“Gad, madam, that’s just it,” said the gallant Colonel, seating himself with a comfortable air, and an easy, though by no means disrespectful, familiarity.  “We went into this fight a little more than a week ago.  The only scrimmage we’ve had has been with the detectives that were on the robbers’ track.  Ha! ha!  The best people we’ve met have been the friends of the men we were huntin’, and we’ve generally come to the conclusion to vote the other ticket!  Ez Judge Hale and me agreed ez we came along, the two men ez we’d most like to see just now and shake hands with are George Lee and Ned Falkner.”

“The two leaders of the party who robbed the coach,” explained Mr. Hale, with a slight return of his usual precision of statement.

The three women looked at each other with a blaze of thanksgiving in their grateful eyes.  Without comprehending all that Colonel Clinch had said, they understood enough to know that their late guests were safe from the pursuit of that party, and that their own conduct was spared criticism.  I hardly dare write it, but they instantly assumed the appearance of aggrieved martyrs, and felt as if they were!

“Yes, ladies!” continued the Colonel, inspired by the bright eyes fixed upon him.  “We haven’t taken the road ourselves yet, but—­pohn honor—­we wouldn’t mind doing it in a case like this.”  Then with the fluent, but somewhat exaggerated, phraseology of a man trained to “stump” speaking, he gave an account of the robbery and his own connection with it.  He spoke of the swindling and treachery which had undoubtedly provoked Falkner to obtain restitution of his property by an overt act of violence under the leadership of Lee.  He added that he had learned since at Wild Cat Station that Harkins had fled the country, that a suit had been commenced by the Excelsior Ditch Company, and that all available property of Harkins had been seized by the sheriff.

“Of course it can’t be proved yet, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Lee, who is an old friend of Ned Falkner’s, got up that job to help him, and that Ned’s off with the money by this time—­and I’m right glad of it.  I can’t say ez we’ve done much towards it, except to keep tumbling in the way of that detective party of Stanner’s, and so throw them off the trail—­ha, ha!  The Judge here, I reckon, has had his share of fun, for while he was at Hennicker’s trying to get some facts from Hennicker’s pretty daughter, Stanner tried to get up some sort of vigilance committee of the stage passengers to burn down Hennicker’s ranch out of spite, but the Judge here stepped in and stopped that.”

“It was really a high-handed proceeding, Josephine, but I managed to check it,” said Hale, meeting somewhat consciously the first direct look his wife had cast upon him, and falling back for support on his old manner.  “In its way, I think it was worse than the robbery by Lee and Falkner, for it was done in the name of law and order; while, as far as I can judge from the facts, the affair that we were following up was simply a rude and irregular restitution of property that had been morally stolen.”