"Wool-gatherin', Tom?" said the lean little man, waggling his white beard. "I'm surprised." "I was just a-wonderin'," Loudon said, forcing a smile, "whether we was goin' to have rain or not." "I shouldn't wondeh," Captain Burr remarked, gravely staring up into the cloudless blue. "I've just come in from the Bah S," he continued, abruptly. "Miss Kate has two right soah hands. Right soah, they ah. I sold the young lady some salve." "Sore hands," repeated Loudon, stupidly. "Why, I--I heard her thumb was tore pretty bad, but--but I didn't know both of 'em was hurt." "Yes, the young lady's right thumb has quite a gash, and the palm of her left hand is cut all the way across. She cut it on a rock!" "Cut it on a rock?" "On a rock! She was comin' out o' the house, she said, an' she tripped on the doorsill an' fell. Fell pretty heavy, Her hand was sho' cut quite a lot." "Lemme get this straight. Yuh say she cut her left hand, an' on a rock?" "Yes, Tom," said Captain Burr, gently, "that's the how of it." Without a word Loudon turned and fled. Five minutes later, mounted on Bill Lainey's toughest horse, he was galloping out of Farewell. Two miles out he passed Mr. Saltoun. The latter called to him but received no response save a hand-wave. "Well," observed Mr. Saltoun, "if he's changed his mind about that job, he's shore actin' mighty odd." Within two hours after leaving Farewell Loudon halted his staggering pony in front of the Bar S ranch house. In the hammock on the porch sat Kate Saltoun. Her face was rather white, and there were dark shadows beneath her black eyes. Loudon sucked in his breath sharply at the sight of the poor, bandaged hands. Kate sat motionless, her gaze level, her face without expression. Loudon felt like a stranger. "Kate," he began, "Kate----" and stopped. "Well," said Kate at last, dropping her eyes. Released from the spell of that chill stare, Loudon found his tongue. "I come to have a little talk with yuh," he said. "Yuh see, I've been findin' out things lately. You drove over to Marysville an' talked to Judge Allison on my account, didn't yuh?" "Who told you?" Kate did not raise her head. "Nobody told me. But I ain't a fool. I seen the Bar S buckboard in Marysville, an' a woman was drivin', an' the judge said, '_Shershay la fam_,' meanin' 'Find the woman.' Well, yo're the woman all right. I know yuh are. An' that cut left hand yuh didn't get by trippin' over the doorsill like yuh told Cap'n Burr. Yuh got it by fallin' on a rock back o' the Cross-in-a-box ranch house after yuh'd tied Ranger to the post. Yuh can't tell me different.