"I don't believe Cinnabar'd of done that no matter what Purdy had on him." "But he did, though. Then he switched the glasses, an' drunk it himself----" "Some man!" "I'll tell a hand! An' that same night Purdy took the pilgrim's girl out on the bench, an' dragged her off her horse----" "I heard about it." "An' then, yesterday, he found her unconscious there by the river." The Texan paused and when he continued his voice was low. "An' you know, an' I know what would have happened, if Long Bill hadn't showed up with those bills--an' then signin' my name to that letter to the pilgrim demandin' five thousan' dollars--an' last of all I owe him one for ridin' Cinnabar the way he's doin--I ain't forgot those switched drinks." Cass Grimshaw nodded: "Quite a score to settle, take it first an' last," he paused, and the Texan noticed a peculiar twinkle in his eye. "What's the joke?" he asked. "There ain't no joke about it--only I was thinkin', mebbe you'd left out somethin'." "Left out somethin'?" "Yeh. What you think would of happened, an' what would of happened out here in the bad lands, if Long Bill hadn't come along is two different things. I was trailin' Purdy from the time he hit the bad lands with the girl. I wanted to find out what his game was an' when he run onto Long Bill I snuck up an' listened to their powwow. When I found out he aimed to take her to Cinnabar's, I figured, like you did, that she'd be safe, so I kind of loafed around to see if you wouldn't be along." "You keep awful close cases on Purdy." "Yeh--couple of pretty good reasons. I knew he was plottin' to bump me off, an' I kind of had some curiosity to find out when they figured on pullin' the job. But, mostly, it was on account of McWhorter's gal----" "McWhorter's girl!" cried Tex, "what's McWhorter's girl got to do with it?" "Nothin'--except that Purdy's be'n buzzin' around tryin' to get her--an' I don't mean marry her, neither--an' when he found out they wasn't nothin' doin'--that he didn't stand snake-high with her, he figured on gittin' her, anyway----" "_God!_" The single spoken word ground between the Texan's tight-drawn lips, and as Grimshaw looked he noted that the gloved fists were clenched hard. The outlaw nodded: "That's what I meant about leavin' out an' item--main item, too--I hope. You see, I seen you two ridin' together yesterday--when you sent her back home at the edge of the bad lands. An' that's what made me so damn mad when I thought you'd gone an' got outlawed, an' was mixin' it up with this here other woman. The man that gits McWhorter's gal don't want his trail tangled up with other men's wives. Marry her, Tex--an' take her out of this damn neck of the woods! Take her across to the other side." The Texan met the man's eyes squarely: "I'm goin' to," he answered,--"if she'll have me." "Have you, man! Make her have you!"