nd sat as though rapt in brooding contemplation, while all the time that
tiny shaft bored deeper and deeper into the rope like a red hot iron.

For half an hour this continued until Bert was convinced that the rope
was burned to the core, and that under a vigorous effort it would snap
like thread.

He moved around uneasily, fidgeting and twisting with an occasional groan
until "Red" unbent sufficiently from his surly indifference to ask him
"what was eatin' of him."

"I'm in a fearfully cramped position," explained Bert, meekly. "Do you
mind if I stand up for a minute and stretch?"

"Red" cogitated a moment.

"No law agin it, I reckon," he conceded ungraciously.

Bert labored painfully and clumsily to his feet, yawned wearily and
stretched his arms above his head. Then with one quick jerk he burst the
rope and went into "Red" like a thunderbolt. Before that crashing impact
of bone and muscle that had triumphed on many a football field, the
startled outlaw hit the floor with a tremendous thump, while Bert's
sinewy hands tightened on his throat.

But there was no resistance, and after a moment Bert relaxed his grasp.
The rustler's head had struck on the sill of the door and the blow had
rendered him unconscious.

Springing to his feet, Bert grasped the knife that lay on the table, and
sawed desperately at the ends of rope that dangled about his feet. A
few minutes sufficed and he was free. Then he took the revolver from the
belt of his fallen enemy, and, after a swift glance round the clearing,
bolted for the woods like a deer.

He had almost reached cover when he heard a yell behind him and a bullet
zipped past his head. He turned and saw one of the outlaws rushing from
the corral behind the house, while others, attracted by the shot, were
running to mount their horses. Then he dived into the woods and ran for
his life.

Through the forest aisles he slipped like a shadow, and for a time he
more than held his own. But his pursuers had the advantage of knowing the
ground, while he had to choose his course on the spur of the moment. He
lost precious seconds in dodging obstacles, and he could hear the clatter
of horses coming nearer and nearer. At any moment a bullet might bring
him down.

The wound in his head was bleeding now under his tremendous exertions,
and he began to grow dizzy and faint. But, although his strength was
ebbing, his heart was as high and his spirit as undaunted as ever. He
would never sur