hy war with ther man thet kilt him--an' from thet day on Will an'
me war done with ye. Now we aims ter see thet brother of yourn
hanged--and hit's too tardy ter come a beggin' an' pleadin'."

Kenneth Thornton's sister rose and stood swaying on her feet, holding
herself upright by the back of the chair. Her eyes were piteous in their
suffering.

"Fer God's sake, Lindy," she begged, "don't go on denyin' me no more. We
used ter love one another ... when I was married ye stud up with me ...
when yore fust baby war born I set by yore bedside ... now I'm nigh
heart-broke!"

Her voice, hysterically uncontrolled, shrilled almost to a scream, and
the door of the other room opened to show Will Turk, shirt-sleeved and
sombre of visage, standing on its threshold.

"What's all this ter-do in hyar?" he demanded gruffly, then seeing the
wife of his dead brother he stiffened and his chin thrust itself outward
into bulldog obduracy.

"I kain't no fashion git shet of her," explained the wife as though she
felt called upon to explain her ineffectiveness as a sentinel.

Will Turk's voice came in the crispness of clipped syllables. "Lindy, I
don't need ye no more, right now. I reckon I kin contrive ter git rid of
this woman by myself."

Then as the door closed upon the wife, the sister-in-law moved slowly
forward and she and the man stood gazing at each other, while between
them lay six feet of floor and mountains of amassed animosities.

"Ef ye've come hyar ter plead fer Ken," he warned her at last, "ye comes
too late. Ef John's bein' yore husband didn't mean nuthin' ter ye, his
bein' my brother does mean a master lot ter _me_--an' ther man thet kilt
him's goin' ter die."

"Will," she began, brokenly, "ye was always like a real brother ter me
in ther old days ... hain't ye got no pity left in yore heart fer me...?
Don't ye remember nothin' but ther day thet John died...?"

The drooping moustaches seemed to droop lower and the black brows
contracted more closely.

"I hain't fergot nothin'.... I wanted ter befriend ye so long es I
could ... outside my own fam'ly I didn't love no person better, but thet
only made me hate ye wusser when ye turned traitor ter our blood."

She stepped unsteadily forward and caught at his hand, but the man
jerked it away as from an infection.

"But don't ye know thet John misused me, Will? Don't ye know thet he war
a-killin' me right then?"

"I takes notice ye didn't nuver make no complaint till