THE GUNMAN Dale's first decision was to leave Peggy in the cabin.

But she might recover, and she had recognized him.

Ben Nyland would exact stern vengeance for the outrage.
Dale stood for some seconds in the doorway, his brain working rapidly.
Then he leaped inside the cabin, took the girl up in his arms, carried her to his horse, mounted, and with the limp, sagging body in his arms rode into the night.
Reaction, also, was working on Banker Maison.

Though more than an hour had passed since he had got into bed, following the departure of his nocturnal visitor, he had not slept a wink.

His brain revolving the incidents of the night--it had been a positive panorama of vivid horrors.
The first gray streak of dawn was splitting the horizon when he gave it up, clambered out of bed and poured a generous drink from the bottle on the sideboard.
"God, a man needs something like this to brace him up after such a night!" he declared.
He took a second drink from the bottle, and a third.