Page:MacLeod Raine - The Sheriff's Son.djvu/194

 life? Her people might be law-breakers, but he felt that she was clean of any wrongdoing.

Her pride was shaken. A more immediate issue had driven it into the background.

"Why should they hurt him?" she asked. "If they had meant to do that—"

"Because he won't tell what he knows—where the gold is—won't promise to keep quiet about it afterward. What else can they do? They can't turn him loose as a witness against them."

"I don't believe it. I don't believe a word of it." Her voice broke. "I'm going up to see right away."

"You mean—to-night?"

"I mean now."

She turned up the gulch instead of down. Reluctantly he followed her.