Falkner did not talk much. He lay quiet for hours, scarce moving, unless little Rowan was in the room. Ruth, coming in silently one afternoon, caught the brooding despair in his eyes. He turned to her gently. “What makes you so good to me? You know you hate me.” Her frank, friendly smile denied the charge. “No, I don’t hate you at all. I did, but I don’t now.” “I’m keeping Rowan away from you. It was my fault he went there in the first place.” “Yes, but you saved Baby’s life—and mine, too. If you had looked out only for yourself, you wouldn’t be lying here wounded, and perhaps you would have got away.” She flashed deep, tender eyes on him. “I’ll tell you a secret, Mr. Falkner. You’re not half so bad as you think you are. Can’t I see how you love Baby and how fond he is of you? You’re just like the rest of us, but you haven’t had a fair chance. So we’re going to be good to you while we can, and after you come back from prison we’re going to be friends.” The ice that had gathered at his heart for years was melting fast. He turned his face to the wall and lay still there till dusk. Perhaps it was then that he fought out the final battle of his fight with himself. When Mrs. Stovall came in with his supper he told her hoarsely that he wanted to see Matson at once on important business. The sheriff drove his car in the moonlight out from Wagon Wheel. Ruth took him in to see Falkner. “Send for Jennings and Mrs. Stovall. She’s a notary, ain’t she?” said the convalescent. Ruth’s heart beat fast. “Yes. She was one when she was postmistress. Her term hasn’t run out yet.” “All right. Get her. I want to make a sworn statement before witnesses.” Matson took down the statement as Falkner dictated: I want to tell some facts about the Bald Knob sheep raid that did not come out at the trial of Rowan McCoy. When the party was made up to ride on that raid I wasn’t included. They left me out because I had a grudge at Tait. But I horned in. I followed the boys for miles, and insisted on going along. McCoy objected. He said the party was going to drive off the sheep and not to do any killing. I promised to take orders from him. He laid out a plan by which we could surprise the camp without bloodshed, and made it plain there was to be no shooting. Afterward he went over it all very carefully again, and we agreed not to shoot. I lost my head when we was crawling up on the camp and shot at the wagon. That was the first shot fired. Tait came out and began shooting at us. Two or three of us were shooting. I don’t know who killed him. Gilroy ran out of the wagon to escape. McCoy hollered to stop shooting, and ran forward. I must have been crazy. I shot and killed Gilroy. Then McCoy ran to protect the herders. He wrestled with me for the gun to keep me from shooting. None of the other boys had anything to do with the killing of Gilroy except me.