"There! They see each other!" Endicott exclaimed. Each horseman pulled up, hesitated a moment, and rode on. Distance veiled from the eager onlookers the significant detail of the shifted gun arms. But no such preclusion obstructed Bat's vision as he lay flattened upon the rim of the coulee with the barrel of his six-gun resting upon the edge of a rock, and its sights lined low upon the stranger's armpit. "They've dismounted," observed Alice, "I believe Tex is going to unsaddle." "Tightening his cinch," ventured Endicott, and was interrupted by a cry from the lips of the girl. "Look! The other! He's going to shoot---- Why, they're fighting!" Fighting they certainly were, and Endicott stared in surprise as he saw the Texan knocked down and then spring to his feet and attack his assailant with a vigour that rendered impossible any further attempt to follow the progress of the combat. "Why doesn't Bat shoot, or go down there and help him?" cried the girl, as with clenched fists she strained her eyes in a vain effort to see who was proving the victor. "This does not seem to be a shooting affair," Endicott answered, "and it is my own private opinion that Tex is abundantly able to take care of himself. Ah--he got him that time! He's down for the count! Good work, Tex, old man! A good clean knockout!" The two watched as the men mounted and rode their several ways--the stranger swinging northward toward the mountains, and the Texan following along the south face of the butte. "Some nice little meetings they have out here," grinned Endicott. "I wonder if the vanquished one was a horse-thief or just an ordinary friend." Alice returned the smile: "You used to rather go in for boxing in college, didn't you?" "Oh, yes. I can hold my own when it comes to fists---- "And--you can shoot." The man shook his head: "Do you know that was the first time I ever fired a pistol in my life. I don't like to think about it. And yet--I am always thinking about it! I have killed a man--have taken a human life. I did it without malice--without forethought. All I knew was that you were in danger, then I saw him fling you from him--the pistol was in my hand, and I fired." "You need have no regrets," answered the girl, quickly. "It was his life or both of ours--worse than that--a thousand times worse." Endicott was silent as the two turned toward the plateau. "Why, there's Bat's horse, trotting over to join the others, and unsaddled, too," cried Alice. "He has beaten Tex to camp. Bat is a dear, and he just adores the ground Tex walks on, or 'rides on' would be more appropriate, for I don't think he ever walked more than a hundred feet in his life." Sure enough, when they reached camp there sat the half-breed placidly mending a blanket, with the bored air of one upon whom time hangs heavily. He looked up as Endicott greeted him.