it's the half-breed. An' he's goin'
to cut you--FIRST FOR ELLEN JORTH! an' then for Gaston Isbel!' ...
Greaves said Jean ripped him with a bowie knife.... An' thet was all
Greaves remembered. He died soon after tellin' this story. He must
hev fought awful hard. Thet second cut Isbel gave him went clear
through him.... Some of the gang was thar when Greaves talked, an'
naturally they wondered why Jean Isbel had said 'first for Ellen
Jorth.' ... Somebody remembered thet Greaves had cast a slur on your
good name, Ellen. An' then they had Jean Isbel's reason fer sayin'
thet to Greaves. It caused a lot of talk. An' when Simm Bruce busted
in some of the gang haw-hawed him an' said as how he'd get the third
cut from Jean Isbel's bowie. Bruce was half drunk an' he began to cuss
an' rave about Jean Isbel bein' in love with his girl.... As bad luck
would have it, a couple of more fellars come in an' asked Meeker
questions. He jest got to thet part, 'Greaves, it's the half-breed,
an' he's goin' to cut you--FIRST FOR ELLEN JORTH,' when in walked your
father! ... Then it all had to come out--what Jean Isbel had said an'
done--an' why. How Greaves had backed Simm Bruce in slurrin' you!"

Sprague paused to look hard at Ellen.

"Oh! Then--what did dad do?" whispered Ellen.

"He said, 'By God! half-breed or not, there's one Isbel who's a man!'
An' he killed Bruce on the spot an' gave Meeker a nasty wound. Somebody
grabbed him before he could shoot Meeker again. They threw Meeker out
an' he crawled to a neighbor's house, where he was when Evarts seen
him."

Ellen felt Sprague's rough but kindly hand shaking her. "An' now what
do you think of Jean Isbel?" he queried.

A great, unsurmountable wall seemed to obstruct Ellen's thought. It
seemed gray in color. It moved toward her. It was inside her brain.

"I tell you, Ellen Jorth," declared the old man, "thet Jean Isbel loves
you-loves you turribly--an' he believes you're good."

"Oh no--he doesn't!" faltered Ellen.

"Wal, he jest does."

"Oh, Uncle John, he cain't believe that!" she cried.

"Of course he can. He does. You are good--good as gold, Ellen, an' he
knows it.... What a queer deal it all is! Poor devil! To love you
thet turribly an' hev to fight your people! Ellen, your dad had it
correct. Isbel or not, he's a man.... An' I say what a shame you two
are divided by hate. Hate thet you hed nothin' to do with." Sprague
patted her head and rose to go. "