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"Won't I--starve?"
"No, people don't starve easily I've discovered that You must lie perfectly still and rest and sleep--for days"
"My hands--are dirty; my face feels--so hot and sticky; est speech as yet, and it trailed off in a whisper
"Well, I'ht of these things But then, awaiting her death and thinking of her comfort were vastly different matters He unwrapped the blanket which covered her
What a slender girl she was! No wonder he had been able to carry her miles and pack her up that slippery ladder of stone Her boots were of soft, fine leather, reaching clear to her knees He recognized theHer spurs, that he had stupidly neglected to reold chains, and the rowels, large as silver dollars, were fancifully engraved The boots slipped off rather hard She wore heavy woollen rider's stockings, half length, and these were pulled up over the ends of her short trousers Venters took off the stockings to note her little feet were red and swollen He bathed them Then he removed his scarf and bathed her face and hands
"I ently
She made no reply, but watched hie His strong fingers trembled a little as he removed it If the wounds had reopened! A chill struck hiry red bullet- from it down her white breast Very carefully he lifted her to see that the wound in her back had closed perfectly Then he washed the blood froed, open to the air
Her eyes thanked him
"Listen," he said, earnestly "I've had some wounds, and I've seen many I know a little about them The hole in your back has closed If you lie still three days the one in your breast will close and you'll be safe The danger froe will be over"
He had spoken with earnest sincerity, alet well?" she asked, wonderingly
The sirounds of humanity But the circuirl, the shock and realization, the waiting for death, the hope, had resulted in a condition of mind wherein Venters wanted her to liveYet he could not tell why He believed the killing of the rustler and the subsequent excitement had disturbed hi of his brain, the heat of his blood, the undefined sense of full hours, charged, vibrant with pulsating ed in loneliness?