Beth Norvell

"He appears to be rather badly hurt; not seriously, I think, but the

man is unconscious, and in no condition to be removed," he said,

managing to hold his voice to a strange quiet. "I consider myself his

prisoner, and shall remain with him until he becomes fit to travel.

Farnham, I do not acknowledge your deputyship, and if you attempt to

arrest me it will be at your peril. There are four of us here against

you, but we 'll give you a chance--go back to your own! Not a word, if

you care to live! Go, damn you--go!"

They stood and watched him, until his slender figure disappeared behind

the fringe of cedars. Then Hicks and Winston, neither man speaking a

word, tenderly lifted the wounded sheriff from off the rocks, and bore

him back into the shelter of the cabin.