They can handle him alone." But an hour passed without word from the two Searchers.

Two more went by.

The sheriff rose from his chair, stamped about the room, and looked out at the night, a driving, aimless thing in the clutch of a blizzard.
"Hope they ain't lost," came at last.
"Had n't we better-- ?" But a noise from without cut off the conversation.

Stamping feet sounded on the steps, the knob turned, and Sheriff Bardwell, snow-white, entered, shaking himself like a great dog, as he sought to rid himself of the effects of the blizzard.
"Hello, Mason," came curtly.
"Hello, Bardwell, what 'd you find ?" The sheriff of Clear Creek county glanced toward Anita Richmond and was silent.

The girl leaped to her feet.
"Don't be afraid to talk on my account," she begged.