The Mysterious Rider

any one to know. What it cost her to conquer herself again she had only a faint conception

ad not only changed her, but had seemed to give her strength. When she presented herself at th

," he remark

replied

hat you called him. He didn't take much store on what I called him, which was wu

he--the affections of his hear

he old man, pathetic and earnest in

me he would not

ook his gray

comes over him wipes out the promise. I know.... But he's had good excuse fer this break. The b

said Columbine, softening. How

're not agoin' ba

N

d change your mind

eant it. I didn't ma

broke," he said, with the

et broke o

ive up to what he swore by. An' fer a girl--why, I can see how easy she'd change an' grow overnight. It's onl

im to be a better son to you, and more

ays accused me of seein' only my son. Only Buster Jack! I was blind an' deaf as to him!... Wal, I'm not so damn blind as I used to be. The sca

d," she replied. "I'll go

the work she had laid out to do. And she accomplished it, though many times her hands dr

ide, she saw the cowboy Lem w

ill hangin' round this hyar ranch

face my good friends, I've negle

.. You're lookin' pale, I reckon. More like

Pronto. Do you think

nd will do Pronto good. H

me trotting, evidently none the worse for his injuries, and eager to resume the old

ight," said Lem. "You jest be caref

umbine, as she mounted. "Wher

r repairin' fenc

here's

He was skinnin' a lion then, over hyar on the ridge. Thet was in

about the fight yesterday be

quickly. "Nope, I

"I saw it. I was the only one there. Wilson was badly use

other day. Was up to his homestead. An' the boy jest m

stealing. Wils tried to avoid trouble. Then Jack jumped him. Wilson fought and held his o

ide his expression. "Wal, dog-gone m

tell the truth about that fight, but she would have liked to proclaim it to the whole range and to the world. O

rods distant. Sampson thumped the boards with his big tail, but he did not get up, which laziness attested to the fact that there had been a lion chase the day before and he was weary

the solitary beaver that inhabited the valley. Freshly cut willows showed how the beaver was preparing for the long winter ahead. Columbine remembered then how greatly pleased

up into Sage Valley, where Wilson Moore had taken up the homestead property. Fresh horse tracks told her that Wade had ridden along there some time earlier. Pronto shied at the whirri

or so away, and made an attempt at wagging his tail, a function evident

by an aspen-thicketed slope. The brook babbled along under the edge of this thicket. Cattle and horses grazed here and there on the rich, grassy levels, Columbine was surprised to see so many cattle and wondered to whom they belonged. All of Belllounds's stock had been driven lower down for t

could not have chosen a more secluded and beautiful valley for his homesteading adventure. The little gray cabin, with smoke curling from the stone chimney, had lost its look of dilapidation and disuse, yet there was nothing new that C

n. Kane trotted past the hesi

s listening ears in Wade's well-known voice.

ame in a lower voice

gettin' deafer every

ppeared in

lie," he announced, as he

ine, in a voice that had mo

Did you come

w Wilson at the far end of the room, lying under the light of

e replied, advanci

h, right now. Only, I hate to have

glance she did not see him clearly. A mist blurred her sight and there was

inned she looked and looked, and then up to the clean, aspen-poled roof and down to the floor, carpeted with deer hides. The chinks between the logs of the walls were plastered with red clay; the dust and dirt were gone; the place smelled like sage and wood-smoke and fragrant, frying meat. Indeed, there were a glowing bed of embers and a steaming kettle and a smoking pot; and the way the smoke and steam curl

uicker than a flash! Collie, isn't this great? I don't mind being down on my

ude, he suddenly dropped the forked stick he used as a lift, and she saw h

e been sent by Heaven," she remarked, wi

Bent Wade," he replied, with a queer laug

neath them, on pegs, hung a rifle. And on the window-sill stood a glass jar containing columbines. They were fresh.

ughed de

're his favorites as well as mine. It won't be long now till

now gathering and swelling, soon to be reckoned with. She did not look at Wilson's face then. Her d

