shudderingly.

"Dear Miss Helen, don't take on so. I'm like Dale--no man to hunt up
trouble. But out here there's a sort of unwritten law--an eye for an
eye--a tooth for a tooth. I believe in God Almighty, an' killin' is
against my religion, but Riggs shot me--the same as shootin' me in the
back."

"Roy, I'm only a woman--I fear, faint-hearted and unequal to this West."

"Wait till somethin' happens to you. 'Supposin' Beasley comes an' grabs
you with his own dirty big paws an', after maulin' you some, throws you
out of your home! Or supposin' Riggs chases you into a corner!"

Helen felt the start of all her physical being--a violent leap of blood.
But she could only judge of her looks from the grim smile of the wounded
man as he watched her with his keen, intent eyes.

"My friend, anythin' can happen," he said. "But let's hope it won't be
the worst."

He had begun to show signs of weakness, and Helen, rising at once, said
that she and Bo had better leave him then, but would come to see him the
next day. At her call Carmichael entered again with Mrs. Cass, and
after a few remarks the visit was terminated. Carmichael lingered in the
doorway.

"Wal, Cheer up,