“WhoelsewouldIbethinkingof？“returnedtheSoutherner。Hisfacehadbecomeverysombre。“Shehasbeenraisedsodifferent！“
hemurmured。Heponderedalittle，whiletheotherswaited，solicitous。
Anewideacametotheproprietor。“Iamactingmayorofthistown，“saidhe。“I’llputhiminthecalabooseandkeephimtillyougetmarriedandaway。
“Saytheword，“repeatedHoneyWiggin。
Scipio’seyemettheproprietor’s，andheshookhisheadaboutaquarterofaninch。Theproprietorshookhistothesameamount。
Theyunderstoodeachother。Ithadcometothatpointwheretherewasnowayout，saveonlytheancient，eternalwaybetweenmanandman。Itisonlythegreatmediocritythatgoestolawinthesepersonalmatters。
“Sohehastalkedaboutmesome？“saidtheVirginian。
“It’sthewhiskey，“Scipioexplained。
“Iexpect，“saidMcLean，“he’drunamileifhewasinastatetoappreciatehisinsinuations。“
“Whichwearecarefulnottomentiontoyu’，“saidWiggin，“unlessyu’inquirefor’em。“
Someofthefoolspresenthaddrawnclosertohearthisinterestingconversation。Ingatheringsofmorethansixtherewillgenerallybeatleastonefool；andthiscompanymusthavenumberedtwentymen。
“Thiscountryknowswellenough，“saidonefool，whohungeredtobeimportant，“thatyoudon’tbrandnocalvesthatain’tyourown。“
ThesaturnineVirginianlookedathim。“Thankyu’，“saidhe，gravely，“foryourindorsementofmycharacter。“Thefoolfeltflattered。TheVirginianturnedtohisfriends。Hishandslowlypushedhishatback，andherubbedhisblackheadinthought。
“Gladtoseeyu’vegotyourgunwithyou，“continuedthehappyfool。“YouknowwhatTrampasclaimsaboutthataffairofyoursintheTetons？HeclaimsthatifeverythingwasknownaboutthekillingofShorty——“
“Takeoneonthehouse，“suggestedtheproprietortohim，amiably。“Yournewswillbefresher。“Andhepushedhimthebottle。Thefoolfeltlessimportant。
“Thistalkhadwenttheroundsbeforeitgottous，“saidScipio，“orwe’dhaveheadeditoff。Hehasgotfriendsintown。“
PerplexityknottedtheVirginian’sbrows。Thiscommunityknewthatamanhadimpliedhewasathiefandamurderer；italsoknewthatheknewit。Butthecasewasoneofpeculiarcircumstances，assuredly。Couldheavoidmeetingtheman？Soonthestagewouldbestartingsouthfortherailroad。Hehadalreadyto-dayproposedtohissweetheartthattheyshouldtakeit。Couldheforhersakeleaveunansweredatalkingenemyuponthefield？Hisownearshadnotheardtheenemy。
Intothesereflectionsthefoolsteppedoncemore。“Ofcoursethiscountrydon’tbelieveTrampas，“saidhe。“Thiscountry——“
Buthecontributednofurtherthoughts。Fromsomewhereintherearofthebuilding，whereitopeneduponthetincansandthehinderpurlieusofthetown，cameamovement，andTrampaswasamongthem，courageouswithwhiskey。
Allthefoolsnowmadethemselvesconspicuous。Onelayonthefloor，knockedtherebytheVirginian，whosearmhehadattemptedtohold。OthersstruggledwithTrampas，andhisbulletsmashedtheceilingbeforetheycoulddragthepistolfromhim。“Therenow！therenow！“theyinterposed；“youdon’twanttotalklikethat，“forhewaspouringoutatideofhateandvilification。
YettheVirginianstoodquietbythebar，andmanyaneyeofastonishmentwasturneduponhim。“I’dnotstandhalfthatlanguage，“somemutteredtoeachother。StilltheVirginianwaitedquietly，whilethefoolsreasonedwithTrampas。Butnoearthlyfootcanstepbetweenamanandhisdestiny。Trampasbrokesuddenlyfree。
“Yourfriendshavesavedyourlife，“herangout，withobsceneepithets。“I’llgiveyoutillsundowntoleavetown。“
Therewastotalsilenceinstantly。
“Trampas，“spoketheVirginian，“Idon’twanttroublewithyou。“
