"You fell and hurt your head."
He turned slightly and observed the other man looking down at her with
dark and tragic glance. "Hello, Belden," he said, feebly. "How came you
here?" Then noting Berrie's look, he added: "I remember. He tried to kill
me." He again searched his antagonist's face. "Why didn't you finish the
job?"
The girl tried to turn his thought aside. "It's all right now, darling.
He won't make any more trouble. Don't mind him. I don't care for anybody
now you are coming back to me."
Wayland wonderingly regarded the face of the girl. "And you--are you
hurt?"
"No, I'm not hurt. I am perfectly happy now." She turned to Belden with
quick, authoritative command. "Unsaddle the horses and set up the tent.
We won't be able to leave here to-night."
He rose with instant obedience, glad of a chance to serve her, and soon
had the tent pegged to its place and the bedding unrolled. Together they
lifted the wounded youth and laid him upon his blankets beneath the low
canvas roof which seemed heavenly helpful to Berea.
"There!" she said, caressingly. "Now you are safe, no matter whether it
rains or not."
He smiled. "It seems I'm to have my way after all. I hope I shall be able
to see the sun rise. I've sort of lost my interest in the sunset."
"Now, Cliff," she said, as soon as the camp was in order and a fire
started, "I reckon you'd better ride on. I haven't any further use for
you."
"Don't say that, Berrie," he pleaded. "I can't leave you here alone with
a sick man. Let me stay and help."
She looked at him for a long time before she replied. "I shall never be
able to look at you again without hating you," she said. "I shall always
remember you as you looked when you were killing that boy. So you'd
better ride on and keep a-riding. I'm going to forget all this just as
soon as I can, and it don't help me any to have you around. I never want
to see you or hear your name again."
"You don't mean that, Berrie!"
"Yes, I do," she asserted, bitterly. "I mean just that. So saddle up and
pull out. All I ask of you is to say nothing about what has happened
here. You'd better leave the state. If Wayland should get worse it might
go hard with you."
He accepted his banishment. "All right. If you feel that way I'll ride.
But I'd like to do something for you before I go. I'll pile up some
wood--"
"No. I'll take care of that." And without another word of farewell she
turned away and re-entered the tent.
Mounting his horse with painful slowness, as though suddenly grown old,
the reprieved assassin rode away up the mountain, his head low, his eyes
upon the ground.