ughly thrown open and a man stepped in.

"It's Paw! Hello, Paw. The Doc is here."

Jed Thompson carried a rifle under his arm, and his face was as black as
a thunder cloud.

"Here's a squall," murmured Miss Briggs, just loud enough for Grace to
hear.

"What you-all doin' here?" he demanded, eyeing the two Overland Riders
sternly.

It was plain that Thompson's anger was rapidly getting the best of him.

"You-all! Git out o' mah house afore Ah throws ye out!" he roared.

"Be quiet, Paw," urged Julie weakly, Mrs. Thompson being too frightened
to utter a word.

"When we have finished with our work, Mr. Thompson, we will leave. Not
one second sooner," retorted Elfreda Briggs coolly, as she stepped
forward and faced the irate mountaineer.

"Then Ah'll throw ye out! The pack of ye git out afore Ah fergits
mahself and shoots ye out."

Jed started for Miss Briggs, his anger now beyond all control.

"Stop where you are, Jed Thompson!" commanded Elfreda Briggs.

The mountaineer halted abruptly. He was facing J. Elfreda's revolver,
which was leveled at him, held in a steady hand.

"Let your rifle drop to the floor," she directed sweetly. "Drop it! My
hand is a little nervous to-day and this revolver might go off."

The rifle clattered to the floor, but Elfreda Briggs still held her
position, her eyes narrowly watching the angry mountaineer.

CHAPTER XXI

AN APOLOGY AND A THREAT

"Here, here, here!" roared the doctor in a commanding voice. "What
you-all trying to do here? Haven't you got trouble enough on hand
without looking for more, Jed Thompson? Give me that gun."

The doctor recovered the fallen rifle, drew the cartridges from its
magazine, dropped them in his pocket and stood the gun in a corner.

Elfreda lowered her weapon, but did not immediately return it to its
holster under her blouse.

"Thank you," she said, smiling over at the doctor.

"Listen to me, Jed," ordered the doctor. "These young women came here to
see what they could do for Sue and Liz. If they hadn't, Liz probably
would be dead this minute. They saved her life, Jed Thompson. Now what
have you got to say for yourself?"

"That right, Doc?"

"It's the almighty truth. That isn't all. Lieutenant Wingate, one of
their party, rode all the way to Holcomb after me last night and nearly
killed his horse. On the way back we were attacked from ambush and the
lieutenant's horse was shot from under him. I tried to stick and help
him fi