a is some curable nervous disorder, and you know what an
injustice it would be if it became noised around that the girl is
crazy. How much English does that Swede know?"

"Not any more than he needs to get along on," Lone answered,
instinctively on guard. "He's all right--just a good-natured kinda
cuss that wouldn't harm anybody."

He glanced uneasily at the house, hoping that Lorraine was safe inside,
yet fearing that she would not be safe anywhere. Sane or insane, she
was in danger if Senator Warfield considered her of sufficient
importance to bring him out on horseback to the Quirt ranch. Lone knew
how seldom the owner of the Sawtooth rode on horseback since he had
high-powered cars to carry him in soft comfort.

"I'll go see if she's home," Lone explained, and reined John Doe toward
the house.

"I'll go with you," Senator Warfield offered suavely and kept
alongside. "Frank Johnson was killed, you say? How did it happen?"

"Fell off his wagon and broke his neck," Lone told him laconically.
"Brit's pretty sick yet; I don't guess you'd better go inside. There's
been a lot of excitement already for the old man. He only sees folks
he's used to having around."

With that he dismounted and went into the house, leaving Senator
Warfield without an excuse for following. Swan and Hawkins came up and
waited with him, and Jim opened the door of the bunkhouse and looked
out at them without showing enough interest to come forward and speak
to them.

In a few minutes Lone returned, to find Senator Warfield trying to
glean information from Swan, who seemed willing enough to give it if
only he could find enough English words to form a complete sentence.
Swan, then, had availed himself of Lone's belittlement of him and was
living down to it. But Lone gave him scant attention just then.

"She hasn't come back. Brit's worked himself up into a fever, and I
didn't dare tell him she wasn't with me. I said she's all tired out
and sick and wanted to stay up by the spring awhile, where it's cool.
I said she was with me, and the sun was too much for her, and she sent
him word that Jim would take care of him awhile longer. So you better
move down this way, or he'll hear us talking and want to know what's
up."

"You're sure she isn't here?" Senator Warfield's voice held suspicion.

"You can ask Jim, over here. He's been on hand right along. And if
you can't take his word for it, you can go look in the shack--but in
t