"Roy, then he shot you!" exclaimed Helen, passionately.
"Now, Miss Helen, I didn't say who done it," replied Roy, with his engaging smile.
"Tell me, then--who did?"
"Wal, I reckon I sha'n't tell you unless you promise not to tell Las Vegas. Thet cowboy is plumb off his head. He thinks he knows who shot me an' I've been lyin' somethin' scandalous. You see, if he learns--then he'll go gunnin'. An', Miss Helen, thet Texan is bad. He might get plugged as I did--an' there would be another man put off your side when the big trouble comes."
"Roy, I promise you I will not tell Las Vegas," replied Helen, earnestly.
"Wal, then--it was Riggs!" Roy grew still paler as he confessed this and his voice, almost a whisper, expressed shame and hate. "Thet four-flush did it. Shot me from behind Beasley! I had no chance. I couldn't even see him draw. But when I fell an' lay there an' the others dropped back, then I seen the smokin' gun in his hand. He looked powerful important. An' Beasley began to cuss him an' was cussin' him as they all run out."
"Oh, coward! the despicable coward!" cried Helen.
"No wonder Tom wants to find out!" exclaimed Bo, low and deep. "I'll bet he suspects Riggs."
"Shore he does, but I wouldn't give him no satisfaction."
"Roy, you know that Riggs can't last out here."
"Wal, I hope he lasts till I get on my feet again."
"There you go! Hopeless, all you boys! You must spill blood!" murmured Helen, shudderingly.
"Dear Miss Helen, don't take on so. I'm like Dale--no man to hunt up trouble. But out here there's a sort of unwritten law--an eye for an eye--a tooth for a tooth. I believe in God Almighty, an' killin' is against my religion, but Riggs shot me--the same as shootin' me in the back."
"Roy, I'm only a woman--I fear, faint-hearted and unequal to this West."
"Wait till somethin' happens to you. 'Supposin' Beasley comes an' grabs you with his own dirty big paws an', after maulin' you some, throws you out of your home! Or supposin' Riggs chases you into a corner!"
Helen felt the start of all her physical being--a violent leap of blood. But she could only judge of her looks from the grim smile of the wounded man as he watched her with his keen, intent eyes.
"My friend, anythin' can happen," he said. "But let's hope it won't be the worst."