TheVirginianunlockedtheroominthehotelwherehekeptstoredhistent，hisblankets，hispack-saddles，andhismanyaccoutrementsforthebridaljourneyinthemountains。Outofthewindowhesawthemountainsblueinshadow，butsomecottonwoodsdistantintheflatbetweenwerestillbrightgreeninthesun。
Fromamonghispossessionshetookquicklyapistol，wipingandloadingit。Thenfromitsholsterheremovedthepistolwhichhehadtriedandmadesureofinthemorning。This，accordingtohiswontwhengoingintoarisk，heshovedbetweenhistrousersandhisshirtinfront。Theuntriedweaponheplacedintheholster，lettingithangvisiblyathiship。Heglancedoutofthewindowagain，andsawthemountainsofthesamedeepblue。Butthecottonwoodswerenolongerinthesunlight。Theshadowhadcomepastthem，nearerthetown；forfifteenofthefortyminutesweregone。“Thebishopiswrong，“hesaid。“Thereisnosenseintellingher。“Andheturnedtothedoor，justasshecametoitherself。
“Oh！“shecriedoutatonce，andrushedtohim。
Hesworeasheheldherclose。“Thefools！“hesaid。“Thefools！“
“Ithasbeensofrightfulwaitingforyou，“saidshe，leaningherheadagainsthim。
“Whohadtotellyouthis？“hedemanded。
“Idon’tknow。Somebodyjustcameandsaidit。
“Thisismeanluck，“hemurmured，pattingher。“Thisismeanluck。“
Shewenton:“Iwantedtorunoutandfindyou；butIdidn’t！I
didn’t！Istayedquietinmyroomtilltheysaidyouhadcomeback。“
“Itismeanluck。Mightymean，“herepeated。
“Howcouldyoubesolong？“sheasked。“Nevermind，I’vegotyounow。Itisover。“
Angerandsorrowfilledhim。“Imighthaveknownsomefoolwouldtellyou，“hesaid。
“It’sallover。Nevermind。“Herarmstightenedtheirholdofhim。Thenshelethimgo。“Whatshallwedo？“shesaid。“Whatnow？“
“Now？“heanswered。“Nothingnow。“
Shelookedathimwithoutunderstanding。
“Iknowitisaheapworseforyou，“hepursued，speakingslowly。
“Iknewitwouldbe。“
“Butitisover！“sheexclaimedagain。
Hedidnotunderstandhernow。Hekissedher。“Didyouthinkitwasover？“hesaidsimply。“Thereissomewaitingstillbeforeus。Iwishyoudidnothavetowaitalone。Butitwillnotbelong。“Hewaslookingdown，anddid；notseethehappinessgrowchilleduponherface，andthenfadeintobewilderedfear。“Ididmybest，hewenton。“IthinkIdid。IknowItried。Ilethimsaytomebeforethemallwhatnomanhaseversaid，oreverwillagain。Ikeptthinkinghardofyou——withallmymight，orI
reckonI’dhavekilledhimrightthere。AndIgavehimashowtochangehismind。Igaveittohimtwice。IspokeasquietasIamspeakingtoyounow。Buthestoodtoit。AndIexpectheknowshewenttoofarinthehearingofotherstogobackonhisthreat。
Hewillhavetogoontothefinishnow。“
“Thefinish？“sheechoed，almostvoiceless。
“Yes，“heansweredverygently。
Herdilatedeveswerefixeduponhim。“But——“shecouldscarceformutterance，“butyou？“
“Ihavegotmyselfready，“hesaid。“Didyouthink——why，whatdidyouthink？“
Sherecoiledastep。“Whatareyougoing——“Sheputhertwohandstoherhead。“Oh，God！“shealmostshrieked，“youaregoing——“Hemadeastep，andwouldhaveputhisarmroundher，butshebackedagainstthewall，staringspeechlessathim。
“Iamnotgoingtolethimshootme，“hesaidquietly。
“Youmean——youmean——butyoucancomeaway！“shecried。“It’snottoolateyet。Youcantakeyourselfoutofhisreach。Everybodyknowsthatyouarebrave。Whatishetoyou？Youcanleavehiminthisplace。I’llgowithyouanywhere。Toanyhouse，tothemountains，toanywhereaway。We’llleavethishorribleplacetogetherand——and——oh，won’tyoulistentome？“Shestretchedherhandstohim。“Won’tyoulisten？“
Hetookherhands。“Imuststayhere。“
Herhandsclungtohis。“No，no，no。There’ssomethingelse。
There’ssomethingbetterthansheddingbloodincoldblood。Onlythinkwhatitmeans！Onlythinkofhavingtoremembersuchathing！Why，it’swhattheyhangpeoplefor！It’smurder！“
