him was a woman of thirty, he thought, of tall and
chastely lined figure, with a colorless and rather expressionless face,
though her features were excellent. She wore a tight-fitting dark dress
which seemed to have been made all in one piece, and gave an impression
of prim coldness and careful restraint. The man in the soft hat was
obviously her father. He had gray hair; his face, which was finely
chiseled, suggested a formal, decided, and perhaps domineering,
character; his gray tweed traveling suit was immaculately neat. There was
no doubt that they were English, and Prescott wondered whom they reminded
him of, until the truth flashed upon him with a disconcerting shock--they
were Jernyngham's father and sister!

"Mr. Prescott?" inquired the man.

Prescott bowed, and the teamster, jumping down, handed him two cards.

"I understand that you knew my unfortunate son," the newcomer continued.

"I did," Prescott replied guardedly.

"Then can I have a word or two with you in private?"

Getting down from the binder, Prescott helped the other to alight from
the high wagon; the man was not agile, though he carried himself well.
They walked back some distance along the edge of the wheat. Then the
rancher stopped and from force of habit felt for his pipe.

"I must be to some extent confidential," began Jernyngham. "You must
guess why I came."

The strong light fell searchingly on his face, revealing lines on it
which Prescott thought had lately been deepened by pain, but his eyes
were very keen and hard.

"I suppose the recent calamity brought you," the rancher ventured.

"Yes; I have come to see justice done. But we will not discuss that yet.
We arrived yesterday evening and found it was impossible that my daughter
should be comfortable at the hotel; besides which, it is rather too far
away. I accordingly determined to look for quarters at one of the
ranches, but succeeded in getting shelter for only the one night."

Prescott felt amused. Jernyngham and his daughter were not the kind of
people the somewhat primitive prairie ranchers would welcome; their
request for accommodation was more likely to cause astonishment and
alarm.

"People are very busy, now that harvest's coming on, and they've extra
hands to cook for," he explained.

"I understand," continued Jernyngham, "that my son's homestead is in this
neighborhood, and domestics might be hired; but after what has happened,
I fear my daughter would find livin