incident were closed. Roberts hurried and blundered through his task
with his pack and went for his horse. The animal limped slightly,
but evidently was not in bad shape. Roberts saddled him, tied on the
pack. Then he saddled Joan's horse. That done, he squared around
with the front of a man who had to face something he dreaded.

"Come on, Joan. We're ready," he called. His voice was loud, but not
natural.

Joan started to cross to him when Kells strode between them. She
might not have been there, for all the sign this ominous man gave of
her presence. He confronted Roberts in the middle of the camp-
circle, and halted, perhaps a rod distant.

"Roberts, get on your horse and clear out," he said.

Roberts dropped his halter and straightened up. It was a bolder
action than any he had heretofore given. Perhaps the mask was off
now; he was wholly sure of what he had only feared; subterfuge and
blindness were in vain; and now he could be a man. Some change
worked in his face--a blanching, a setting.

"No, I won't go without the girl," he said.

"But you can't take her!"

Joan vibrated to a sudden start. So this was what was going to
happen. Her heart almost stood still. Breathless and quivering, she
watched these two men, about whom now all was strangely magnified.