Somehow, she sensed the futility of further effort at escape. She was aware of Deveny's power in the country; she knew that he ruled Lamo as he ruled every foot of land in the section; and she was convinced that it would be wasted effort to call for help. Even her own sex--represented by the slattern, and most of the women in Lamo were of that type, in character--seemed to be antagonistic toward her. It seemed to her that they would mock her as the slattern had mocked her, should she appeal to them. And as for the men of Lamo, they were not to be considered. She was certain she could not induce one of them to act contrary to Deveny's wishes. For her father had told her about Lamo's men--how they were slaves to the will of the man whose deeds of outlawry had made him feared wherever men congregated; and she knew Lamo itself was a sink-hole of iniquity where women were swallowed by the evil passions of men. She might have appealed to Gage, the sheriff, and she thought of Gage while she sat at the window. But Gage, her father had told her, with disgust in his eyes, was a man of colorless personality and of little courage--a negligible character upon whom the good people of the section, who were pitifully few, could not depend. Her father had told her that it was his opinion that Gage, too, was a slave to Deveny's will. She wished now that she had not yielded to the impulse which had brought her to Lamo; but her lips grew firm and her eyes defiant as she at last got up and walked to one of the front windows. Now, more vividly than ever, could she understand the significance of Deveny's glances at her in the past; the light in his eyes had been an expression of premeditated evil, awaiting an opportunity. She was pale, and her hands were trembling as she placed them on the sill of the front window and glanced down into the street, hoping that she might see a friendly face; praying that one of the Rancho Seco men might have come to town during the night. But she saw no one she knew. Indeed, except for a pony standing in front of a saloon down the street a little distance, and several others hitched to a rail across the street, in front of the First Chance saloon, Lamo seemed to be deserted. And a silence, deep and portentous of evil, seemed to have settled over the town. But as she leaned upon the sill a sound floated to her through the open window--a man's voice, so close to her that it made her start and stiffen. It was Deveny's voice, and it seemed to come from a point in the street directly beneath the window. "Did you find Gage?" it said. Barbara leaned forward a little and looked downward. Below her, on the narrow board-walk that ran in front of the Eating-House, were four men. She recognized three of them--Deveny, Strom Rogers, and Meeder Lawson, the Rancho Seco foreman. The other man was a stranger. Evidently it was the stranger to whom Deveny had spoken, for it was the stranger who answered. "He's in his office now."