“Heneverhaswantedit，“Trampassneeredtothebystanders。“Hehasbeendodgingitfiveyears。ButI’vegothimcoralled。“
SomeoftheTrampasfactionsmiled“Trampas，“saidtheVirginianagain，“areyu’sureyu’reallymeanthat？“
Thewhiskeybottleflewthroughtheair，hurledbyTrampas，andcrashedthroughthesaloonwindowbehindtheVirginian。
“Thatwassurplusage，Trampas，“saidhe，“ifyumeantheother。
“Getoutbysundown，that’sall，“saidTrampas。Andwheeling，hewentoutofthesaloonbytherear，ashehadentered。
“Gentlemen，“saidtheVirginian，“Iknowyouwillallobligeme。“
“Sure！“exclaimedtheproprietor，heartily，“We’llseethateverybodyletsthisthingalone。“
TheVirginiangaveageneralnodtothecompany，andwalkedoutintothestreet。
“It’saturrubleshame，“sighedScipio，“thathecouldn’thavepostponedit。“
TheVirginianwalkedintheopenairwiththoughtsdisturbed。“I
amoftwomindsaboutonething，“hesaidtohimselfuneasily。
Gossipraninadvanceofhim；butashecameby，thetalkfellawayuntilhehadpassed。Thentheylookedafterhim，andtheirwordsagainroseaudibly。Thuseverywherealittleeddyofsilenceaccompaniedhissteps。
“Itdon’ttroublehimmuch，“onesaid，havingreadnothingintheVirginian’sface。
“Itmaytroublehisgirlsome，“saidanother。
“She’llnotknow，“saidathird，“untilit’sover。“
“He’llnottellher？“
“Iwouldn’t。It’snowoman’sbusiness。“
“Maybethat’sso。Well，itwouldhavesuitedmetohaveTrampasdiesooner。“
“Howwoulditsuityoutohavehimlivelonger？“inquiredamemberoftheoppositefaction，suspectedofbeinghimselfacattlethief。
“Icouldansweryourquestion，ifIhadotherfolks’calvesI
wantedtobrand。“Thisraisedbothalaughandasilence。
Thusthetowntalked，fillinginthetimebeforesunset。
TheVirginian，stillwalkingaloofintheopenair，pausedattheedgeofthetown。“I’dsoonerhaveasicknessthanbeundecidedthisway，“hesaid，andhelookedupanddown。Thenagrimsmilecameathisownexpense。“Ireckonitwouldmakemesick——butthere’snottime。“
Overthereinthehotelsathissweetheartalone，awayfromhermother，herfriends，herhome，waitinghisreturn，knowingnothing。Helookedintothewest。Betweenthesunandthebrightridgesofthemountainswasstillaspaceofsky；buttheshadowfromthemountains’feethaddrawnhalfwaytowardthetown。
“Aboutfortyminutesmore，“hesaidaloud。“Shehasbeenraisedsodifferent。“Andhesighedasheturnedback。Ashewentslowly，hedidnotknowhowgreatwashisownunhappiness。“Shehasbeenraisedsodifferent，“hesaidagain。
Oppositethepost-officethebishopofWyomingmethimandgreetedhim。Hislonelyheartthrobbedatthewarm，firmgraspofthisfriend’shand。Thebishopsawhiseyesglowsuddenly，asiftearswereclose。Butnonecame，andnowordmoreopenthan，“I’mgladtoseeyou。“
Butgossiphadreachedthebishop，andhewassorelytroubledalso。“Whatisallthis？“saidhe，comingstraighttoit。
TheVirginianlookedattheclergymanfrankly。’Yu’knowjustasmuchaboutitasIdo，“hesaid。“AndI’lltellyu’anythingyu’
ask。“
“HaveyoutoldMissWood？“inquiredthebishop。
Theeyesofthebridegroomfell，andthebishop’sfacegrewatoncemorekeenandmoretroubled。Thenthebridegroomraisedhiseyesagain，andthebishopalmostlovedhim。Hetouchedhisarm，likeabrother。“Thisishardluck，“hesaid。
Thebridegroomcouldscarcekeephisvoicesteady。“Iwanttodorightto-daymorethananydayIhaveeverlived，“saidhe。
“Thengoandtellheratonce。“
“Itwilljustdonothingbutscareher。“
“Goandtellheratonce。“
“IexpectedyouwasgoingtotellmetorunawayfromTrampas。I
can’tdothat，yu’know。“
