"Take this, it will make you feel better." She hoped he would talk, but he didn't. He only thanked her feebly. Then Charlie came back from his brother's shanty. He had remembered that, it being Sunday, the Preacher would be missed and he saddled his horse to set out for Cedar Mountain. As he left, his wife came out and said: "While you are there, drop a hint to Belle Boyd," and Charlie nodded. Arriving at Dr. Jebb's, Charlie explained the case to the pastor without detail: "Sure, Mr. Hartigan had a little accident at our corner last night and sprained his ankle. My wife is nursing him, but he won't be able to preach to-day." "Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Well, it is all right, I will take both services," and the blind and gentle old man turned to his books. Then Bylow rode to the Boyd home. Here, he realized, was a much more difficult job. But he was determined to go into no details. It was Belle who answered his knock. Charlie began: "My wife told me to tell you that Mr. Hartigan got hurt last night. He is at our house. He won't be in town to-day." "What? Did he interfere in a spree?" "Yes." "Is he shot?" "No." "Is he wounded?" "No, not exactly." "What is the matter?" "Only a general shakeup, he had a bad fall," and Bylow moved uneasily. It was a simple matter to bluff a simple old clergyman, but it was another thing altogether to mislead an alert young woman. Belle knew there was something wrong--something more and different from what she had been told. "Is the doctor with him?" "No." "I will get the doctor and come at once." "No, I wouldn't; at least, not till morning." Bylow's manner roused Belle all the more to prompt action. Seeing that all his explanations made things worse, Charlie abruptly left, mounted his broncho, and went "rockity rockity" as the pony's heels went "puff, puff" on the dusty trail around the hill and away. The doctor was not to be found that morning and Belle found it hard to await his return. In the meantime, some strange rumour must have reached the town for in Sunday-school Belle met Eliza Lowe, the recently arrived sister of the schoolteacher. The look on her face, the gleam in her eye, were unmistakable. She had not yet learned of her brother's part in the affair. Belle found herself avoiding the sister's gaze. As the hours passed the conviction deepened in Belle that there was something seriously wrong; she could feel it in the air. It was something more than an accident to Hartigan. There was the indefinable shadow of shame about it. The oppression became unbearable and on leaving Sunday-school, she went down to the doctor's house. He had just got in from a case near Fort Ryan and was eating a belated meal. Belle went straight to the point: "Dr. Carson, I want you to take me at once to Bylow's Corner." "Why?" "There's something wrong. Mr. Hartigan is in serious trouble. I don't believe that he has fallen from his horse as they say. I want to know the truth."