too much for
her, and it was trying to spend the greater portion of her time in
Muriel's society. She was filled with a jealous hatred of the girl, and
felt that it would be a relief to be alone a while. The air was still,
bright sunshine flooded the plain, the thick driving-robe kept her
comfortably warm; and, lost in painful thought, she had driven farther
than she intended when she turned back. On doing so, she noticed that she
had left the beaten trail and she looked about timidly. The sun was low,
a gray dimness had crept across the eastern half of the prairie where the
homestead lay and a piercing wind was springing up. There was nobody in
sight and no sign of a house, and she could not remember which of the
bluffs that stretched in wavy lines across the waste she had passed.

She drove on toward the east, eagerly looking for the trail, while the
horse broke through the thin snow-crust and the sleigh ran heavily, until
she reached a slope leading to a frozen swamp. It was of some extent, and
she grew anxious, for she had not seen the spot before. The country ahead
was more broken, rolling in low rises with short pines on their summits,
and it was with unfeigned satisfaction that she saw a man crossing one of
the ridges. He answered when she called and in a few minutes she stopped
close beside him. He was a tall man, wearing an old fur coat and
dilapidated fur cap; a rancher, she thought.

"Can you tell me where Leslie's house is?" she asked.

"Sure," said Wandle, pointing toward the east. "But as it will be dark
before you get there, you had better let me put you on the trail. You'll
have to cross these sandhills, and as the snow's blown off in places,
it's rough traveling."

Gertrude thanked him, and she was glad that he led the team as they
crossed the broken belt, picking out the smoothest course among the
clumps of birches and low steep ridges. At times he had difficulty in
urging the horses up a bank of frozen sand, but after a while he looked
around at her.

"You're Miss Jernyngham?" he said. "Guess you must have had a mighty
trying time?"

His tone was respectful and, though he was a stranger, Gertrude could not
resent the allusion to her troubles. She had generally found the western
ranchers blunt.

"Yes," she replied; "my father and I have had much to bear."

Wandle made a gesture of sympathy.

"The mystery's the worst--it's easier to face a trouble one knows all
about. What have the police bee