“Lucky Doc happened to be here. Came up from Havre to look after a sick woman. So we got him right off.” “There you are, Mr. Sutherland,” the doctor stood back and surveyed his handiwork. “Rest easy for a few days and you’ll be as good as ever. I’ll look in in the morning and dress that again. Better get a rig to take you over to your house.” “Shucks.” Sutherland stood up and tucked in his shirt, waving off the men who would have supported him. “I don’t need nobody but Tyler to help me home. A scratch like that. Shucks!” Robin lent him his arm. They passed out the door, crossed the dusty street, Sutherland leaning on Robin, walking slowly. As they cleared the hotel, May watching from the porch saw them and came on flying feet. “Oh,” she cried, and again, “Oh, dad, dad!” “It’s nothin’ _a_-tall. Now don’t fuss, for the love of Mike. I’m all right. It’s all over. Let’s not have any shoutin’.” May took his other arm. They passed up the steps, inside, into Sutherland’s bedroom. “Now you leave us be, May,” he said. “I want to talk to Robin.” “Please, daddy, tell me,” she begged. “Are you hurt badly? I must know.” “No, girl, I ain’t, and that’s God’s truth,” he answered. “If I was I’d tell you. You ain’t the screamin’ kind. A bullet ripped up the flesh between my ribs, an’ that’s all. You seen me tore up a heap worse, one time. There’s nothin’ to worry about. You run along.” She kissed him and left the room. Sutherland sat down on the edge of his bed, eased himself to the pillows, grinned feebly. “I ain’t so young as I used to be,” he mumbled to Robin. “I want to get my wind for a spell. Then you can pull off my boots an’ help me undress.” He shut his eyes. Robin stood waiting, silent. In a minute or so old Adam spoke again. “There. I felt kinda wabbly but it’s gone now. Give me a hand.” Robin helped him get ready for bed, put his clothes away in a closet. “I’ll be off my feet for a spell, I reckon,” Sutherland began to talk with something of his old vigor. “You’ll have to be a sort of general superintendent, Tyler. Pick a good man out of your crew to run the J7. Leave Boyd _segundo_ on the home wagon till you can take it over yourself. Run the Block S on them cattle you got. We’ll keep ’em, every darned hoof. Well, I expect they stole quite a few from old Mayne, so you better mark, say, about a hundred head for him. I guess that’s all for just now. You’ll have to be in an’ out of here pretty frequent while I’m on my back.” “Why did you tangle with Mark Steele?” Robin demanded. “Why didn’t you leave him to me? It was my job.” “Mine too. He stole from me. He murdered a man I thought a lot of. He was a dirty dog all around. He give that fool girl of Mayne’s a raw deal. I felt kinda responsible, because I put him in a position to do some of them things. I been boilin’ inside the last two or three days. An’ he was makin’ breaks about you here in town. He was bad an’ he was game. I didn’t feel like lettin’ you take a chance.