"You heard what he--Big Bill Dunlavey--said about my brother?" she questioned, her eyes full and moist. Hollis nodded and she continued rapidly, her voice quavering: "Well, he told the truth." Her voice trailed away into a pitiful wail, and she stepped over and leaned against the boulder, sobbing quietly into her hands. "That's why it hurts so," she added. Hollis yielded to a sudden wave of sympathy. He stood close to her, aware of his inability to cope with this strange situation. She looked so small, so out of place, he felt that whatever he did or said would not help matters. What he did say, however, assisted in restoring her composure. "I am glad I slugged him!" he said heatedly. She turned suddenly to him, her eyes flashing spiritedly through the moisture in them. "Oh, it was great!" she declared, her hands clenching at the recollection. "I could have shaken hands with you--with the hand that struck him!" Hollis smiled whimsically. "I've still got the hand," he said significantly, extending it toward her--"if you have not reconsidered." He laughed as she took it and pressed it firmly. "I rather think that we've both got a shake coming on that," he added. "I didn't understand then about your brother or I would have added a few extra pounds to that punch." Her face clouded as he mentioned her brother. "Poor Ed," she said in a low voice. She went over to the man, leaning over him and smoothing back the hair from his forehead, Hollis looking glumly on, clenching his teeth in impotent sympathy. "These attacks do not come often," she volunteered as she again approached Hollis. "But they do come," she added, her voice catching. Hollis did not reply, feeling that he had no right to be inquisitive. But she continued, slightly more at ease and plainly pleased to have some one in whom she might confide. "Ed was injured a year ago through a fall," she informed Hollis. "He was breaking a wild horse and a saddle girth broke and he fell, striking on his head. The wound healed, but he has never been the same. At intervals these attacks come on and then he is irresponsible--and dangerous." She shuddered. "You were watching him," she added, looking suddenly at him; "did you find him as he is or did he attack you? Frequently when he has these attacks he comes here to Devil's Hollow, explaining that he expects to find some of Dunlavey's men. He doesn't like Dunlavey," she added with a flush, "since Dunlavey----" She hesitated and then went on determinedly--"well, since Dunlavey told him that he wanted to marry me. But Ed says that Dunlavey has a wife in Tucson and--well, I wouldn't have married him anyway--the brute!"