y, but the man had dragged himself out of the
blinding sun to the shade of the sagebrush above the rock--the trail
of it all lay very plain on the hard ground. Watching him narrowly,
Smith, with his prisoners ahead and the cowboys riding in a circle
behind, approached.

"Du Sang?"

The man in the sagebrush turned his head.

Smith walked to him and bent down. "Are you suffering much, Du Sang?"

The wounded man, sinking with shock and internal hemorrhage, uttered a
string of oaths.

Smith listened quietly till he had done; then he knelt beside him and
put his hand on Du Sang's hand. "Tell me where you are hit, Du Sang.
Put your hand to it. Is it the stomach? Let me turn you on your side.
Easy. Does your belt hurt? Just a minute, now; I can loosen that."

"I know you," muttered Du Sang thickly. Then his eyes--terrible,
rolling, pink eyes--brightened and he swore violently.

"Du Sang, you are not bleeding much, but I'm afraid you are badly
hit," said Whispering Smith. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Get me some water."

A creek flowed at no great distance below the hill, but the cowboys
refused to go for water. Whispering Smith would have gone with Seagrue
and Karg, but Du Sang begged him not to leave him alone lest Gorman
should kill him. Smith canvassed the situation a moment. "I'll put you
on my horse," said he at length, "and take you down to the creek."

He turned to the cowboys and asked them to help, but they refused to
touch Du Sang.

Whispering Smith kept his patience. "Karg, take that horse's head,"
said he. "Come here, Seagrue; help me lift Du Sang on the horse. The
boys seem to be afraid of getting blood on their hands."

With Whispering Smith and Seagrue supporting Du Sang in the saddle and
Karg leading the horse, the cavalcade moved slowly down to the creek,
where a tiny stream purled among the rocks. The water revived the
injured man for a moment; he had even strength enough, with some help,
to ride again; and, moving in the same halting order, they took him to
Rebstock's cabin. Rebstock, at the door, refused to let the sinking
man be brought into the house. He cursed Du Sang as the cause of all
the trouble. But Du Sang cursed him with usury, and, while Whispering
Smith listened, told Rebstock with bitter oaths that if he had given
the boy Barney anything but a scrub horse they never would have been
trailed. More than this concerning the affair Du Sang would not say,
and never said. The