“Hello, Mary.  This is Peter Knight.  Doug had an accident and I have him here with me—­O, Inez telephoned you.  Well, Judith overtook him and brought him here.  He’s in no particular danger—­That you, Grandma?  How’s Marion?—­No, it was Scott drew on Doug.—­Wait a minute till I finish with his mother.—­Listen, Mary!  Don’t get excited—­You keep quiet, Inez.—­Everybody butt out!  Now, listen, you folks, if you’ve got to, but don’t interrupt!—­Scott said something that riled Doug and Doug hit him.  Scott drew and got Doug through the left shoulder, bad, but clean, and I’ve got the wound dressed.—­Say, if you women don’t keep quiet, I’ll sure-gawd hang up.  O, hello, Charleton!  Yes, Scott made a clean get-away.—­Now, listen, Mary.  I’m going to keep Judith here to-night to help me and you can come down to-morrow.—­Yes, that you, John?  Well, you come along now, but not Mary.  She’s too weepy.—­What’s that you say, Inez?  The sheriff and Jimmy gone out after Scott?  When did they start—­Hello, Mrs. Day.  Half an hour ago?  That’s good.  Now, listen, John.  You stop by here before you go crazy.  Understand me?  All right!  Good-night, everybody!”

He turned from the telephone with a wry smile.  “John’s coming down.”

“He’s been worse than a wolverine since Doug left,” said Judith.

“How do you and he get along?” asked Peter, sitting down to his belated supper.

“O, I patch along for Mother’s sake.  But it’s no way to live!  I don’t see what Dad gets out of his own ugliness.”

“You’d probably find out, if he’d tell you the truth, that John doesn’t consider himself ugly-tempered.  He’d admit he was firm and misunderstood and unappreciated.”  Peter smiled grimly.

Judith laughed.  “Well, thank heaven John doesn’t belong to me, and I don’t belong to him!” She sipped a cup of coffee slowly, her eyes on Douglas in his uneasy sleep.

He was still asleep when John came in.  He nodded to Peter then strode over to the bed, where he stood for a moment scowling down at his son, his lower lip caught between his teeth.  Douglas opened his eyes.

“Douglas,” said John hoarsely, “before I go out after Scott, tell me all is straight between you and me.  Judith made up, long ago.”

“That’s a whopper!” exclaimed Judith.  “I’ll never forgive you as long as I live!  I’m just sticking round for Mother’s sake.  My mother that once could ride an unbroken mule.  When I think of that—­” She paused as Peter laid a hand on her arm.

“It’s not a matter of making up,” said Douglas.  “It wasn’t a thing you could make up.  It was just one more fact to knock a fellow’s faith in life’s being a straight deal.”

John did not answer for a moment, but something very like a blush rolled over his tanned face.  For the first time in his life, perhaps, he felt that he had done something shameful.  But he made no admission.

“You’ll come home and let us nurse you, Doug?” he asked when the blush had gone.