“May I come?”

“Yes,” she replied.  So he ascended, to find Stillman in the hall, half clothed and cowering, while by the light from the front chamber he saw her finishing her toilet.

“Won’t you come with me—­it’s our last chance?” She only shook her head.  “Well, then, put out the light.  I’ll stand at that front window, and when my eyes get used to the darkness I’ll be able to see them before they reach the gate.”

She did as directed, taking her place beside him at the opening, while the Judge crept in and sat upon the bed, his heavy breathing the only sound in the room.  The two young people stood so close beside each other that the sweet scent of her person awoke in him an almost irresistible longing.  He forgot her treachery again, forgot that she was another’s, forgot all save that he loved her truly and purely, with a love which was like an agony to him.  Her shoulder brushed his arm; he heard the soft rustling of her garment at her breast as she breathed.  Some one passed in the street, and she laid a hand upon him fearfully.  It was very cold, very tiny, and very soft, but he made no move to take it.  The moments dragged along, still, tense, interminable.  Occasionally she leaned towards him, and he stooped to catch her whispered words.  At such times her breath beat warm against his cheek, and he closed his teeth stubbornly.  Out in the night a wolfdog saddened the air, then came the sound of others wrangling and snarling in a near-by corral.  This is a chickless land and no cock-crow breaks the midnight peace.  The suspense enhanced the Judge’s perturbation till his chattering teeth sounded like castanets.  Now and then he groaned.

The watchers had lost track of time when their strained eyes detected dark blots materializing out of the shadows.

“There they come,” whispered Glenister, forcing her back from the aperture; but she would not be denied, and returned to his side.

As the foremost figures reached the gate, Roy leaned forth and spoke, not loudly, but in tones that sliced through the silence, sharp, clean, and without warning.

“Halt!  Don’t come inside the fence.”  There was an instant’s confusion; then, before the men beneath had time to answer or take action, he continued:  “This is Roy Glenister talking.  I told you not to molest these people and I warn you again.  We’re ready for you.”

The leader spoke.  “You’re a traitor, Glenister.”

He winced.  “Perhaps I am.  You betrayed me first, though; and, traitor or not, you can’t come into this house.”

There was a murmur at this, and some one said: 

“Miss Chester is safe.  All we want is the Judge.  We won’t hang him, not if he’ll wear this suit we brought along.  He needn’t be afraid.  Tar is good for the skin.”

“Oh, my God!” groaned the limb of the law.

Suddenly a man came running down the planked pavement and into the group.