“You!” she cried, utterly giving way, forgetful of all else except the sense of relief the recognition brought her.  “You!  Oh!  Now I know it is all right!  I was so sure you would come.”

He caught the extended hands eagerly, drawing her close, and looking straight down into the depths of her uplifted eyes.  To him, at that moment, there was no one else in the room, no one else in the wide, wide world.

“You knew I would come?” he echoed.  “You believed that much in me?”

“Yes; I have never had a doubt.  I told him so; that if we could only hold out long enough we would be saved.  But,” her lips quivered, and there were tears glistening in the uplifted eyes, “you came too late for him.”

“For him?  The man who was with you, you mean?  Has he been shot?”

She bent her head, the lips refusing to answer.

“Who was he?”

“Mr. Cavendish—­oh!”

It was a cry of complete reaction; the room reeled about her and she would have fallen headlong had not Westcott clasped the slender form closely in his arms.  An instant he stood there gazing down into her face.  Then he turned toward Brennan.

“Leave us alone, Dan,” he said simply.  “Get that gang of blacklegs out of here.”

CHAPTER XXXII:  IN THE TWO CABINS

The marshal’s lips smiled.

“Sure, Jim,” he drawled, “anything to oblige, although this is a new one on me.  Come on, Matt; it seems the gentleman does not wish to be disturbed——­ Well, neither would I under such circumstances.  Here you! line up there in single file, and get a move on you—­pronto!  Show ’em what I mean, Matt; put that guy that talks English at the head——­ Yes, he’s the one.  Now look here, amigo, you march straight out through that door, and head for the bunk-house—­do you get that?”

“Si, senor; I savvy!”

“Well, you better; tell those fellows that if one of ’em makes a break he’s goin’ ter be a dead Mex—­will yer?  Get to the other side of them, Matt; now step ahead—­not too fast.”

Westcott watched the procession file out, still clasping the partially unconscious girl in his arms.  Moore, bringing up the rear, disappeared through the entrance, and vanished into the night without.  Except for the three motionless bodies, they were alone.  The lamp on the high shelf flared fitfully in the wind, and the charred embers on the floor exhibited a glowing spark of colour.  From a distance Brennan’s voice growled out a gruff order to his line of prisoners.  Then all was still.  The eyes of the girl opened slowly, her lids trembling, but as they rested on Westcott’s face, she smiled.

“You are glad I came?”

“Glad!  Why I never really knew what gladness meant before.”

He bent lower, his heart pounding fiercely, strange words struggling for utterance.