“You mean he has—­”

“Yes, that he has forced the girl to assent to some form of ceremony, probably legal in this country.  I overheard enough between him and Rale to suspect it, at least, and she is even now under the influence of some drug.  She hasn’t spoken, nor does she seem to know what is going on about her.  They strapped her into the saddle.”

“The hell they did.”

“It has been a hellish affair all the way through, and the only way in which I can serve her, if this is so, is by getting her away—­as far away as possible, and where this devil can never find her again.  She’s got to be saved not only from him, but also from the scandal of it.”

He stood silent, little more than a shadow before me, his head bent, as though struggling with a new thought, a fresh understanding.

“I reckon I kin see thet, sir, now.”  His voice somehow contained a new note of respect, as though the truth had suddenly dawned upon him, “I didn’t just get hold o’ things rightly afore; why an army offercer like yer should be mixed up in this sorter job.  But I reckon I do now—­yer in love with her yerself; ain’t thet it, sir?”

“Yes, Tim,” I confessed frankly, and not at all sorry to make the avowal.  “That is the truth.  Now what would you do if you were in my place?”

“Just exactly whut yer doin’, I reckon,” he returned heartily.  “Only maybe I’d kill thet dirty skunk afore I went away; damned if I wudn’t.”

I shook my head.

“No, not in cold-blood.  I wouldn’t have been sorry if he had died fighting, but murder is not my line.  He deserves death, no doubt, but it is not possible for me to kill him lying there helpless.  What bothers me most right now is your case.”

“Mine?  Lord, what’s the matter with me?”

“Considerable, I should say.  You cannot be left here alone to face the result of this night’s work.  If Gaskins is dead from the blow you struck him, these two fellows will swear your life away just for revenge.  Even if you told the whole story, what chance would you have?  That would only expose us, and still fail to clear you.  It would merely be your word against theirs—­you would have no witnesses, unless we were caught.”

“I reckon thet’s true; I wasn’t thinkin’ ’bout it.”

“Then there is only the one road to take, Tim,” I insisted.  “We’ve got to strike the trail together.”

“Whar?”

“I cannot answer that now; I haven’t thought it out yet.  We can talk that matter over as we ride.  I have a map with me, which will help us decide the best course to choose.  The first thing is to get out of this neighborhood beyond pursuit.  If you only had a horse.”

“Thar’s two critters down in the crick bottom.  I reckon thet Kirby an’ Gaskins must’r tied ’em thar.”

“Good; then you will go; you agree with me?”