ing of the wagon and the disposal of the various boxes on the
floor within; but as nothing she said during the process was calculated
to afford the least enlightenment in regard to their contents, he
presently wearied of his inaction and turned back towards the highway,
comforting himself with the reflection that in a few short hours he
would have her to himself when nothing but a blunder on his part should
hinder him from sounding her young mind and getting such answers to his
questions as the affair in which he was so deeply interested, demanded.

XXVI. SWEETWATER RETURNS

"You see me again, Miss Scott. I hope that yesterday's intrusion has not
prejudiced you against me."

"I have no prejudices," was her simple but firm reply. "I am only
hurried and very anxious. The doctor is with Mr. Brotherson just now;
but he has several other equally sick patients to visit and I dare not
keep him here too long."

"Then you will welcome my abruptness. Miss Scott, here is a letter from
Mr. Challoner. It will explain my position. As you will see, his
only desire is to establish the fact that his daughter did not commit
suicide. She was all he had in the world, and the thought that she
could, for any reason, take her own life is unbearable to him. Indeed,
he will not believe she did so, evidence or no evidence. May I ask if
you agree with him? You have seen Miss Challoner, I believe. Do you
think she was the woman to plunge a dagger in her heart in a place as
public as a hotel reception room?"

"No, Mr. Sweetwater. I'm a poor working girl, with very little education
and almost no knowledge of the world and such ladies as she. But
something tells me for all that, that she was too nice to do this. I
saw her once and it made me want to be quiet and kind and beautiful
like her. I never shall think she did anything so horrible. Nor will Mr.
Brotherson ever believe it. He could not and live. You see, I am talking
to you as if you knew him,--the kind of man he is and just how he feels
towards Miss Challoner. He is--" Her voice trailed off and a look,
uncommon and almost elevated, illumined her face. "I will not tell you
what he is; you will know, if you ever see him."

"If the favourable opinion of a whole town makes a good fellow, he ought
to be of the best," returned Sweetwater, with his most honest smile. "I
hear but one story of him wherever I turn."

"There is but one story to tell," she smiled, and her head drooped
sof