hate.

When he had sworn to Bas Rowlett that the moon should not "full again"
before he avenged his betrayal with death, he had taken that oath
solemnly and, he sincerely believed, in the sight of God. It was,
therefore, an oath that could be neither abandoned nor modified.

The man who must die knew, as did he himself and the heavenly witness to
the compact, that his physical incapacity had been responsible for his
deferred action--but now with returning strength he must make amends of
promptness.

He would set out to-day on that enterprise of cleansing his conscience
with performance. In killing Bas Rowlett he would be performing a
virtuous act. As to that he had no misgiving, but an inner voice spoke
in disturbing whispers. He could not forget Hump Doane's appeal--and
prophecy of tribulation. By killing Bas now he might even loose that
avalanche!

"An' yit ef I tarries a few days more," he argued stubbornly within
himself, "hit's ergoin' ter be even wusser. I'm my own man now--an'
licensed ter ack fer myself." He rose and stiffened resolutely, against
the tide of doubt, and his fine face darkened with the blood malignity
of his heritage.

He went silently into the house and began making his preparations. His
pistol holster should have fitted under his left arm-pit but it was
useless there now with no right hand to draw or use it. So Parish
Thornton thrust it into his coat pocket on the left-hand side, and then
at the door he halted in a fresh perplexity.

He could not embark on a mission that might permit of no returning
without bidding Dorothy good-bye--and as he thought of that farewell his
face twitched and the agate hardness wavered.

So he stood for awhile in debate with himself, the relentlessness of the
executioner warring obdurately with the tenderness of the lover--and
while he did so a group of three horsemen came into view on the highway,
moving slowly toward his house.

When the trio of visitors had dismounted, an elderly man, whose face
held a deadly sort of gravity, approached, introducing himself as Aaron
Capper and his companions as Sim Squires and Lincoln Thornton.

"Albeit we hain't well beknowest ter one another," Aaron reminded him,
"we're all kinfolks more or less--an' we've done rid over ter hev
speech with ye cons'arnin' right sober matters."

"Won't ye come inside an' sot ye cheers?" invited Parish, but the elder
man shook his head as he wiped his perspiring and dust-caked face on