solid
belief you done it in cold blood, too. We're five here, all heeled,
and there's more outside. If you're innocent the sheriff'll let you
off to-morrer; but, innocent or guilty, by Gosh, you're comin' with us
to-night. Hold up yer hands! Quick!"

Ransom and Smoky held up their hands.

"Search 'em," commanded the 'Piker.'

This was done effectively. A Derringer doesn't take up much room in a
man's pocket, but it has been known to turn the tables upon larger
weapons. Ransom and Smoky, however, were unarmed; but the squatter who
ran his hand over Smoky's pockets encountered a small cylinder, which
he held up to the public gaze.

It was an empty cartridge.

To understand fully what this meant one must possess a certain
knowledge of Western ways and sentiment. Pistols and rifles belonging
to the pioneers, for example, often exhibit notches, each of which
bears silent witness to the shedding of blood. The writer knew
intimately a very mild, kindly old man who had a strop fashioned out
of several thicknesses of Apache skins. The Apaches had inflicted
unmentionable torments upon him and his, and the strop was his dearest
possession. The men and women of the wilderness are primal in their
loves and hates.

The big 'Piker' examined the long brass cylinder, small of bore and
old-fashioned in shape. He slipped it into the Sharp rifle, and
laughed grimly as he said--

"A relic!"

Ransom's face was impassive; Smoky Jack exhibited a derisive defiance.
Inwardly he was cursing himself for a fool in having kept the
cartridge. He had intended to throw it away as soon as he found
himself outside. But from the first he had wanted Mintie's father to
know _that he knew!_ Primal again. Pap would not forget to clean
his rifle at the first opportunity; and then, without a word on either
side, he would realise that the man who wanted his daughter was a true
friend.

We may add that the breaking of the sixth commandment in no wise
affected Smoky. Jake Farge had been warned that he would be shot on
sight if he made "trouble." Everybody in San Lorenzo County was well
aware that it was no kind of use "foolin'" with Pap Ransom. Jake--in a
word--deserved what he had got. Smoky would have drawn as true a bead
upon a squatter disputing title to his land. We don't defend Mr.
Short's ethics, we simply state them.

The 'Piker' said quietly--

"Anything to say, young feller?"

Smoky Jack made a gallant attempt to bluff a man who had pla