and
quickly went over to the mantel where she took down a bottle of whisky
and a glass; but in the act of pouring out a drink for him there came a
loud rap on the window, and quickly looking round she saw Rance's
piercing eyes peering into the room. For an instant she paled, but then
there flashed through her mind the comforting thought that the Sheriff
could not possibly see Johnson from his position. So, after giving the
latter his drink, she waited quietly until a rap at the door told her
that Rance had left the window when, her eye having lit on the ladder
that was held in place on the ceiling, she quickly ran over to it and
let it down, saying:

"Go up the ladder! Climb up there to the loft You're the man that's got
my first kiss an' I'm goin' to save you . . ."

"Oh, no, not here," protested Johnson, stubbornly.

"Do you want them to see you in my cabin?" she cried reproachfully,
trying to lift him to his feet.

"Oh, hurry, hurry . . .!"

With the utmost difficulty Johnson rose to his feet and catching the
rounds of the ladder he began to ascend. But after going up a few rounds
he reeled and almost fell off, gasping:

"I can't make it--no, I can't . . ."

"Yes, you can," encouraged the Girl; and then, simultaneously with
another loud knock on the door: "You're the man I love an' you
must--you've got to show me the man that's in you. Oh, go on, go on,
jest a step an' you'll git there."

"But I can't," came feebly from the voice above. Nevertheless, the next
instant he fell full length on the boarded floor of the loft with the
hand outstretched in which was the handkerchief he had been staunching
the blood from the wound in his side.

With a whispered injunction that he was all right and was not to move on
any account, the Girl put the ladder back in its place. But no sooner
was this done than on looking up she caught sight of the stained
handkerchief. She called softly up to him to take it away, explaining
that the cracks between the boards were wide and it could plainly be
seen from below.

"That's it!" she exclaimed on observing that he had changed the position
of his hand. "Now, don't move!"

Finally, with the lighted candle in her hand, the Girl made a quick
survey of the room to see that nothing was in sight that would betray
her lover's presence there, and then throwing open the door she took up
such a position by it that it made it impossible for anyone to get past
her without using force.