low
somewhere in the bluff."

They came upon him within five minutes endeavoring to cut loose the
remaining horse from the entangled harness in such desperate haste that
he did not hear them until Stimson grasped his shoulder.

"Hold out your hands," he said. "You have your carbine ready, trooper?"

The man made no resistance, and Stimson laughed when the handcuffs were
on.

"Now," he said, "where's your partner?"

"I don't know that I mind telling you," said the prisoner. "It was a
low down trick he played on me. We got down to take out the horses
when we saw we couldn't get away from you, and I'd a blanket girthed
round the best of them, when he said he'd hold him while I tried what I
could do with the other. Well, I let him, and the first thing I knew
he was off at a gallop, leaving me with the other kicking devil two men
couldn't handle. You'll find him rustling south over the Montana
trail."

"Mount and ride!" said Stimson, and when his companion galloped off,
turned once more to his prisoner.

"You'll have a lantern somewhere, and I'd like a look at you," he said.
"If you're the man I expect, I'm glad I found you."

"It's in the wagon," said the other dejectedly.

Stimson got a light, and when he had released and picketed the plunging
horse, held it so that he could see his prisoner. Then he nodded with
evident contentment.

"You may as well sit down. We've got to have a talk," he said.

"Well," said the other, "I'd help you to catch Harmon if I could, but I
can prove he hired me to drive him over to Kemp's in the wagon, and
you'd find it difficult to show I knew what there was in the packages
he took along."

Stimson smiled dryly. "Still," he said, "I think it could be done, and
I've another count against you. You had one or two deals with the boys
some little while ago."

"I'm not afraid of your fixing up against me anything I did then," said
the other man.

"No?" said Stimson. "Now, I guess you're wrong, and it might be a good
deal more serious than whisky-running. One night a man crawled up to
your homestead through the snow, and you took him in."

He saw the sudden fear in his companion's face before he turned it from
the lantern.

"It has happened quite a few times," said the latter. "We don't turn
any stranger out in this country."

"Of course!" said the Sergeant gravely, though he felt a little thrill
of content as he saw the shot, he had been by no means sure of, had
to