Thebishopdidknow。Neverbeforeinallhiswildernessworkhadhefacedsuchathing。HeknewthatTrampaswasanevilinthecountry，andthattheVirginianwasagood。Heknewthatthecattlethieves——therustlers——weregaining，innumbersandaudacity；thattheyledmanyweakyoungfellowstoruin；thattheyelectedtheirmentooffice，andcontrolledjuries；thattheywereastaringmenacetoWyoming。HisheartwaswiththeVirginian。ButtherewashisGospel，thathepreached，andbelieved，andtriedtolive。Hestoodlookingatthegroundanddrawingafingeralonghiseyebrow。Hewishedthathemighthaveheardnothingaboutallthis。ButhewasnotonetoblinkhisresponsibilityasaChristianserverofthechurchmilitant。
“AmIright，“henowslowlyasked，“inbelievingthatyouthinkI
amasincereman？“
“Idon’tbelieveanythingaboutit。Iknowit。“
“IshouldrunawayfromTrampas，“saidthebishop。
“Thatain’tquitefair，seh。Weallunderstandyouhavegottodothethingsyoutellotherfolkstodo。Andyoudothem，seh。Younevertalklikeanythingbutaman，andyouneversetyourselfaboveothers。Youcansaddleyourownhorses。AndIsawyu’walkunarmedintothatWhiteRiverexcitementwhenthosetwootherparsonswasa-foggin’anda-fannin’fortheirownsafety。Damnscoundrels！“
Thebishopinstantlyrebukedsuchlanguageaboutbrothersofhiscloth，eventhoughhedisapprovedbothofthemandtheirdoctrines。“EveryonemaybeaninstrumentofProvidence，“heconcluded。
“Well，“saidtheVirginian，“ifthatisso，thenProvidencemakesuseofinstrumentsI’dnottouchwithaten-footpole。Nowifyouwasme，seh，andnotabishop，wouldyourunawayfromTrampas？“
“That’snotquitefair，either！“exclaimedthebishop，withasmile。“Becauseyouareaskingmetotakeanotherman’sconvictions，andyetremainmyself。“
“Yes，seh。Iam。That’sso。Thatdon’tgetatit。IreckonyouandIcan’tgetatit。“
“IftheBible，“saidthebishop，“whichIbelievetobeGod’sword，wasanythingtoyou——“
“Itissomethingtome，seh。Ihavefoundfinetruthsinit。“
“’Thoushaltnotkill，’“quotedthebishop。“Thatisplain。“
TheVirginiantookhisturnatsmiling。“Mightyplaintome，seh。
MakeitplaintoTrampas，andthere’llbenokillin’。Wecan’tgetatitthatway。“
Oncemorethebishopquotedearnestly。“’Vengeanceismine，I
willrepay，saiththeLord。’“
“HowaboutinstrumentsofProvidence，seh？Why，wecan’tgetatitthatway。Ifyoustartusin’theBiblethatway，itwillmixyouupmightyquick，seh。
“Myfriend，“thebishopurged，andallhisgood，warmheartwasinit，“mydearfellow——goawayfortheonenight。He’llchangehismind。“
TheVirginianshookhishead。“Hecannotchangehisword，seh。OratleastImuststayaroundtillhedoes。Why，Ihavegivenhimthesay-so。He’sgotthechoice。MostmenwouldnothavetookwhatItookfromhiminthesaloon。Whydon’tyouaskhimtoleavetown？“
Thegoodbishopwasatastandstill。OfallkickingagainstthepricksnoneissohardasthiskickofaprofessingChristianagainstthewholeinstinctofhumanman。
“Butyouhavehelpedmesome，“saidtheVirginian。“Iwillgoandtellher。Atleast，ifIthinkitwillbegoodforher，Iwilltellher。“
Thebishopthoughtthathesawonelastchancetomovehim。
“You’retwenty-nine，“hebegan。
“Andalittleover，“saidtheVirginian。
“Andyouwerefourteenwhenyouranawayfromyourfamily。“
“Well，Iwasweary，yu’know，ofhavin’elderbrotherslaydownmylawnightandmawnin’。“
“Yes，Iknow。Sothatyourlifehasbeenyourownforfifteenyears。Butitisnotyourownnow。Youhavegivenittoawoman。“
“Yes；Ihavegivenittoher。Butmylife’snotthewholeofme。
I’dgivehertwicemylife——fifty——athousandof’em。ButIcan’tgiveher——hernoranybodyinheavenorearth——Ican’tgivemy——my——we’llnevergetatit，seh！There’snogoodinwords。
Good-by。“TheVirginianwrungthebishop’shandandlefthim。
“Godblesshim！“saidthebishop。“Godblesshim！“