Hedroppedherhands。“Don’tcallitthatname，“hesaidsternly。
“Whentherewasthechoice！“sheexclaimed，halftoherself，likeapersonstunnedandspeakingtotheair。“Togetreadyforitwhenyouhavethechoice！“
“Hedidthechoosing，“answeredtheVirginian。“Listentome。Areyoulistening？“heasked，forhergazewasdull。
Shenodded。
“Iworkhyeh。Ibelonghyeh。It’smylife。IffolkscametothinkIwasacoward——“
“Whowouldthinkyouwereacoward？“
“Everybody。Myfriendswouldbesorryandashamed，andmyenemieswouldwalkaroundsayingtheyhadalwayssaidso。Icouldnotholdupmyheadagainamongenemiesorfriends。“
“Whenitwasexplained——“
“There’dbenothingtoexplain。There’djustbethefact。“Hewasnearlyangry。
“Thereisahighercouragethanfearofoutsideopinion，“saidtheNewEnglandgirl。
HerSouthernloverlookedather。“Cert’nlythereis。That’swhatI’mshowingingoingagainstyours。
“Butifyouknowthatyouarebrave，andifIknowthatyouarebrave，oh，mydear，mydear！whatdifferencedoestheworldmake？
Howmuchhighercouragetogoyourowncourse——“
“Iamgoin’myowncourse，“hebrokein。“Can’tyu’seehowitmustbeaboutaman？It’snotfortheirbenefit，friendsorenemies，thatIhavegotthisthingtodo。IfanymanhappenedtosayIwasathiefandIheardaboutit，wouldIlethimgoonspreadin’suchathingofme？Don’tIowemyownhonestysomethingbetterthanthat？WouldIsitdowninacornerrubbin’
myhonestyandwhisperin’toit，’There！there！Iknowyouain’tathief“？No，seh；notalittlebit！Whatmensayaboutmynatureisnotjustmerelyanoutsidething。ForthefactthatIlet’emkeeponsayin’itisaproofIdon’tvaluemynatureenoughtoshielditfromtheirslanderandgivethemtheirpunishment。Andthat’sbeingapoorsortofajay。“
Shehadgrownverywhite。
“Can’tyu’seehowitmustbeaboutaman？“herepeated。
“Icannot，“sheanswered，inavoicethatscarcelyseemedherown。“IfIoughtto，Icannot。Toshedbloodincoldblood。WhenIheardaboutthatlastfall，——aboutthekillingofthosecattlethieves，——Ikeptsayingtomyself:’Hehadtodoit。Itwasapublicduty。’AndlyingsleeplessIgotusedtoWyomingbeingdifferentfromVermont。Butthis——“shegaveashudder——“whenI
thinkofto-morrow，ofyouandme，andof——Ifyoudothis，therecanbenoto-morrowforyouandme。“
Atthesewordshealsoturnedwhite。
“Doyoumean——“heasked，andcouldgonofarther。
Norcouldsheanswerhim，butturnedherheadaway。
“Thiswouldbetheend？“heasked。
Herheadfaintlymovedtosignifyyes。
Hestoodstill，hishandshakingalittle。“Willyoulookatmeandsaythat？“hemurmuredatlength。Shedidnotmove。“Canyoudoit？“hesaid。
Hissweetnessmadeherturn，butcouldnotpierceherfrozenresolve。Shegazedathimacrossthegreatdistanceofherdespair。
“Thenitisreallyso？“hesaid。
Herlipstriedtoformwords，butfailed。
Helookedoutofthewindow，andsawnothingbutshadow。Theblueofthemountainswasnowbecomeadeeppurple。Suddenlyhishandclosedhard。
“Good-by，then，“hesaid。
Atthatwordshewasathisfeet，clutchinghim。“Formysake，“
shebeggedhim。“Formysake。“
Atremblepassedthroughhisframe。Shefelthislegsshakeassheheldthem，and，lookingup，shesawthathiseyeswereclosedwithmisery。Thenheopenedthem，andintheirsteadylookshereadheranswer。Heunclaspedherhandsfromholdinghim，andraisedhertoherfeet。
“Ihavenorighttokissyouanymore，“hesaid。Andthen，beforehisdesirecouldbreakhimdownfromthis，hewasgone，andshewasalone。
Shedidnotfall，ortotter，butstoodmotionless。Andnext——itseemedamomentanditseemedeternity——sheheardinthedistanceashot，andthentwoshots。Outofthewindowshesawpeoplebeginningtorun。Atthatsheturnedandfledtoherroom，andflungherselffacedownwarduponthefloor。
Trampashaddepartedintosolitudefromthesaloon，leavingbehindhimhisULTIMATUM。Hisloudandpublicthreatwastownknowledgealready，wouldverylikelybecountyknowledgeto-night。Riderswouldtakeitwiththemtoentertaindistantcabinsuptheriveranddowntheriver；andbydarkthestagewouldgosouthwiththenewsofit——andthenewsofitsoutcome。
