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"You better go, Arlie," her father counseled weakly.

"Well, I won't," she retorted emphatically.

The old man looked whimsically at the Texan. "Yo' see yo'self how

it is, stranger."

Fraser saw, and the girl's stanchness stirred his admiration even

while it irritated him. He made his decision immediately.

"All right. Both of you go."

"But we have only one horse," the girl objected. "They would

catch us."

"Take my Teddy."

"And leave you here?" The dark eyes were full on him again, this

time in a wide-open surprise.

"Oh, I'll get out once you're gone. No trouble about that."

"How?"

"We couldn't light out, and leave yo' here," the father

interrupted.

"Of course we couldn't," the girl added quickly. "It isn't your

quarrel, anyhow."

"What good can you do staying here?" argued Fraser. "They want

you, not me. With you gone, I'll slip away or come to terms with

them. They haven't a thing against me."

"That's right," agreed the older man, rubbing his stubbly beard

with his hand. "That's sho'ly right."