Whatever Old Belllounds might have felt over the loss of a few cattle, he would never have hounded and arrested a cowboy who had done well by him.

Burley, however, was a sheriff, and a conscientious one, and he happened to be particularly set against rustlers.
Here was a complication of circumstances.

What would Jack Belllounds insist upon?
How would Columbine take this plot against the honor and liberty of Wilson Moore?
How would Moore himself react to it?
Wade confessed that he was helpless to solve these queries, and there seemed to be a further one, insistent and gathering--what was to be his own attitude here?
That could not be answered, either, because only a future moment, over which he had no control, and which must decide events, held that secret.

Worry beset Wade, but he still found himself proof against the insidious gloom ever hovering near, like his shadow.
He waited near the trail to intercept Billings and Moore on their way to the ranch-house; and to his surprise they appeared sooner than it would have been reasonable to expect them.

Wade stepped out of the willows and held up his hand.