The Girl of the Golden West

happened, too, just at a time when her mind was ripe to receive a lasting impression. But of all

ts of her week's visit there,-a visit that had been a revelation to one whose sole experience of the world had until now been derived from life in a rough mining camp. Before her half-closed eyes still shimmered a vista of strange, exotic scenes and people, the thronging crowds of carnivals and fêtes; t

the death of the big, brave beast: the huge arena in its unrivalled setting of mountain, sea and sky; the eager multitude, tense with expectancy; the silver-mounted bridles and trappings of the horses; the many-hued capes of the capadors; the gaily-dressed banderilleros, poising their beribboned barbs

onverged, and was evidently spurring his horse with the intent of coming up with the stage, it was only natural that, even be

ere the passengers of the stage had been hospitably entertained the night before; still further back the red-tiled roofs and whitewashed walls of the little pueblo of San Jose,-a veritable bower

ery turn of the road varied her view of the hills lying under an enchantment unlike that of any other land. Yet strange and full of interest as every mile of the river country should have been to a girl accustomed to the great forest of the Sierras, she had gazed upon it for the most part with unseeing eyes, while her thoughts turned, magnet-like, backward to th

ifting his sombrero, "A beautiful bunch of syringa," and then, with his face b

and grace of manner that, coupled with her vague sense of his social advantage, disconcerted her. A second more, however, and the embarrassment had passed, for on lifting her eyes to his again she saw that her memory had not played her false; beyond all chance of a mistake, he was the man who, ten days earlier, had pee

." Then, with growing enthusiasm: "My, but that bull-fight wa

advances of a stranger in like fashion. It was inevitable, therefore, that for the moment he should contrast, and not wholly to her advantage, the Girl's unconventionality with the enforced reserve of the dulcineas who, custom decrees, may not be courted save in the presence of duennas. But the next instant he recalled that there were, in Sacramento, young women whose directness it would never do to mistake

than I supposed," was the thou

her hair of burnished gold was luxuriant and wavy, and framed a face of singularly frank and happy expression, even though the features lacked regularity. But it was a face, so he told himself, that any man would trust,-a face that would

like Mo

ic-an', my, what a fine tim

the Girl's enth

o far?" he asked, for want

a pokey ol' thing, but we've m

were never goin

a coquettish

I was comin' on

im to be as frank as she had been and admit his admiration for her; at last, encouraged perhaps by a look in the Girl's b

far from being a question, was accompanied with

at her, out of the corner of his eye.

I do. Who c

Girl, smiling in his face now, and enj

should I…? All I

eflective; presen

so strange after all. The boys-all my boys

mbed, broad-shouldered, young fellow as a native Californian. Moreover, it made no difference to him whether his passenger had met an old acquaintance or not; it was sufficient for him to observe that the lady, as well as himself-for the expression on her face could by no means be described as bored

u have a rancho near here?

has-I liv

sis

; she died a few years ago." And so saying, his glance

aid the Girl with feeling; and t

d you're-you're

ou, Se

e cheerfully, "an' what more do I need?" And then before he had time to ask her to explain what she meant by t

movement to assist her to alight, while with the other he checked his horse; then, with hi

me inner voice told her that it would not be quite right for her to leave the stage. True, she belonged to Cloudy Mountain Camp where the conventions were unknown and where a rough, if kind, comradery existed between the miners and herself; nevertheless, she felt that she had gone far enough with a new acquaintance, whose accent, as well as the timbre of his voice, gave ample evidence that he belonged to another order of society than her own and that of the boys. So, hard t

ence between them was beginning to grow embarrassing, the Girl made out the figure of a man on horseback a short distance ahead, and uttered an exclamation of surprise. The stranger followed the direction of the Gi

"His presence here may mean that I must leave you. The road

bruptly. During the silence that preceded his outspoken premonition of trouble, she had been studying him closely. She found herself admiring his aquiline features, his olive-coloured skin with its healthful pal

as, and asked in Spanish whether he had a message for him; an answer came back in the same language, t

as I

r so, apparently deep in thought, he continued to can

ave you, Se?o

the Girl's eyes, and her face was as

particularly crazy to

he Girl's voice flattered as well as

hink of me

irl l

Monterey ladies an' I guess you won't be thinkin' often o' me. Like 's not

young man with the intense fervour that

's face. Was this handsome stranger finding her amusing? There

k you're maki

oking straight into her eyes where he could scarcely have failed

she returned, making a child-like

ss a smile; but the next mome

ee you again? Won't you te

pleasantly with a young man on the highway and another to let him come to her home on Cloudy Mountain. Only too well could she imagine the cool reception, if it stopped at that, that the boys of the camp there would accord to th

e of annoyance had passed over the Californian's face at her seeming reluctance to tell him where she lived. The quick of his Spanish pride was touched; and with a wave of his sombrero he had pul

at Cloudy but what had tried at one time or another to go beyond the stage of good comradeship; but none of them had approached the idealistic vision of the hero that was all the time lying dormant in her mind. Of course, being a girl, and almost a queen in her own little sphere, she accepted their rough homage in a manner that was befitting to such an exal

esist the temptation to put her head out of the stage

usly, his face turned in her direction-horse and rider silhouetted against the western sky