"
"This morning we saw the same posse skirting through the valley and knew
that they were on the old trail. Dan sent Gregg over the hills and rode
Vic's horse down so that the posse would mistake him, and he could lead
them out of the way. I was afraid, terribly, I was afraid that if the posse
got close and began shooting Dan would--"
She stopped; her eyes begged them to understand.
"Go on," said Lee Haines, shuddering slightly. "I know what you mean."
"But I watched him ride down the slope," she cried joyously, "and I saw the
posse close on him--almost on top of him when he reached the valley. I saw
the flash of their guns. I saw them shoot. I wasn't afraid that Dan would
be hurt, for he seems to wear a charm against bullets--I wasn't much afraid
of that, but I dreaded to see him turn and go back through that posse like
a storm. But--" she caught both hands to her breast and her bright face
tilted up--"even when the bullets must have been whistling around him he
didn't look back. He rode straight on and on, out of view, and I knew"--her
voice broke with emotion--"oh, Buck, I knew that he had won, and I had won;
that he was safe forever; that there was no danger of him ever slipping
back into that terrible other self; I knew that I'd never again have to
dream of that whistling in the wind; I knew that he was ours--Joan's and
mine.
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