lly of strength ended at the edge of an open, bald ridge that
was bare of brush or grass and was surrounded by a line of forest on
three sides, and on the fourth by a low bluff which raised its gray
head above the pines. Across this dusty open Queen had crawled,
leaving unmistakable signs of his condition. Jean took long survey of
the circle of trees and of the low, rocky eminence, neither of which he
liked. It might be wiser to keep to cover, Jean thought, and work
around to where Queen's trail entered the forest again. But he was
tired, gloomy, and his eternal vigilance was failing. Nevertheless, he
stilled for the thousandth time that bold prompting of his vengeance
and, taking to the edge of the forest, he went to considerable pains to
circle the open ground. And suddenly sight of a man sitting back
against a tree halted Jean.

He stared to make sure his eyes did not deceive him. Many times stumps
and snags and rocks had taken on strange resemblance to a standing or
crouching man. This was only another suggestive blunder of the mind
behind his eyes--what he wanted to see he imagined he saw. Jean glided
on from tree to tree until he made sure that this sitting image indeed
was that of a man. He sat bolt upright, facing back across the open,
hands resting on his knees--and closer scrutiny showed Jean that he
held a gun in each hand.

Queen! At the last his nerve had revived. He could not crawl any
farther, he could never escape, so with the courage of fatality he
chose the open, to face his foe and die. Jean had a thrill of
admiration for the rustler. Then he stalked out from under the pines
and strode forward with his rifle ready.

A watching man could not have failed to espy Jean. But Queen never
made the slightest move. Moreover, his stiff, unnatural position
struck Jean so singularly that he halted with a muttered exclamation.
He was now about fifty paces from Queen, within range of those small
guns. Jean called, sharply, "QUEEN!" Still the figure never relaxed in
the slightest.

Jean advanced a few more paces, rifle up, ready to fire the instant
Queen lifted a gun. The man's immobility brought the cold sweat to
Jean's brow. He stopped to bend the full intense power of his gaze
upon this inert figure. Suddenly over Jean flashed its meaning. Queen
was dead. He had backed up against the pine, ready to face his foe,
and he had died there. Not a shadow of a doubt entered Jean's mind as
he st