me old
argyment thet's been fetchin' us closer an' closer to trouble."

Daggs removed his keen hawklike gaze from Bruce. "Wal, Jorth, all I'll
say is this. If Bruce is tellin' the truth we ain't got a hell of a
lot to fear from this young Isbel. I've known a heap of gun fighters
in my day. An' Jean Isbel don't ran true to class. Shore there never
was a gunman who'd risk cripplin' his right hand by sluggin' anybody."

"Wal," broke in Bruce, sullenly. "You-all can take it daid straight or
not. I don't give a damn. But you've shore got my hunch thet Nez
Perce Isbel is liable to handle any of you fellars jest as he did me,
an' jest as easy. What's more, he's got Greaves figgered. An' you-all
know thet Greaves is as deep in--"

"Shut up that kind of gab," demanded Jorth, stridently. "An' answer
me. Was the row in Greaves's barroom aboot sheep?"

"Aw, hell! I said so, didn't I?" shouted Bruce, with a fierce uplift
of his distorted face.

Ellen strode out from the shadow of the tall men who had obscured her.

"Bruce, y'u're a liar," she said, bitingly.

The surprise of her sudden appearance seemed to root Bruce to the spot.
All but the discolored places on his face turned white. He held his
breath a moment, then expelled it hard. His effort to recover from the
shock was painfully obvious. He stammered incoherently.

"Shore y'u're more than a liar, too," cried Ellen, facing him with
blazing eyes. And the rifle, gripped in both hands, seemed to declare
her intent of menace. "That row was not about sheep.... Jean Isbel
didn't beat y'u for anythin' about sheep.... Old John Sprague was in
Greaves's store. He heard y'u. He saw Jean Isbel beat y'u as y'u
deserved.... An' he told ME!"

Ellen saw Bruce shrink in fear of his life; and despite her fury she
was filled with disgust that he could imagine she would have his blood
on her hands. Then she divined that Bruce saw more in the gathering
storm in her father's eyes than he had to fear from her.

"Girl, what the hell are y'u sayin'?" hoarsely called Jorth, in dark
amaze.

"Dad, y'u leave this to me," she retorted.

Daggs stepped beside Jorth, significantly on his right side. "Let her
alone Lee," he advised, coolly. "She's shore got a hunch on Bruce."

"Simm Bruce, y'u cast a dirty slur on my name," cried Ellen,
passionately.

It was then that Daggs grasped Jorth's right arm and held it tight,
"Jest what I thought," he said. "Stand still, Lee. L