CHAPTER XIV.
When Duane reached the crossing of the roads the name Fairfield on the sign-post seemed to be the thing that tipped the oscillating balance of decision in favor of that direction.
He answered here to unfathomable impulse.

If he had been driven to hunt up Jeff Aiken, now he was called to find this unknown ranger captain.
In Duane's state of mind clear reasoning, common sense, or keenness were out of the question.

He went because he felt he was compelled.
Dusk had fallen when he rode into a town which inquiry discovered to be Fairfield.

Captain MacNelly's camp was stationed just out of the village limits on the other side.
No one except the boy Duane questioned appeared to notice his arrival.
Like Shirley, the town of Fairfield was large and prosperous, compared to the innumerable hamlets dotting the vast extent of southwestern Texas.

As Duane rode through, being careful to get off the main street, he heard the tolling of a church-bell that was a melancholy reminder of his old home.
There did not appear to be any camp on the outskirts of the town.