es narrow. The
chains of fear and of shame which had bound her snapped.

"Hervey!" she cried, and as he whirled she came panting into the door.

Just for an instant she saw a devil glitter in his eyes but in a
moment his glance wavered. He admitted himself beaten as he thrust his
revolver into the holster.

"Talk wouldn't make Perris leave," he mumbled. "I been trying to throw
a little scare into him. And the bluff would of worked if--"

She cut in on him: "I heard enough to understand. I know what you
tried to do. Oh, Lew Hervey, if this could be told, your own men would
run you down like a mad dog!"

He had grown livid with a mixture of emotions.

"If it could be told. Maybe. But it can't be told! Keep clear of him,
or I'll drill him, by God!" She obeyed, stepping back from Jim.

He backed towards the door where the saddle of Perris lay, and
stooping, he snatched the revolver of Red Jim from the saddle-holster.
For the moment, at least, his enemy was disarmed and there was no fear
of immediate pursuit.

"I still have a day or two," he said. "And the game ain't ended.
Remember that, Perris. It ain't ended till Jordan comes back."

And he turned into the darkness which closed over him at once like the
falling of a blanket.

"You won't follow him?" she pleaded.

He shook his head and a moment later, under the touch of his own
hunting knife which she drew, the rope parted and freed his arms.
At the same instant she heard the hoofs of Hervey's horse crashing
through the underbrush down the mountain side. And not till that final
signal of success reached her did Marianne give way to the hysteria
which had been flooding higher and higher in her throat ever since
those words of Hervey had arrested her in the clearing. But once
released it came in a rush, blinding her, so that she could not see
Perris through her tears as he placed her gently in the chair. Only
through the wild confusion of her sobbing she could hear his voice
saying words she did not understand, over and over again, but she knew
that his voice was infinitely soft, infinitely reassuring.

Then her mind cleared and her nerves steadied with amazing suddenness,
just as the wind at a stroke will tumble the storm clouds aside and
leave a placid blue sky above. She found Red Jim kneeling beside the
chair with his arms around her and her head on his shoulder, wet with
her tears. For the first time she could hear and really understand
what he had been s