"I ain't houndin' you."

"I should like to know what you call it then!" the girl of the Red Mill
demanded indignantly.

She was quick to grasp the chance of engaging Fenbrook in an argument
that would enable Wonota and the two other girls to slip out of the
other door of the taxicab and reach the yard gate. She flashed a look
over her shoulder that Helen Cameron understood. She and Jennie and
Wonota alighted from the other side of the cab.

"I got an officer here," stammered Dakota Joe. "He's a marshal. That
Injun gal's got to be taken before the United States District Court.
She's got to show cause why she shouldn't come back to my show and fill
out the time of her contract."

"She finished her contract with you, and you know it, Fenbrook,"
declared Ruth, turning to pay the driver of the cab.

"I say she didn't!" cried Dakota Joe. "Officer! You serve that
warrant--Hey! where's that Wonota gone to?"

The Indian girl and Ruth's friends had disappeared. Dakota Joe lunged
for the gate. But since the beginning of the war this particular
railroad yard had been closed to the public. A man stood at the gate who
barred the entrance of the showman.

"You don't come in here, brother," said the railroad man. "Not unless
you've got a pass or a permit."