true all I hearn ye
say; folks air gin ter vauntin' the dead," he paused for a moment,
remembering the caustic comments over the deal of the cards, then added,
"though I reckon _I_ hev hed some cur'ous 'speriences ez a harnt."

She suddenly threw up both arms with a shrill scream, half nervous
exhaustion, half inexpressible delight. She swayed to and fro, almost
fainting, her balance failing. He caught her in his arms, and she leaned
sobbing against his breast.

"I stand ter every word of it," she cried, her voice broken and lapsed
from control. "I love ye, an' I despise all the rest!"

"I be powerful wild," he suggested contritely.

"_I_ ain't keerin' ef ye be ez wild ez a deer."

"But I'm goin' to quit gamesome company an' playin' kyerds an' sech. I
expec' ter mend my ways now," he promised eagerly.

"Ye kin mend 'em or let 'em stay tore, jes ez ye please," she declared
recklessly. "I ain't snatched my lovyer from the jaws o' death ter want
him otherwise; ye be plumb true-hearted, _I know_."

"I mought ez well hev been buried in this grave fer the last ten year'
fer all the use I hev been," he protested solemnly; "but I hev learnt a
lesson through bein' a harnt fer a while--I hev jes kem ter life. I'm
goin' ter _live_ now. I'll make myself some use in the world, an' fust
off I be goin' ter hinder the murder of a man what they hev got trapped
up yander at the still."

This initial devoir of his reformation, however, Wyatt found no easy
matter. The event had been craftily planned to seem an accident, a fall
from a cliff in pursuing the wagon, and only the most ardent and cogent
urgency on Wyatt's part prevailed at length. He argued that this
interpretation of the disaster would not satisfy the authorities. To
take the raider's life insured discovery, retribution. But as he had
been brought to the still in the night, it was obvious that if he were
conveyed under cover of darkness and by roundabout trails within
striking distance of the settlements, he could never again find his way
to the locality in the dense wilderness. In his detention he had
necessarily learned nothing fresh, for the only names he could have
overheard had long been obnoxious to suspicion of moonshining, and
afforded no proof. Thus humanity, masquerading as caution, finally
triumphed, and the officer, blindfolded, was conducted through devious
and winding ways many miles distant, and released within a day's travel
of the county town.

Walt