Why is it al

laughed wit

een Jack th

replied,

you'd know what h

asked, with a queer little s

d that fist on h

she murmured. "Wilson

cheerfully ha

ever meet again

ied Moore, with a dark earnestness t

y sake?" implored Columbine, uncon

ke a coyote. I'll hide and I'll watch.... But, Co

inscrutable eyes upon the cowboy. Columbine saw something beyond his face, deeper than the gloom, a passion and a spirit that

nd she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Ben,

ess to the cowboy, sought to keep up conversation. "Coul

, taking it from under the blan

Columbine,

, with animation. "Say, Collie, our friend

's your dinner. You must s

and help me up on

ip her arms under him and lift him! It recalled a long-forgotten

ddenly becoming aware of how de

of sweat appeared on his bruised b

our foot wa

"It's still on my leg,

ubiously. Without further co

g licked to have t

e!" she

ave you come here and fee

you to be facetious be

d not see her ou

ou're older. You're a woma

to eat?" dema

Eat? Oh yes, sure. I'm powerful hungry.

proximity to him, she was hard put to it to show some dexterity as a nurse. And all the time she was aware of Wade, with his quiet, forceful presence, hovering near. Could he not see her hands trembling?

y more," declare

ine. Then, changing the subject, she asked, "Wilson, yo

es

r cattle down

undred head. I saved my

But who's going to take care of you an

Moore, indicating the little man busy with the ute

ything to eat--or r

elf," he rep

fetch you anything wi

fetch me some jam and a

rely

e. I know your p

morrow. I must go. I h

in bed till yo

had never been so softly, dreamily gray, nor their loneliness so sweet, nor the sky so

asy I'll ketch my horse an'

view was beautiful. The gray, rolling foothills, so exquisitely colored at that hour, and the black-fringed ranges, one above the other, and the d

f the slope W

llounds that I'm carin' for Wils," he

ad? He wouldn't mind. He'd d

as good shape as he thinks. I'm not takin' any chances. I don't want to

ark. Columbine halted her horse, causing her companion to do likewise. Her f

whispered, with a ha

me medicine an' surgery. An' I know. I wouldn't tell you t

me," interposed Columbine

oisonin' an' gangrene. You know gangrene is a dyin' an' rottin' of the flesh.... I told the boy straight out that he'd better let me c

I knew--I knew there was something.... Ben, you mean even

se Wils'll never ride a

straw. Hot tears blinded her, hot blood gushed

all. And now he's ruined! He'll be lame--a cripple--club-footed!... All because of that Jack Belllounds! The

burst into a violent storm of sobs and tears. It shook her every fiber. It was hopeles

and upon her heaving shoulder, but he spoke no word. By and

it seems," he said, softly. "Co

ened," she cried. "It's in me! I don'

thin' happen to him, an' I'm livin' yet, tryin' to help people along. No one dies so easy. Why, you're a f

. But I've--got to marry him!... His father raised me--from a baby. He brought me up. I o

! Lem an' Jim--why you just brighten the hard world they live in. An' that poor, hot-headed Jack--he loves you as well as he can love anythin'. An' the old man--no daughter could be loved more....

errible sense of loss, of grief. There was tenderness in this man's hands, i

mforted, somehow feeling that what he offered was what she

I reckon you'd

d to come to you--to tell you my troubles. I love dad and he loves me, but he does

rippled Wilson Moore.... Lass, don't look like that! Don't deny. You do love that boy.... Well, it's hell. But you can never tell what'll happen when you're honest and square. If you feel it your duty to pay your debt to the old man you call dad--to pay it by marryin' his son, why do it, an' be a woman. There's nothin' as great as a woman can be. There's happiness that comes in strange, unheard-of ways. There's more in this life than what you want most. You didn't place yourself in this fix. So if you meet it with courage an' faithfulness to yourself, why, it'll not turn out as you dread.... Some day,

ear-stained face with

urmured. "You are Heaven-sent