"I'll be back in a moment. Dad wants to see me about some letters."

And with that she was gone. Whatever the business was, it detained her
longer than she expected. The minutes slipped away, and still she did
not return. A step sounded in the hall, a door opened, and Jed Briscoe
stood before him.

"You're here, are you?" he said.

The Texan measured looks with him. "Yes, I'm here."

"Grand-standing still, I reckon."

"If you could only learn to mind your own affairs," the Texan
suggested evenly.

"You'll wish I could before I'm through with you."

"Am I to thank you for that little courtesy from Bald Knob the other
evening?"

"Not directly. At three hundred yards, I could have shot a heap
straighter than that. The fool must have been drunk."

"You'll have to excuse him. It was beginning to get dark. His
intentions were good."

There was a quick light step behind him, and Arlie came into the room.
She glanced quickly from one to the other, and there was apprehension