The Colonel groaned. “Great heavens, Augusta, have you not noticed the boy whenever he returns from the ranch? Have you noticed the kind of music he improvises? The boy is worried. He is anxious. He is mystified about that whole outfit. Don’t you notice he never speaks of his father now. For the first month his father was his main theme. The thing is really heart-breaking. He spends more and more time there. Some day he will pack up and leave us.” “Well, run away and take your ride. Look up the children and bring them back with you. And _don’t worry_,” she added, shaking a minatory figure at him. “Not I!” shouted the Colonel, and putting his horse full tilt at the bars cleared in fine style and, waving a farewell at his wife, took his way by the river trail out of sight. After an hour’s ride he found himself at the children’s rendezvous near the river bend where an open space provided a delightful playground for them. It was the Colonel’s practice to steal up Indian fashion and then swooping upon them with war whoop and brandished tomahawk claim, if unobserved till within twenty yards, capture and ransom. With great care he approached within charging distance and was gathering his horse for the final dash when a loud cry arrested him. “Here you, Asa, stop that! Let him up! Let him up, I tell you!” It was Adelina, dancing frantically about the boys struggling on the ground, Asa uppermost and pummelling Paul vigorously about the head and shoulders. Her cry unheeded, Adelina dashed in, wreathed her arms around Asa’s neck and dragged him backward from his victim. “You big coward!” panted the girl. “I’ll just go and tell pa on you right away.” So saying she sprang on her pony and dashed off toward her home, followed by the shouted threats of her brother. “You called me a liar,” said Asa, approaching Paul threateningly. “No,” said Paul, breathing hard, “I did not—but—you did tell a lie.” “Yes, you did!” cried Peg, rushing toward the bigger boy like an enraged mother partridge defending her chicks. “Oh, you shut up and keep out of this,” cried Asa, reaching for her and throwing her heavily to one side. “You are a big coward!” said Paul, with one rip tearing off his jacket. His longed for opportunity had come. The law of retaliation for one’s own injury was not abrogated for him, but for others, especially for the weak and defenceless, it was a man’s duty to fight. His heart glowed with the old Crusader fire. Whether a long series of bitter humiliations added some fuel to the flame he stayed not to consider. His religious inhibitions were withdrawn. A plain duty lay before him. All his fear of the bigger boy vanished. He was ready to be offered a sacrifice. “Oho! you little liar, you have been wanting a good hiding for some time, and now you’re going to get it.” “Peg, keep back!” said Paul, quietly waiting. The Colonel slipped from the saddle and crept near the clearing, taking his place behind a thick bush.