ly he stiffened, then straightened guardedly. At
that instant he received a hard prod in the back. Throwing up his hands,
he stood still, then slowly turned. A tall hunter in gray buckskin,
gray-eyed and square-jawed, had him covered with a cocked rifle. And
beside this hunter stood a monster cougar, snarling and blinking.

CHAPTER XXII

"Howdy, Dale," drawled Wilson. "Reckon you're a little previous on me."

"Sssssh! Not so loud," said the hunter, in low voice. "You're Jim
Wilson?"

"Shore am. Say, Dale, you showed up soon. Or did you jest happen to run
acrost us?"

"I've trailed you. Wilson, I'm after the girl."

"I knowed thet when I seen you!"

The cougar seemed actuated by the threatening position of his master,
and he opened his mouth, showing great yellow fangs, and spat at Wilson.
The outlaw apparently had no fear of Dale or the cocked rifle, but that
huge, snarling cat occasioned him uneasiness.

"Wilson, I've heard you spoken of as a white outlaw," said Dale.

"Mebbe I am. But shore I'll be a scared one in a minit. Dale, he's goin'
to jump me!"

"The cougar won't jump you unless I make him. Wilson, if I let you go
will you get the girl for me?"

"Wal, lemme see. Supposin' I refuse?" queried Wilson, shrewdly.

"Then, one way or another, it's all up with you."

"Reckon I 'ain't got much choice. Yes, I'll do it. But, Dale, are you
goin' to take my word for thet an' let me go back to Anson?"

"Yes, I am. You're no fool. An' I believe you're square. I've got Anson
and his gang corralled. You can't slip me--not in these woods. I could
run off your horses--pick you off one by one--or turn the cougar loose
on you at night."

"Shore. It's your game. Anson dealt himself this hand.... Between you
an' me, Dale, I never liked the deal."

"Who shot Riggs?... I found his body."

"Wal, yours truly was around when thet come off," replied Wilson, with
an involuntary little shudder. Some thought made him sick.

"The girl? Is she safe--unharmed?" queried Dale, hurriedly.

"She's shore jest as safe an' sound as when she was home. Dale, she's
the gamest kid thet ever breathed! Why, no one could hev ever made me
believe a girl, a kid like her, could hev the nerve she's got. Nothin's
happened to her 'cept Riggs hit her in the mouth.... I killed him for
thet.... An', so help me, God, I believe it's been workin' in me to save
her somehow! Now it'll not be so hard."

"But how?" demanded Dale.

"Lemme see..