I never understood him!...

I forgot he was Hell-Bent Wade! If there's been a--a fight or any trouble--I'll ride back and meet you." Then he rode down the trail.
Columbine had come without her horse, and she started homeward on foot.
Her steps dragged.

She knew something dreadful had happened.

Her heart beat slowly and painfully; there was an oppression upon her breast; her brain whirled with contending tides of thought.

She remembered Wade's face.