Generous to all, peaceful in his nature, but a dangerous man to arouse, he had won his name of Deadshot Dean by defending himself against half a dozen desperadoes on one occasion, and since then had shown himself to be a man of courage and determination which no peril could daunt. Leaving the Devil’s Den, the miner had gone directly to the Frying Pan, and Bonnie Belle met him at the office, and said: “I have ordered your supper brought to my dining-room, Deadshot Dean, so come in here, for I know that you have news for me.” “I have, indeed, Bonnie Belle,” was the answer. “When did you get back?” “To-night. I came by my cabin, but would not stop to get supper, for I was anxious to see you.” “You went to the fort?” “I did, but following the trail of that map, found in the room of the gambler whom I was forced to kill, I met Buffalo Bill and Surgeon Powell on the war-path, and guided them, with a party of soldiers, to the retreat of the outlaws.” “And captured them?” “Yes, or killed them.” “And Silk Lasso Sam?” quickly asked the woman, her face showing intense anxiety as she asked the question. “Was captured.” “And where is he now?” “A prisoner at Pioneer Post.” “He will be hanged, of course?” “Yes, for his crimes are many, as you know, and he was immediately sentenced, before I left the fort, to die upon the gallows, along with his men who had been captured.” “Alas! my poor, sinful brother, he deserves the shameful fate that he is to meet, and from which I have in vain striven hard to save him.” The tears came into the beautiful eyes of Bonnie Belle, while Deadshot Dean said: “You have been a most devoted sister, Bonnie Belle, to that man, and he has brought his fate upon his own head; but let me tell you all that has happened since I left here to track Silk Lasso Sam and his band to their lair. “Bonnie Belle, for I must continue to call you by the name you are known by to the miners, and not by that of Ruth Leigh, as I knew you in the years gone by, when you were a little girl, I----” “Yes, call me Bonnie Belle, Carrol Dean,” said the girl sadly. “Then, Bonnie Belle, let me tell you that I deem the course you have pursued to check the career of your wicked brother all that you could do. You would have been his accomplice, though innocently, in his crimes if you had allowed him to go on in, his desperate deeds of lawlessness.” “I feel that, Carrol Dean; I know it.” “Yon know well that when your father, your brother, and yourself lived in luxury upon your plantation home, that Arden was wild, wayward, and dissipated.” “Alas, yes!” “He caused your father much suffering, was dismissed from the navy, and had to leave the German university because he killed a fellow student, and your father’s wealth and influence barely saved him from the gallows for taking another life.