picion to the
question, but he answered easily.

"We left Carson in something of a hurry. I'll tell you the story
to-morrow."

Chapter X. Mr. Hawley Reveals Himself

A fragment of candle, stuck tightly into the neck of an empty bottle,
appeared on a low shelf, and Keith lighted it, the girl returning the
lamp to its former position on the front room table. Investigation
revealed a dozen cartridges fitting the revolver, but no ammunition
was discovered adapted to the sawed-off gun, which Neb had already
appropriated, and was dragging about with him, peering into each black
corner in anxious search. The two were still busily employed at this,
when to their ears, through the stillness of the night, there came the
unexpected noise of splashing in the water without, and then the sound
of a horse stumbling as he struck the bank. Quick as a flash Keith
closed the intervening door, extinguished the dim flame of the candle,
and grasping the startled negro's arm, hushed him into silence.

Crouching close behind the door, through a crack of which the light
streamed, yielding slight view of the interior, the plainsman anxiously
awaited developments. These arrivals must certainly be some of those
connected with the house; there could be little doubt as to that.
Nevertheless, they might prove the posse following them, who had chanced
to stumble accidentally on their retreat. In either case they could
merely wait, and learn. Some one swore without, and was sharply rebuked
by another voice, which added an order gruffly. Then the outer latch
clicked, and a single man stepped within, immediately closing the door.
Keith could not see the girl through the small aperture, but he heard
her quick exclamation, startled, yet full of relief.

"Oh, is it you? I am so glad!"

The man laughed lightly.

"It is nice to be welcomed, although, perhaps, after your time of
loneliness any arrival would prove a relief. Did you think I was never
coming, Christie?"

"I could not understand," she replied, evidently with much less
enthusiasm, and to Keith's thinking, a shade resentful of the
familiarity, "but naturally supposed you must be unexpectedly delayed."

"Well, I was," and he apparently flung both coat and hat on a bench,
with the intention of remaining, "The marshal arrested a fellow for
a murder committed out on the Santa Fe Trail, and required me as a
witness. But the man got away before we had any chance to try him, and I
hav