the _placita_. She listened and heard whispering voices and cautious
movements in the _portal_ that fronted the entire length of the
building. Then she arose, wrapped a long, dark cloak about her, and
peeped out of the window. Directly in front of their bedroom, in the
_portal_, were three or four men who bore among them some long and
heavy burden. She drew her dark hair across her face, that there might
be no white gleam to attract their attention, and crouched beside the
window to watch.

One of the men, who was apparently a leader, mounted the shoulders of
two others and seemed to be feeling for something in the wall above the
window. The dim rays of an old moon, which showed that the time must
be near morning, did not afford as much light as he needed, and he
fumbled for some time before he found the hook in the wall for which he
was looking. Over it he passed the end of a rope and then jumped to
the ground. They pulled together on the rope, and the long, dark
burden, which had been left lying on the ground, was drawn upward until
it hung in front of the window beside which Mrs. Coolidge was watching,
and she saw that it was a human body. Then they fastened the rope to
one of the iron bars across the window and stood for a few moments
looking at the swaying body and chuckling together. The one who seemed
to be the leader rolled a cigarette and lighted it, and by the glare of
the match she recognized him. He was a man of prominence in Santa Fé
and the leader of the opposing party, not only locally but for the
whole Territory as well.

Mrs. Coolidge's first impulse was to awaken her husband, but a swift
intuition warned her that that would not be wise. So she controlled
her horror and indignation, and, as she stared at the poor, lifeless
thing swaying outside, she did some very rapid thinking. She