"
"It is murder!"
"You can prevent it," he said. "They know Barry is on the trail, but I
think they will do nothing unless he forces them into trouble. And he
will force them unless you stop him. No other human being could take
him off that trail."
"I know! I know!" she muttered. "But I have already tried, and he will
not listen to me!"
"But he will listen to you," insisted Haines, "when you tell him that
he will be fighting not one man, but six."
"And if he doesn't listen to me?"
Haines shrugged his shoulders.
"Can't you promise that these men will not fight with him?"
"I cannot."
"But I shall plead with them myself."
He turned to her in alarm.
"No, you must not let them dream you know who they are," he warned,
"for otherwise--"
Again that significant shrug of the shoulders.
He explained: "These men are in such danger that they dare not take
chances. You are a woman, but if they feel that you suspect them you
will no longer be a woman in their eyes."
"Then what must I do?"
"I shall ride ahead of you when we come to the willows, after I have
pointed out the position of our camp. About an hour after I have
arrived, for they must not know that I have brought you, you will ride
down towards the camp.
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