THE COVER OF DARKNESS Beth Norvell did not remember ever having fainted in her life, yet for a moment after these words reached her, all around grew dark, and she was compelled to grasp the counter to keep from falling.

The strain of the long night, coupled with such unexpected news proving she had arrived too late with her warning, served to daze her brain, to leave her utterly unable either to think or plan.

The clerk, alarmed by the sudden pallor of her face, was at her side instantly, holding eagerly forth that panacea for all fleshly ills in the West, a bottle of whiskey.
"Good Lord, Miss, don't faint away!" he cried excitedly.

"Here, just take a swig of this; there 's plenty of water in it, and it's the stuff to pull you through.

There, that's better.