I pretended a reluctance to speak of the Ranger, but when I did it was
to drop a subtle word or briefly tell of an action that suggested such.

I never again hinted the thing that had been such a shock to her. What
was in her mind I could not guess; her curiosity, perhaps the greater
part, was due to a generous nature not entirely satisfied with itself.
She probably had not abandoned her father's estimate of the Ranger but
absolute assurance that this was just did not abide with her. For the
rest she was like any other girl, a worshipper of the lion in a man, a
weaver of romance, ignorant of her own heart.

Not the least talked of and speculated upon of all the details of the
jail incident was the part played by Storekeeper Jones, who had informed
upon his assailants. Steele and I both awaited results of this
significant fact.

When would the town wake up, not only to a little nerve, but to the
usefulness of a Ranger?

Three days afterward Steele told me a woman accosted him on the street.
She seemed a poor, hardworking person, plain spoken and honest.

Her husband did not drink enough to complain of, but he liked to gamble
and he had been fleeced by a crooked game in Jack Martin's saloon. Other
wives could make the same complaints. It was God's blessing for such
women that Ranger Steele had come to Linrock.

Of course, he could not get back the lost money, but would it be
possible to close Martin's place, or at least break up the crooked game?