As well as if it had been spoken, Venters read in the faces of men the intelligence that Jane Withersteen's Arabians had been known to have been stolen.

Venters reined in and halted before Dyer's residence.

It was a low, long, stone structure resembling Withersteen House.

The spacious front yard was green and luxuriant with grass and flowers; gravel walks led to the huge porch; a well-trimmed hedge of purple sage separated the yard from the church grounds; birds sang in the trees; water flowed musically along the walks; and there were glad, careless shouts of children.

For Venters the beauty of this home, and the serenity and its apparent happiness, all turned red and black.