"
Leroy surrendered his room to Miss Mackenzie and put at her
service the old Mexican woman who cooked for him. She was a
silent, taciturn creature, as wrinkled as leather parchment and
about as handsome, but Alice found safety in the very knowledge
of the presence of another woman in the valley. She was among
robbers and cutthroats, but old Juanita lent at least a touch of
domesticity to a situation that would otherwise have been
impossible. The girl was very uneasy in her mind. A cold dread
filled her heart, a fear that was a good deal less than
panic-terror, however. For she trusted the man Neil even as she
distrusted his captain. Miscreant he had let himself be called,
and doubtless was, but she knew no harm could befall her from his
companions while he was alive to prevent it. A reassurance of
this came to her that evening in the fragment of a conversation
she overheard. They were passing her window which she had raised
on account of the heat when the low voices of two men came to
her.
"I tell you I'm not going, Leroy. Send Hardman," one said.
"Are you running this outfit, or am I, Neil?"
"You are.
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