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 each cheek. She turned abruptly and went to the far corner of the room where she splashed water from a pail into a basin and busied herself tearing several strips from an old apron hanging on a nail. When she returned she found Zang on his knees beside the figure of their enemy.

"He 'll come round, I reckon," the man said. "Nobody who 's been all whittled up in gun plays like Original Bill 's goin' to take his checks to the bank just because of a couple of wallops on the coco from a gun butt. Here, I located this in one of his pockets. Tie me loose, will you?"

Zang held up a small key. Hilma had to stand very close to him to manipulate the locks on the handcuffs. Her bent head of glorious gold and the warm, reflected golden tints from the round of her neck were just below the man's ravening eyes. A suave, indefinable odor—the odor of warm flesh and of vigorous masses of hair—was in his nostrils. When the grip of steel finally was loosed from his wrists he instantly joined the freed hands about the girl's waist and drew her to him. She did not resist. In truth reaction from recent stress made her all the more apathetic, and she was