ad pitched camp in the old
site near the spring. The other men of Joe's escort went to the homes of
the women; and that afternoon, as the curious visitors began to arrive,
these homes became barred and dark and quiet, as if they had been closed
and deserted for the winter. Not a woman showed herself.

Shefford and Joe, by reason of the location of their camp and their
alertness, met all the new-comers. The ride from Stonebridge was a long
and hard one, calculated to wear off the effects of the whisky
imbibed by the adventure-seekers. This fact alone saved the situation.
Nevertheless, Joe expected trouble. Most of the visitors were decent,
good-natured fellows, merely curious, and simple enough to believe that
this really was what the Mormons had claimed--a village of free women.
But there were those among them who were coarse, evil-minded, and
dangerous.

By supper-time there were two dozen or more of these men in the valley,
camped along the west wall. Fires were lighted, smoke curled up over the
cedars, gay songs disturbed the usual serenity of the place. Later in
the early twilight the curious visitors, by twos and threes, walked
about the village, peering at the dark cabins and jesting among
themselves. Joe had informed Shefford that all the women had been put in
a limited number of cabins, so that they could be protected. So far as
Shefford saw or heard there was no unpleasant incident in the village;
however, as the sauntering visitors returned toward their camps they
loitered at the spring, and here developments threatened.

In spite of the fact that the majority of these cowboys and their
comrades were decent-minded and beginning to see the real relation
of things, they were not disposed to be civil to Shefford. They were
certainly not Mormons. And his position, apparently as a Gentile, among
these Mormons was one open to criticism. They might have been jealous,
too; at any rate, remarks were passed in his hearing, meant for his
ears, that made it exceedingly trying for him not to resent. Moreover,
Joe Lake's increasing impatience rendered the situation more difficult.
Shefford welcomed the arrival of Nas Ta Bega. The Indian listened to the
loud talk of several loungers round the camp-fire; and thereafter he was
like Shefford's shadow, silent, somber, watchful.

Nevertheless, it did not happen to be one of the friendly and sarcastic
cowboys that precipitated the crisis. A horse-wrangler named Hurley, a
man o