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She walked with him into the shade of the cottonwoods
"What do you mean?"
"Miss Withersteen, I went to ht While there, some one knocked, an' a man asked for me I went to the door He wore a mask He said I'd better not ride any e, disguised I reckon, like his face He said no more, an' ran off in the dark"
"Did you knoho he was?" asked Jane, in a low voice
"Yes"
Jane did not ask to know; she did not want to know; she feared to know All her caluns," went on Judkins "For I'll never quit ridin' for you, Miss Withersteen, till you let o"
"Judkins, do you want to leave me?"
"Do I look thet way? Give e"
"Oh, thank you, Judkins! You're ht not accept your loyalty--you h it But what in the world can I do? My head whirls The wrong to Venters--the stolen herd--these masks, threats, this coil in the dark! I can't understand! But I feel so in around h," said Judkins, earnestly "Now please listen--an' beggin' your pardon--jest turn thet deaf Mormon ear aside, an' let me talk clear an' plain in the other I went around to the saloons an' the stores an' the loafin' places yesterday All your riders are in There's talk of a vigilance band organized to hunt down rustlers They call theiven for your riders leavin' you Strange thet only a few riders of other ranchers joined the band! An' Tull's man, Jerry Card-he's the leader I seen him en' his hoss He 'ain't been to Glaze I'm not easy to fool on the looks of a hoss thet's traveled the sage Tull an' Jerry didn't ride to Glaze!Well, I ood friends of o But these fellers couldn't fool ht out like a et to mention how you nursed Blake's poor old ood you was to Dorn's kids They looked ashamed, Miss Withersteen An' they jest froze up--thet dark set look thet e an' different to me But I could tell the difference between thet first natural twinge of conscience an' the later look of soht was thet they couldn't help themselves They hadn't no say in the matter They looked as if their bein' unfaithful to you was bein' faithful to a higher duty An' there's the secret Why it's as plain as--as sight of un here"