s that she had been quite swept off her feet. Transley had interpreted her submission as assent, and she had not

t and your blessing! Zen and I are to b

mutely by and let Transley and her father interpret her silence as consent. She was not sure that she was sorry; she was not sure but she would have consented anyway; but Transley had taken the matter quite out of

e was sorry; and he could not see hers, for which she was glad. T

come to that, but I didn't reckon

ng, as he shook Y.D.'s hand. "I wouldn't trade places with a

even if a bit obstrep'rous at times. She's got spirit, Transley,

onal; she had known him to face matters of life and death without the quiver of an eyelid, but as he held her there in his arms that n

n; the room which had been the nucleus of the Y.D. estate. There was a colored cover on the table, and the shaded oil lamp in the centre sent a comfortable glow

ered the room and took her

a good husband. He is a man of energy, like your father. He will do well. You will not know the

this means to me, Zenith," her mother said,

ld not remember what she had said, but she knew she had talked with unusual vivacity and charm. It was as though certain storehouses of brilliance in her being, of which she h

erstand the strange docility which had come over her; the unprecedented willingness to have her course shaped by another. That strange willingness came as near to frightening Zen as anything had ever done. She felt that she was being carried along in a st

She respected the judgment of her father and her mother, and both of them believed in Transley. He would succeed; he would seize the opportunities this youn

em definite form-but in these dark moments she feared that she was being tricked, that the whole thing was a sham which she would discover when it was too late. She did not suspect her m

mind. But he would not stay out of it. It was about that fact that her misgivings seemed most to centre. When she would be thinking of Transley, and wondering about the future, suddenly she would discover that she was not thinking of Transley, but of Dennison Grant. These

in common: their physical perfection and their fearless, self-confident manner. With these exceptions they seemed to be complete contradictions. The ambitious Transley worshipped success; the philosophical Grant despised it. That difference in attitude toward the world and its affairs was a ridge

they had spent together, marooned like shipwrecked sailors on a rock in the foothills. His attentiveness, his courtesy, his freedom from any conventional restraint, his manly respect which was so much greater than conventional restraint-all these came back to her with a poignant tenderness. She pictured T

had given no evidence of thinking more of her than of any other girl whom he might have met. He had been chivalrous only. She had s

any man but Transley. It was true he had stampeded her, but she had accepted the situation in which s

pportunity to discuss the plans for the future, but Zen took it for granted that Transley would build in town. He was so enthusiastic over the possibilities of that young and bustling centre of population that there was no doubt he would want to throw in his lot with it. This prospect was quite pleasing to the girl; it would leave her within easy distance of her old home; i

f a dream from which he would awaken presently among his herds in the foothills. After three days he bought a property. Before he left he sold it at a profit greater than the earnings of his first five years on the ranch. It would be indeed a stubbor

at the last moment business matters developed which required hi

"I should deliver it my

," he promised. "Wasn't much of these fancy trimmin's when I settled into do

ess will stand for it.

exasperating silence until supper was finished

he explained. "He'll be here him

she tempted herself for minutes before she would finally open it, whetting the appetite of anticipation to the full.... The g

had been carried off her feet-swept into the position in which she found herself-that explanation would not apply to the deliberate placing of his ring upon her finger.

ave done. What was one day of business, more or less? Yet Zen gathered no hint from that incident that always, with T

ittle fingers; held it so the rays of the sun fell through the win

d, pursing her lips firmly, "and

that and all it meant. Then s

inger where it belonged. There she gazed upon it for a moment, as though fascinated by it. Th

ten, and it was only by an unwilling effort at such times that she could bring herself to know that it was not unreal. It was a matter that concerned her tremendously. Sooner or later Drazk's disappearance must be noted,-perhaps his body would be found-and while she had little fear that any

sky he said, "Did you know, Zen, that Drazk has disappeared? Transley tells me yo

ion that she was unable to answer. The color went from her fa

en lost from the herd. "Transley said to tell you Drazk had disapp

," she managed to say. "

steers on her third finger you're sort o' short this mornin'. Now I'm jus' wonderin' how

sappearance, or he would not approach the matter with such unconcern. That was unthinkable. Neither could Transle

question dema

care?" she vent

you cared. I asked you w

. I don't know that I have any occasion t

don't jump to conclusions, perhaps other people wo

n desperation, "wh

to Transley," her father continued with remarka

.," his wife remonstrated. "You

ndson stacks, so it was natural enough to suspec' Y.D. or some of his sympathizers. Well it wasn't Y.D., an' I reckon it wasn't Zen, an' it wasn't Transley nor Linder an' every one of the gang's accounted for excep' Drazk. Drazk thought he was doin' a great piece of busine

accepted readily by those who knew Drazk. She would not trust herself in further convers

The rock reminded her of the one on which she and Grant had sat that night while the thin red lines of fire played far up

that neither saw the other until he was well into the river. Although she had had no dream of seeing him here, in some way she felt no surprise. Her heart was behaving boisterously, but she sat outwardly demure, and

water he dismounted and walk

leasure," he said. "How

ut it gets tired as the day wea

t of somewhat emb

ized rock," he su

And here in the

ody a slight hitch, as though to make room, although

er up in the foothills," he

that? It WAS lik

people sit

..

e this,

You know I didn't i

se not.

it as though it were a

other. She could feel the pressure of Transley's

e in particular

in, this time at close quarters. It was a qu

moo

oking down in the wate

oubled!" h

my ankle hur

athetically. "But not

gh. "What a mind reader you

e to read it

nded her hand, but

l have to read it

me." She did s

r his long gaze had begun to whip the c

nd after a long while she heard

would not be offended. We are only chance a

t moment something came to her of Transley's speech about love bei

e offended at your reading

great deal of happiness in his simple, unconventional life. Until a short time ago he felt that life could give him all the happiness that was worth having. He had health,

ight a great thing-two great things-came into his life. First was something he gave. Not very much, indeed, but typical of all it might be. It was service. And next was something he received, something so wonderful he did not understand it then,

, and her voice wa

-those gates can never be closed-no matter where the paths may lead. Those two paths go down to the future-as all paths must-even as this roa

ed her face he saw that her eyes we

and would have taken her in them, but she thrust her hands in his and held herself back. She turned the diamond deliberatel

t think I am shallow; that I let you suffer to gratify my vanity." Her eyes found his again. "If I had not believed every word you sa

he was not going to answer her at all. Wh

" he said. "I shoul

I know.

straight at her

such concession in return. I hope you will not think me presumptuous, but I do n

ould hold herself aloof from him. But he was a man who had broken with his family and quarrelled with her father-a man whom her father would certainly not for a moment consider as a son-in-law. He was a foreman; practically a ranch hand. Neither Zen nor her father were snobs, and if Grant worked for a living, so did Transley. That was not to be counted aga

ised," she s

e that he was still standing near, as though waiting to be formally dismissed. She walked by him to her

ept over her. She drew her foot from the stirrup, a

. "I must go. We must

n the valley while Zen rode back to the