Reber shut his eyes, and after a few moments the tears trickled down his cheeks. The wound was sapping his strength. It was a long way to a doctor, and he knew he couldn’t live till one came. One of his men came bustling into the crowd. “Hey,” he shouted, “that fellow down by the stable is Bell, of this ranch, and the one on the hill up there is Bob Cliff, of the Lightnin’! What does it mean?” “It means that Reber’s own men planned to clean him out,” said Jack Silver. “They kidnaped June Meline. I found her and brought her here. Last night Bell killed McLeese. He was on the porch and he’s burned up by this time. I think you’ll find that the Circle X, Lightnin’ and Two Bar X outfits were makin’ a big steal, but circumstances blocked ’em.” Reber opened his eyes and stared at Jack. “Is that all true, Jack?” he asked. “The girl’s awake,” burst in one of the men. They brought her over to Reber. She saw the rope around Jack’s neck. “He--he saved me!” she said hoarsely to Reber. “Jack Silver wasn’t to blame. It was your own men. Oh, you’ve been hurt again!” Reber leaned back and his face was very white now. “Come in close, boys,” he said weakly. “Listen to what I’m sayin’. No time to write. Jack Silver is my son. Everything I own belongs to him. I think Buck Priest taught him to hate me. I--I didn’t kill off his herd of cattle. Mebbe my men did it. But it’s all right now. He owns this valley and everything else I have. “Get Buck Priest to a doctor. I don’t hate him any more. He gave me back my son. Jack--come closer. This--is--June. She’s--fine. I--I--” His head fell forward on his chest. * * * * * There was little left of the old ranchhouse when Jack Silver and June Meline stood beside the body of Park Reber, who seemed to be smiling in his sleep. Nelson came up to Jack and held out his hand. “You’ll have to hire new crews, Jack,” he said. “I imagine a lot of Diamond R men went over the West Fork pass this mornin’.” “Let ’em go,” said Jack. “There’s been enough killin’.” He put his good arm around June and they went down toward the stables, where the men were rigging a stretcher to carry Buck Priest back to his ranch. [Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the May 15, 1927 issue of Adventure magazine.]