CHAPTER XXV
FILED!
Rathburn picked his way slowly through the timber around to the southeast and then directly down toward the town. It was slow going, and the man seemed to relish this fact. His face was thoughtful, wistful, a bit grave. He occasionally patted his horse’s neck.
“We’re on our way home, old hoss,” he said softly. “Seems like we just had to stop off here.”
He fingered two small objects in his coat pocket.
“I wonder,” he murmured. “I wonder if I could be mistaken.”
He turned west after a time and rode carefully until he gained a worn trail. This he followed down toward town, and in half an hour he dismounted in the timber behind a small cabin at the side of the road to the hogback.
Rathburn went to the rear door and knocked. He received no answer, but sounds came to him through an open window. He opened the door softly and stole inside. There was no one in the kitchen. The sounds came from another room. He passed on into a bedroom and turned into another bedroom where he saw a figure in overalls lying on the bed. A great mass of dark hair covered the pillow. The form shook with sobs.
Rathburn laid a gentle hand upon the shoulder, and the face, which was quickly turned to him, was the face of a girl––the girl he had first seen when coming into the town, the girl who had been sitting 176 the horse listening to Carlisle’s tirade, the girl the barn man had said was supposed to be Carlisle’s sister.