force Lucy to marry Dick to save her father."

"Yes. That's it ... and Pan, my son ... she has consented!"

"So that was what made her act so strange! ... Poor Lucy! Dick
Hardman was a skunk when he was a kid. Now he's a skunk-bitten coyote.
Oh, but this is a mess!"

"Pan, what _can_ you do?" implored his mother.

"Lucy _hasn't_ married him yet? Tell me quick," cried Pan suddenly.

"Oh, no. She has only promised. She doesn't trust those men. She
wants papers signed to clear her father. They laugh at her. But Lucy
is no fool. When she sacrifices herself it'll not be for nothing."

Pan slowly sank down into the chair, and his brooding gaze fastened on
the big blue gun with which Bobby was playing. It fascinated Pan.
Sight of it brought the strange cold sensation that seemed like a wind
through his being.

"Mother, how old is Lucy?" he asked, forcing himself to be calm.

"She's nearly seventeen, but looks older."

"Not of age yet. Yes, she looks twenty. She's a woman, Mother."

"What did Lucy do and say when she saw you?" asked his mother, with a
woman's intense curiosity.

"Ha! She did and said enough," replied Pan radiantly. "I didn't
recognize her. Think of that, Mother."

"Tell me, son," implored Mrs. Smith.

"Mother, she ran right into my arms.... We just met, Mother, and the
old love leaped."

"Mercy, what a terrible situation for you both, especially for Lucy....
Pan, what _can_ you do?"

"Mother, I don't know, I can't think. It's too sudden. But I'll never
let her marry Dick Hardman. Why, only last night I saw a painted
little hussy hanging over him. Bad as that poor girl must be, she's
too good for him.... _He_ doesn't worry me, nor his schemes to get
Lucy. But how to save Jim Blake."

"Pan, you think it can be done?"

"My dear Mother, I know it. Only I can't think now. I'm new here.
And handicapped by concern for you, for Lucy, for Dad.... Lord, if I
was back in the Cimarron--it'd be easy!"

"My boy, don't be too concerned about Lucy, or me or your dad," replied
his mother with surprising coolness. "I mean don't let concern for us
balk you. Thank God you have come home to us. I feel a different
woman. I am frightened, yes. For--for I've heard of you. What a name
for my boy!"

"Well, you're game, Mother," said Pan, with a laugh, as he embraced
her. "That'll help a lot. If only Lucy will be like you."

"She has a heart of fire. Only save her father, Pan,