forebodingly in it. His arms were still crossed,
but as he talked he had turned a very little and now the muzzle of the
weapon was at a level--trained fairly upon Radford's breast. And then
came Ferguson's voice again, quiet, cold, incisive.

"If there's goin' to be any shootin', Ben, there'll be two of us doin'
it. Don't be afraid that you'll beat me to it." And he stared grimly
over the short space that separated them.

For a full minute neither man moved a muscle. Silence--a premonitory
silence--fell over them as they stood, each with a steady finger
dragging uncertainly upon the trigger of his weapon. An owl hooted in
the cottonwood nearby; other noises of the night reached their ears.
Unaware of this crisis Mustard grazed unconcernedly at a distance.

Then Radford's weapon wavered a little and dropped to his side.

"This game's too certain," he said.

Ferguson laughed, and his six-shooter disappeared as mysteriously as it
had appeared. "I thought I'd be able to make you see the point," he
said. "It don't always pay to be in too much of a hurry to do a
thing," he continued gravely. "An' I reckon I've proved that someone's
been lying about me. If I'd wanted to shoot you I could have done it
quite a spell ago--I had you covered just as soon as I crossed my arms.
You'd never knowed about it. That I didn't shoot proves that whoever
told you I was after you has been romancin'." He laughed.

"An' now I'm tellin' you another thing that I was goin' to tell you
about to-morrow. Mebbe you'll want to shoot me for that. But if you
do I expect you'll have a woman to fight. Me an' Mary has found that
we're of one mind about a thing. We're goin' to hook up into a double
harness. I reckon when I'm your brother-in-law you won't be so worried
about shootin' me."

Radford's astonishment showed for a moment in his eyes as his gaze met
the stray-man's. Then they drooped guiltily.

"Well I'm a damn fool!" he said finally. "I might have knowed that
Mary wouldn't get afoul of any man who was thinkin' of doing dirt to
me." He suddenly extended a hand. "You shakin'?" he said.

Ferguson took the hand, gripping it tightly. Neither man spoke. Then
Radford suddenly unclasped his hand and turned, striding rapidly up the
trail toward the cabin.

For a moment Ferguson stood, looking after him with narrowed, friendly
eyes. Then he walked to Mustard, threw the bridle rein over the pommel
of the saddle, mounted, and