e, and so had sent him to ask the Miss Lady Doctor to
come to him. Virginia rose swiftly.

"You see," she said to Mrs. Engle, "what a nuisance it would be if I
lived with you? May I come to see you to-morrow?"

While she said good night Engle got his hat.

"I'll go with you," he said. "But, like Patten, I don't believe there
is much the matter with Chavez. Maybe he thinks he'll get a free drink
of whiskey."

"You see again," laughed Virginia from the doorway, "what it would be
like, Mrs. Engle; if every time I had to make a call and Mr. Engle
deemed it necessary to go with me . . . I'd have to split my fees with
him at the very least! And I don't believe that I could afford to do
that."

"You could give me all that Ignacio pays you," chuckled Engle, "and
never miss it!"

The boy waited for them and, when they came out into the starlight,
flitted on ahead of them. At the cottonwoods a man stepped out to meet
them.

"Hello," said Engle, "it's Norton."

"I sent the boy for Miss Page," said Norton quickly. "I had to have a
word with her immediately. And I'm glad that you came, Engle. I want
a favor of you; a mighty big favor of Miss Page."

The boy had passed on through the shadows and now was to be seen on the
street.

"I guess you know you can count on me, Rod," said Engle quietly. "What
now?"

"I want you, when you go back to the house, to say that you have
learned that Miss Page likes horseback riding; then send a horse for
her to the hotel stable, so that if she likes she can have it in the
early morning. And say nothing about my having sent the boy."

Engle did not answer immediately. He and Virginia stood trying to see
the sheriff's features through the darkness. He had spoken quietly
enough and yet there was an odd new note in his voice; it was easy to
imagine how the muscles about his lean jaw had tensed, how his eyes
were again the hard eyes of a man who saw his fight before him.

"I can trust you, John," continued Norton quickly. "I can trust
Ignacio Chavez; I can trust Julius Struve. And, if you want it in
words of one syllable, I cannot trust Caleb Patten!"

"Hm," said Engle. "I think you're mistaken there, my boy."

"Maybe," returned Norton. "But I can't afford right now to take any
unnecessary chances. Further," and in the gloom they saw his shoulders
lifted in a shrug, "I am trusting Miss Page because I've got to! Which
may not sound pretty, but which is the truth."