Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: smile to his face. " Of course you do— you're lonesome in here." There was mockery in his voice. He deliberately drew out his two guns, examined them minutely, returned one to his holster, retaining the other in his right hand. With a cold grin at Sheila he snuffed out the candle between a finger and a thumb and strode to the door—Sheila could hear him fumbling at the fastenings. He spoke to the man outside sharply. "Come in!" There was a movement; a square of light appeared in the wall of darkness; there came a step on the threshold. Watching, Sheila saw, framed in the open doorway, the dim outlines of a figure—a man. " Stand right there," came Dakota's voice from somewhere in the impenetrable darkness of the interior, and Sheila wondered at the hospitality that greeted a stranger with total darkness and a revolver. " Light a match." After a short interval of silence there came the sound of a match scratching on the wall, and a light flared up, showingSheila the face of a man of sixty, bronzed, bearded, with gentle, quizzical eyes. The light died down, the man waited. Sheila had forgotten—in her desire to see the face of the visitor—to look for Dakota, but presently she heard his voice: " I reckon you're a parson, all right. Close the door." The parson obeyed the command. " Light the candle on the table!" came the order from Dakota. " I'm not taking any chances until I get a better look at you." Another match flared up and the parson advanced to the table and lighted the candle. He smiled while applying the match to the wick. " Don't pay to take no chances—on anything," he agreed. He stood jjrect, a tall man, rugged and active for his sixty years, and threw off a rain-soaked tarpaulin. Some traces of dampness were visible on his clothing, but in the circum...