Lance went into the house. He supposed he would have to replace Riley's clothes, which he did, very matter-of-factly and without any comment whatever, restitution being in this case a mere matter of sorting out three suits of his own underwear, which were much better than Riley's, and placing them on the cook's bed. "That you, Lance? Where in the world have you been all this while? I came mighty near going gunning after the man that stole my team, let me tell you--and I would have, if Tom hadn't found your horse tied up to the fence and guessed you'd gone to take Mary Hope home. But I must say, honey, you never followed any short cut!" This was much easier than Lance had expected, so he made shift to laugh, though it hurt his lip cruelly. "Had to take her to Jumpoff, Belle. Then I had to clean up that crowd of toughs that--" "You cleaned up Tom's leavin's, then!" Belle made grim comment through Lance's closed door. "I didn't think there was enough left of 'em to lick, by the time our boys got through. Haven't you been to bed yet, for heaven's sake!" "I'm going to bed," mumbled Lance, "when I've had a bath and a meal. And to-morrow, Belle, I think I'll hit the trail for 'Frisco. Hope you don't mind if I leave a few days early. I've got to stop off anyway to see a fellow in Reno I promised--any hot water handy?" There was a perceptible pause before Belle answered, and then it was not about the bath water. She would not have been Belle Lorrigan if she had permitted a quiver in her voice, yet it made Lance thoughtful. "Honey, I don't blame you for going. I expect we are awful rough--and you'd notice it, coming from civilized folks. But--you know, don't you, that the Lorrigans never spoiled your party for you? It--it just happened that the Jumpoff crowd brought whisky out from town. We _tried_ to make it pleasant--and it won't happen again--" "Bless your heart!" Clad with superb simplicity in a bathrobe, Lance appeared unexpectedly and gathered her into his arms. "If you think I'm getting so darn civilized I can't stay at home, take a look at me! By heck, Belle, I'll bet there isn't a man in the whole Black Rim that got as much fun out of that scrap as I did! But I've got to _go_." He patted her reassuringly on the head, laid his good cheek against hers for a minute and turned abruptly away into his own room. He closed the door and stood absent-mindedly feeling his swollen hand. "I've got to go," he repeated under his breath. "I might get foolish if I stayed. Darned if I'll make a fool of myself over any girl!" CHAPTER SIXTEEN ABOUT A PIANO In the lazy hour just after a satisfying dinner, Lance stood leaning over an end of the piano, watching Belle while she played--he listened and smoked a cigarette and looked as though he hadn't a thing on his mind.