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Then followed the leathery flop of saddles to the soft turf and the stamp, of loosened horses

Jean heard a noise at the cabin door, a rustle, and then a knock of soainst wood Silently he h a crack between the rafters He saw the glint of a rifle leaning against the sill Then the doorstep was darkened Ellen Jorth sat doith a long, tired sigh She took off her so, dark-brown hair, hanging in a tangled braid The curved nape of her neck showed a warray blouse, soiled and torn, that clung to her lissooin' to do?" she asked, suddenly Her voice carried so Jean did not remember It thrilled into the icy fixity of his senses

"We'll stay heah," was the response, and it was followed by a clinking step of spurred boot

"Shore I won't stay heah," declared Ellen "It makes me sick when I think of how Uncle Tad died in there alone--helpless--sufferin' The place seeh on y'u But what the hell CAN we do?"

A long silence ensued which Ellen did not break

"Somethin' has come off round heah since early ot back An' Antonio's gone Now, honest, Ellen, didn't y'u heah rifle shots off soloomily

"An' which way?"

"Sounded to me up on the bluff, back pretty far"

"Wal, shore that's my idee An' it makes me think hard Y'u know So into a grave to find the bodies of Jiood his brag He braced that Isbel gang an' killed those fellars But either him or Jean Isbel went off leavin' bloody tracks If it was Queen's y'u can bet Isbel was after him An' if it was Isbel's tracks, why shore Queen would stick to theer couldn't follow the trail They're shore not ood at trackin' But for days they've been ridin' the woods, hopin' to run across Queen Wal now, ot away from him they'll be heah sooner or later If Isbel was too amblin' that either Queen or Jean Isbel is daid I'm hopin' it's Isbel Because if he ain't daid he's the last of the Isbels, an'Shore I'm not hankerin' to meet the half-breed That's why I say we'll stay heah This is as good a hidin' place as there is in the country We've grub There's water an' grass"