hat despicable trick--" Her self-control deserted her. "I wish I
were a man; you would not go unpunished!"

There was contrition in his eyes. For an infinitesimal space he regretted
the deed, and his active mind was already framing an excuse. And then out
of the tail of his eye he saw Uncle Jepson winking violent applause at
him, and a broad grin suffused his face. He made some effort to suppress
it, but deepening wrinkles around his eyes contradicted the gravity of
his lips.

"Why, I wasn't reckonin' to hurt him, ma'am," he said. "You see, he was
right in the way, an' I reckon I was feelin' a bit wild right at that
minute, an'--" His gaze went to Masten, who was scraping mud from his
garments with a small flat stone. The rider's eyes grew wide; more
wrinkles appeared around them.

"Why, I've spoiled his white shirt," he said as though speaking to
himself, his voice freighted with awe. And then, as Masten shook a
threatening fist at him, he suddenly yielded to the mirth that was
consuming him and he bowed his head.

It was Uncle Jepson's warning shout that impelled him to raise his head.
He saw Masten coming toward him, clawing at the foolish holster at his
waist, his eyes flashing murder, his teeth bared in a snarl.

"You, Patches!" said the rider, his voice coming with a cold, quick snap.
And the piebald pony, his muscles and thews alive with energy in an
instant, lunged in answer to the quick knee-press, through the mud,
straight at Masten.

So it was a grim and formidable figure that Masten looked up at before he
could get his weapon out of his holster. The lean face of the rider was
close to his own, the rider's eyes were steady, blue, and so cold that
they made Masten forget the chill in the air. And one of the heavy
pistols that the rider carried was close to Masten's head, its big muzzle
gaping forebodingly at him, and the rider's voice, as he leaned from the
saddle, came tense and low. The girl could not hear:

"Listen to this gospel, you mud-wallowin' swine," he said. "This is a
man's country, an' you play a man's game or you lose out so quick it'll
make you dizzy! You been playin' kid all through this deal. You're
grumblin' an' whinin' ever since I set eyes on you from the edge of the
mesa, there. That little girl thinks you're all wool an' a yard wide. You
come across, clean--you hear me! You shape up to man's size or I'll hunt
you up an' tear the gizzard out of you! You jam that there cap-shooter
ba