joke. Once, while the Two Diamond men worked at his hands, he told
them to be careful not to hurt him.

"I'm goin' to be hurt enough, after a while," he added.

There was nothing more to be done. The proof of guilt was before the
Two Diamond men, in the shape of several calves in the small corral
that still bore the Two Diamond brand. Several of the cows were still
adorned with the Two Diamond ear mark, and in addition to this was
Ferguson's evidence. Therefore the men's ponies were caught up,
saddled, and the two men forced to mount. Then the entire company rode
out of the little gully through which the Two Diamond outfit had
entered, riding toward the cottonwood that skirted the river--miles
away.

A little while before sunset the cavalcade rode to the edge of the
cottonwood. Stafford halted his pony and looked at Ferguson, but the
stray-man had seen enough tragedy for one day and he shook his head,
sitting gloomily in the saddle.

"I'm waitin' here," he said simply. "There'll be enough in there to do
it without me."

The clear-eyed man looked at him with a grim smile.

"Why, hell!" he said. "You ain't goin' in?" his eyes lighted for an
instant. "I reckon you're plum white!" he declared. "You ain't aimin'
to see any free show."

"I'm sayin' so-long to you," returned Ferguson. "You're game." A
flash of admiration lighted his eyes.

The clear-eyed man smiled enigmatically. "I'm stayin' game!" he
declared grimly, without boast. "An' now I'm tellin' you somethin'.
Yesterday Leviatt told me he'd shot Ben Radford. He said he'd lied to
Ben about you an' that he'd shot him so's his sister would think you
done it. You've been white, an' so I'm squarin' things for you. I'm
wishin' you luck."

For an instant he sat in the saddle, watching a new color surge into
the stray-man's face. Then his pony was led away, through a tangle of
undergrowth at the edge of the cottonwood. When Ferguson looked again,
the little company had ridden into the shadow, but Ferguson could make
out the clear-eyed man, still erect in his saddle, still seeming to
wear an air of unstudied nonchalance. For a moment longer Ferguson saw
him, and then he was lost in the shadows.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE END OF THE STORY

Two weeks later Ferguson had occasion to pass through Bear Flat.
Coming out of the flat near the cottonwood he met Ben Radford. The
latter, his shoulder mending rapidly, grinned genially at the stray-man.