Lawler went outside and shielding his eyes with his hands, peered out over the gleaming waste.  He noted that the snow had drifted much, but that there were ridges where no snow had settled, as well as vast sections of plain where the wind had swept the snow clear.  There would be no difficulty in reaching Willets, for the wind that was coming over the plains now was mild—­almost warm.

He went inside, told Della, and began to make preparations for the ride.  And later that night, moving swiftly northward, under straggling clouds that obscured the moon, the two journeyed—­Della swathed in clothing that assured her of warmth, and still preserving a sullen silence; Lawler riding ahead, breaking trail.

CHAPTER XXIV

DELLA’S HANDKERCHIEF

Dawn was just breaking when Lawler dropped from Red King at the windbreak near the line cabin.  He put the big horse in the dugout, closed the dugout door and entered the cabin.  Then he breathed a sigh of relief.

There were still some glowing embers in the fireplace, and he soon had a roaring fire, in front of which he stood for a while, meditating.

He had got Della Wharton into the Willets Hotel without, he felt certain, attracting attention.  For when they had ridden into town—­taking the back way in order to avoid any sleepless citizens that might be about—­it was past midnight.  Lawler had timed himself to reach town at about that hour, knowing that with the exception of a brothel or two, Willets would be dark.

He had been fortunate.  At his first knock on the rear door of the hotel, Keller had appeared; and Keller had instantly grasped the situation—­though he plainly told Della that she was “goin’ to a whole lot of unnecessary trouble.”  “Why, good Lord, ma’am, I reckon you had a right to hole up with Lawler!  Nobody’d be blamin’ you.  They’s a dozen men in this town that would make a colander out of anybody that’d hint things about a deal like that.  Lawsy, ma’am, folks has got sense, ain’t they?  But if you doubt ’em, I reckon we can take care of you.”

Lawler prepared and ate breakfast.  It had been a tiresome ride, and after eating, knowing that there was no occasion for haste in his return to the Circle L—­except that his mother would wonder over his whereabouts—­he stretched out in one of the lower bunks—­the one he had occupied during Della’s stay in the cabin.

He had not barred the door; and when, some hours later he awoke, he saw half a dozen men in the cabin.  They were standing near the door, watching him.  Foremost among them was Gary Warden.

Lawler swung around in the bunk and sat on its edge, facing the men.  They were Two Diamond men, for he recognized some of them.

Lawler got to his feet.  He saw no friendliness in the faces of the men; and Warden was pale, scowling.

But Lawler smiled.  “Looking for something, boys?” he said.