innocent of the offence he was accused of, you have the right to bring in another charge. I know little o' the Law, but mebbe Mister Seale will give us an opinion.'
The lawyer was on his feet instantly, beady eyes agleam: at that moment he almost liked the rancher. Only a month or so previously he had sat in that same place, squirming under the castigating tongue of the man he now had an opportuniny to repay. The Weasel was not one to forget.
`With due respect, I submit that the court is exceeding its powers, and there is nothing in the statunes to justify such procedure,' he said. `In any case, a conviction on the testimony so far adduced would be a judicial crime.'
He sat down, and the room gasped. Towler's pale face had become purple, and he would have joyfully murdered the man who had brought this humiliation upon him. But he was impotent, and knew it. Ignoring the lawyer, he addressed Cullin:
`If you had been a little more patient, sir, you would have heard me instruct the jury to entirely exonerate the accused on both charges,' he explained ponderously. `It was for his benefit I decided that the second--and possible--charge should be dealt with now.'
The verdict having been formally recorded, the Judge dismissed the jury, and remembered he still had a duny to perform. `Sheriff, you will take the fellow, Gilman, into custody and hold him for trial,' he ordered.
Silent, chin on chest, the foreman slouched out, a deputy on either side. Camort followed, glad of an excuse to get away from friends and foes, neither of whom would spare him. The Judge too picked up his hat and departed, bitterly conscious that he had cut a sorry figure.
When Nick and the puncher tried to slip away they found themselves surrounded by a surging section of the crowd yelling crude congratulations, and struggling to get near enough to slap the nester on the back or grab a hand. He endured the ordeal with a sardonic grin, conscious that some of them, anyway, would have striven as strenuously to see him hanged.
`Awright, boys,' he called. `The drinks are shore on me, but you'll have to go to Merker's for 'em.'
This started another stampede--in the direction of the saloon --and in a few moments, only a small group remained; they had remained aloof while the demonstration was on.
`I'm mighty obliged to you all,' Nick said quietly.
`Glad to see you clear of a nasty mess,' the banker said. `If you hadn't thought of keeping those numbers....'
`I didn't,' came the candid reply. `That was Jim's idea.'
`A very good one,' Seale complimented. `It wrecked the prosecution, and exposed a very shabby rogue.'
`Yeah, but what we didn't learn was the name o' the bigger rogue who put him up to it,' Pilch said meaningly.
`That may come out at the trial,' Cullin replied carelessly. `He's the sort to squeal.'
`There'll be no trial,' Nick asserted. `He'll get away.' `They dasn't let him,' Pilch cried.
`They dasn't keep him,' Drait contradicted.
The Big C man laughed. `You may be right. Anyway, he'll be no loss, an' we are to have a charmin' substitute. Any harm in sayin' that now, Seale?'
`No, everything is virtually settled,' the lawyer said. He looked at Drait. `I shall be at the S P in the morning. Perhaps Miss Darrell would like to come over and inspect her property?'
The nester agreed that it was likely, and the matter having been explained to the other men, further congratulanions were forthcoming, to be carried to the lady. Nick cut them short by suggesting an adjournment to the saloon :
`I wanta find out what I owe, an' add to it,' he said.
On the way, Cullin fell in beside him. `If yo're gettin' rid o' Shadow Valley, gimme first offer, an' make yore own price,' he murmured.
`I'm not sellin'--at any figure, an' I'm not leavin' it,' Drait replied shortly.
Which was precisely the answer hoped for.
Chapter XI
THAT same evening the nester and his wife discussed, for the first time, the impending change. He had given her a brief account of the proceedings at Midway, but without revealing the gravity of the peril to which he had been exposed. Drait did not conceal that Cullin had taken his part.
`So you were wrong about him?' she said.
Not any,' Nick replied. `He was grand-snandin'. Towler was givin' the game away, an' the boys were getting wise. It was a smart move, but it don't razzle-dazzle me. I'd bet a blue stack he's behind the whole dirty business.'
His apparent ingratitude appeared unnatural, but she said no more. The news that he would remain in the valley, Ieaving her free to go to the S P, came as a relief, and produced no protest. If her evident eagerness to get away from him hurt, he did not show it.
`You'll need a woman in the place,' he remarked. `Better take Lindy.'
`Isn't there a cook at the ranch?'
`Yeah, one o' Sam's riders who got too old for the saddle, but he'll be no good alone.'
She gave in. Truth to tell, she did want the Negress, but would have died rather than ask for her; the prospect of going to the S P lacking a friendly face had been more than daunting.
`Then there's a foreman,' Nick went on. `I can spare Quilt--for a time, anyway.'
`No,' she said sharply, and when his eyebrows went up, `I prefer to give orders, not take them. I can find someone; if he knows his work, that's ail I require.'
`Gilman knew that much,' he reminded. `Trouble was, he didn't do it.'
`There was no-one in charge,' she argued. `Men are all alike--they only need the opportunity to go off the rails.'
This bit of wisdom--a blow at himself--brought a smile.
`Shore, it's a wicked world,' he said. The men are devils an' the women saints--mebbe. I'll trail along with you to the S P.'
`There is no necessity,' she replied coldly. `Mister Seale will be able to explain everything.'
`Seale knows little about the cattle business; don't trust him too much; yore appearance was a disappointment, remember.'
Instead, she recalled what Cullin had told her, and shrugged impatiently. `Is there anyone you do not suspect?'
`Mighty few,' he agreed. `We'll take Lindy with us--one o' the boys can drive her over; she'll see what is wanted to make the place comfortable.'
Mary knew she was being unreasonable, that the arrangements were sensible and for her welfare, but they chafed. Unconsciously, she thought aloud :
`Thank Heaven, I shall soon be able to do as I please.'
The stark exultation in her voice, coupled with an utter absence of gratitude, roused within him a fierce impatience. `No matter where you are, you'll still be my wife,' he said sternly. `If ever you forget that
`You will shoot me, of course,' she retorted hardily.
The spirit of anger had passed, leaving a cold grimness infinitely more sinister. `You wouldn't be worth the cost of a cartridge,' he said deliberately. `But I should shorely kill the man.'
He went out. For long she sat staring into the blazing logs, and, despite the heat, she was cold--inwardly. He would keep his word, for if she allowed him only one virtue, it was that. She was alone, save for Lindy, who almost worshipped her master, she had no friend. Her thoughts veered to Cullin, so different from her husband, kind, considerate, and more polished. No doubt he could be forceful, even ruthless--men had to be in that only semi- civilised land--but she did not believe he was responsible for the outrages in Shadow Valley. He had promised to help her. Comforted by the remembrance, she crept away to bed.
In the morning they set out for the S P, Yorky driving Lindy in the buckboard, escorted by the girl, Nick, and
