He clapped his hands. "Fine! Fine! That Bernhardt woman hasn't got a thing on you when it comes to acting, my dear. You put that across bully. Never saw it done better." "You--coward!" Her voice broke and she turned to leave him. "Stop!" The ring of the word brought her feet to a halt. MacQueen padded across till he faced her. "Don't make any mistake, girl. You're mine. I don't care how. If it suits you to have a priest mumble words over us, good enough. But I'm the man you've got to get ready to love." "I hate you." "That's a good start, you little catamount." "I'd rather die--a thousand times rather." "Not you, my dear. You think you would right now, but inside of a week you'll be hunting for pet names to give me." She ran blindly toward the house where her room was. On the way she passed at a little distance Dunc Boone and did not see him. His hungry eyes followed her--a slender creature of white and russet and gold, vivid as a hillside poppy, compact of life and fire and grace. He, too, was a miscreant and a villain, lost to honor and truth, but just now she held his heart in the hollow of her tightly clenched little fist. Good men and bad, at bottom we are all made of the same stuff, once we are down to the primal emotions that go deeper than civilization's veneer. CHAPTER VII "TRAPPED!" Black MacQueen rolled a cigarette and sauntered toward the other outlaw. "I reckon you better saddle up and take a look over the Flattops, Dunc. The way I figure it Lee's posse must be somewhere over there. Swing around toward the Elkhorns and get back to report by to-morrow evening, say." Boone looked at him in an ugly manner. "Nothin' doing, MacQueen." "What's that?" "I'm no greaser, my friend. Orders don't go with me." "They don't, eh? Who's major domo of this outfit?" "I'm going to stay right here in this valley to-night. See?" "What's eatin' you, man?" "And every night so long as Melissy Lee stays." MacQueen watched him with steady, hostile eyes. "So it's the girl, is it? Want to cut in, do you? Oh, no, my friend. Two's company; three's a crowd. She's mine." "No." "Yes. And another thing, Mr. Boone. I don't stand for any interference in my plans. Make a break at it and you'll take a hurry up journey to kingdom come." "Or you will." "Don't bank on that off chance. The boys are with me. You're alone. If I give the word they'll bump you off. _Don't make a mistake, Boone._" The Arkansan hesitated. What MacQueen said was true enough. His overbearing disposition had made him unpopular. He knew the others would side against him and that if it came to a showdown they would snuff out his life as a man does the flame of a candle. The rage died out of his eyes and gave place to a look of cunning. "It's your say-so, Black. But there will be a day when it ain't. Don't forget that." "And in the meantime you'll ride the Flattops when I give the word?" Boone nodded sulkily. "I said you had the call, didn't I?"