in'
nothing but wablin' them long ears as if it understood things it wasn't
goin' to speak about. Y' always feel around a mule as if it knew
somethin' about you--had somethin' on you--and was laughin' soft and
deep inside. Damn a mule! I remember--"

But here he sank into the steady, voiceless whisper again, the shadow of
a sound rather than the reality. It was ghostly to hear, even by
daylight.

"Will it keep up long?" asked Drew.

"Maybe until he dies."

"I've told you before; it's impossible for him to die."

The doctor made a gesture of resignation.

He explained: "As long as this fever grows our man will steadily weaken;
it shows that he's on the downward path. If it breaks--why, that means
that he will have a chance--more than a chance--to get well. It will
mean that he has enough reserve strength to fight off the shock of the
wound and survive the loss of the blood."

"It will mean," said Drew, apparently thinking aloud, "that the guilt of
murder does not fall on Anthony."

"Who is Anthony?"

The wounded man broke in; his voice rose high and sharp: "Halt!"

He went on, in a sighing mumble: "Shorty--help--I'm done for!"

"The shooting," said the doctor, who had kept his fingers on the wrist
of his patient; "I could feel his pulse leap and stop when he said
that."

"He said 'halt!' first; a very clear sign that he tried to stop Bard
before Bard shot. Doctor, you're witness to that?"

He had grown deeply excited.

"I'm witness to nothing. I never dreamed that you could be so interested
in any human being."

He nodded to himself.

"Do you know how I explained your greyness to myself? As that of a man
ennuied with life--tired of living because he had nothing in the world
to occupy his affections. And here I find you so far from being ennuied
that you are using your whole strength to keep the guilt of murder away
from another man. It's amazing. The boys will never believe it."

He continued: "A man who raised a riot in your own house, almost burned
down your place, shot your man, stole a horse--gad, Drew, you are
sublime!"

But if he expected an explanatory answer from the rancher he was
disappointed. The latter pulled up a chair beside the bed and bent his
stern eyes on the patient as if he were concentrating all of a great
will on bringing Calamity Ben back to health.

He worked with the doctor. Every half hour a temperature was taken, and
it was going up steadily. Drew heard the report each