Foreverythingwouldbeoverbydark。Afterfiveyears，herewastheendcoming——comingbeforedark。Trampashadgotupthismorningwithnosuchthought。Itseemedverystrangetolookbackuponthemorning；itlaysodistant，soirrevocable。Andhethoughtofhowhehadeatenhisbreakfast。Howwouldheeathissupper？Forsupperwouldcomeafterward。Somepeoplewereeatingtheirsnow，withnothinglikethisbeforethem。Hisheartachedandgrewcoldtothinkofthem，easyandcomfortablewithplatesandcupsofcoffee。
Helookedatthemountains，andsawthesunabovetheirridges，andtheshadowcomingfromtheirfeet。Andthereclosebehindhimwasthemorninghecouldnevergobackto。Hecouldseeitclearly；histhoughtsreachedoutlikearmstotouchitoncemore，andbeinitagain。Thenightthatwascominghecouldnotsee，andhiseyesandhisthoughtsshrankfromit。Hehadgivenhisenemyuntilsundown。Hecouldnottracethepathwhichhadledhimtothis。Herememberedtheirfirstmeeting——fiveyearsback，inMedicineBow，andthewordswhichatoncebeganhishate。No，itwasbeforeanywords；itwastheencounteroftheireyes。Foroutoftheeyesofeverystrangerlookseitherafriendoranenemy，waitingtobeknown。Buthowhadfiveyearsofhatecometoplayhimsuchatrick，suddenly，today？Sincelastautumnhehadmeantsometimetogetevenwiththismanwhoseemedtostandateveryturnofhiscrookedness，androbhimofhisspoils。Buthowhadhecometochoosesuchawayofgettingevenasthis，facetoface？Heknewmanybetterways；andnowhisownrashproclamationhadtrappedhim。Hiswordswerelikedoorsshuttinghimintoperformhisthreattotheletter，withwitnessesathandtoseethathedidso。
Trampaslookedatthesunandtheshadowagain。Hehadtillsundown。Theheartinsidehimwasturningitroundinthisoppositeway:itwastoHIMSELFthatinhisragehehadgiventhislesseningmarginofgrace。Buthedarednotleavetowninalltheworld’ssightafteralltheworldhadheardhim。Evenhisfriendswouldfallfromhimaftersuchanact。Couldhe——thethoughtactuallycametohim——couldhestrikebeforethetimeset？Butthethoughtwasuseless。Evenifhisfriendscouldharborhimaftersuchadeed，hisenemieswouldfindhim，andhislifewouldbeforfeittoacertainty。Hisowntrapwasclosinguponhim。
Hecameuponthemainstreet，andsawsomedistanceofftheVirginianstandingintalkwiththebishop。Heslunkbetweentwohouses，andcursedbothofthem。Thesighthadbeengoodforhim，bringingsomewarmthofragebacktohisdesperateheart。Andhewentintoaplaceanddranksomewhiskey。
“Inyourshoes，“saidthebarkeeper，“I’dbeafraidtotakesomuch。“
ButthenervesofTrampaswerealmostbeyondthereachofintoxication，andheswallowedsomemore，andwentoutagain。
Presentlyhefellinwithsomeofhisbrothersincattlestealing，andwalkedalongwiththemforalittle。
“Well，itwillnotbelongnow，“theysaidtohim。Andhehadneverheardwordssodesolate。
“No，“hemadeouttosay；“soonnow。“Theircheerfulnessseemedunearthlytohim，andhisheartalmostbrokebeneathit。
“We’llhaveonetoyoursuccess，“theysuggested。
Sowiththemherepairedtoanotherplace；andthesightofamanleaningagainstthebarmadehimstartsothattheynoticedhim。
Thenhesawthatthemanwasastrangerwhomhehadneverlaideyesontillnow。
“ItlookedlikeShorty，“hesaid，andcouldhavebittenhistongueoff。
“ShortyisquietupintheTetons，“saidafriend。“Youdon’twanttobethinkingabouthim。Here’show！“
Thentheyclappedhimonthebackandheleftthem。Hethoughtofhisenemyandhishate，beatinghisragelikeafailinghorse，andtreadingthecourageofhisdrink。AcrossaspacehesawWiggin，walkingwithMcLeanandScipio。Theywerewatchingthetowntoseethathisfriendsmadenofoulplay。
“We’regivingyouaclearfield，“saidWiggin。
