"Oh, help me, pitying Christ!" wailed the unhappy woman. "Is there, in all this world, no Canada to which a fugitive wife may flee, and no underground railroad by which to reach it?"
Again arose that brutal laugh upon the air. The belated bird in the bushes cooed to its mate, and the prairie dogs chattered in the distance.
"Don't be afraid of him, Sally," cried a clear voice from the depths of the cottonwoods. "A tyrant is always a coward. I heard your confession, Sam O'Dowd; and as I am not your wife, I can be a witness."
There was no more brutal laughter. A horse stood picketed and stamping at the head of the gulch, and the murderer hurried toward it with heavy strides. Jean listened with eager attention till he mounted and rode rapidly away.
"Are you still there, Sally?" she asked, as the hoofbeats died away in the distance.
"Yes, Jean; but where are ygu, and why are you here?"
"The Holy Spirit guided me, I reckon. I was just possessed to come. I didn't know I was following you, or why I came; but I just did it 'cause I had to."
"It was hazardous, Jean. He might have killed us both."
"He's too big a coward to kill a more formidable foe than his own baby. But you were an idiot to meet him out here, Sally."
"He was with that freighters' outfit, but on horseback. He came to me a few minutes before camping-time, when I was walking for exercise. I didn't want a scene at camp, so I agreed to meet him out here alone, if he would keep out of sight."
"You're a bigger fool than Thompson's colt, and he
swam the river to get a drink," said Jean. "But we
mustn't linger here. He may have a confederate."
7
