"Sit down, both of you," she quietly ordered. "It won't do for you to
go home looking that way."

Meekly they obeyed and sat very still while she washed the blood from
their faces.

"It's good of ye, miss," Tom told her. "We don't deserve sich kindness
after what we said an' done to you to-night. Some would have kicked us
out of the house an' left us there half dead."

"You, fer instance, Nan, eh?" Empty grinned, as he looked toward the
girl.

"No, I wouldn't," Nan stoutly protested. "That would have been too
good for them. I would like to keep them and start a travelling show
throughout the country. I would make my fortune in a short time. They
deserve to be treated like that for disturbing my peaceful slumbers.
And just look at that door, all broken down. Who's going to fix it,
I'd like to know?"

"I'll fix it, miss," Pete eagerly replied. "I'll come to-morrow an'
make it as good as new."

"No, you won't. You'll be in jail; that's where you'll be."

"Hush, hush, Nan," Nell ordered, though she found it hard not to smile
at the frightened look which came into Pete's eyes. "Don't mind Nan,
Pete. She isn't as terrible as she sounds."

"Yes, she is," Empty insisted. "She kin use her hands as well as her
tongue. I know it, fer she's often boxed my ears."

"H'm!" and Nan tossed her head disdainfully. "If you'd been a man I
would have done more than that; I would have blackened your eyes,
and----"

"There, there, Nan, that will do," Nell interrupted, and from the tone
of her voice Nan knew that she must obey. With a sigh of resignation
she stood with her eyes fixed upon the floor and her hands clasped
before her, unheeding Empty, who was grinning at her on the other side
of the room.

"Guess we'd better go now," Tom remarked when Nell had finished her
ablutions. "It must be purty late. But afore I go I wish to ask ye'r
pardon, miss," and he turned to Nell as he spoke. "I wasn't jist
meself to-night, an' I guess the rest were in the same fix."

"A moment, Tom," and Douglas laid his hand upon his shoulder. "I want
you to tell us why you and your companions made this attack to-night."

"To git you, of course. Didn't ye know that?"

"Yes, indeed I did, but I wanted to hear you say so. Now, what did you
want to get me for? What harm have I done to you or to the men who
were with you?"

"None, none at all. But, ye see, we were under orders. We were told
to come."

"Who told you?"

"B