y in every tense muscle. Not till he stood over him,
till he saw the carelessly flung limbs, the uncouth twist to the neck,
could he believe that so slight a crook of the finger had sent swift death
across the plateau.

The wounded man felt suddenly sick. Leaning against a rock, he steadied
himself till the nausea was past. Voices called to him from the plain
below. He answered, and presently circled down into the gulch which led to
the open.

At the gulch mouth he came on a little group of people. One glance told
him all he needed to know. Kate Cullison was crying in the arms of Curly
Flandrau. Simultaneously a man galloped up, flung himself from his horse,
and took the young woman from her lover.

"My little girl," he cried in a voice that rang with love.

Luck had found his ewe lamb that was lost.

It was Curly who first saw the man approaching from the gulch. "Hello,
Cass! Did you get him?"

Fendrick nodded wearily.

"Dead sure?"

"Yep. He's up there." The sheepman's hand swept toward the bluff.

"You're wounded."

"Got me in the shoulder. Nothing serious, I judge."

Cullison swung around. "Sure about that, Cass?" It was the first time for
years that he had called the other by his first name except in irony.

"Sure."

"Let's have a look at the shoulder."

After he had done what he could for it Luck spoke bluffly. "This dashed
feud is off, Cass. You've wiped the slate clean. When you killed Blackwell
you put me out of a hostile camp."

"I'm glad--so glad. Now we'll all be friends, won't we?" Kate cried.

Cass looked at her and at Curly, both of them radiant with happiness, and
his heart ached for what he had missed. But he smiled none the less.

"Suits me if it does you."

He gave one hand to Luck and the other to his daughter.

Curly laughed gaily. "Everybody satisfied, I reckon,"

CHAPTER XX

LOOSE THREADS

Curly was right when he said that those who knew about Sam's share in the
planning of the Tin Cup hold-up would keep their mouths closed. All of the
men implicated in the robbery were dead except Dutch. Cullison used his
influence to get the man a light sentence, for he knew that he was not a
criminal at heart. In return Dutch went down the line without so much as
breathing Sam's name.

Luck saw to it that Curly got all the credit of frustrating the outlaws in
their attempt on the Flyer and of capturing them afterward. In the story
of the rescue of Kate he played up Flandrau