xclaimed triumphantly.

"All right, I'll go." In her heart Dorothy was curious to meet the other
woman and gauge her powers of attraction. "We'll go to-morrow, mother."

Quite satisfied, Mrs. Purnell made some excuse to leave them together,
as she usually did, for her mother heart had traveled farther along the
Road to To-morrow than her daughter's fancy. She secretly hoped that the
young cattleman would some day declare his love for Dorothy and ask for
her hand in marriage.

In reply to the girl's anxious questions Wade told her of what had
happened since their meeting on the trail, as they sat together on the
porch of the little cottage. She was wearing a plain dress of green
gingham, which, somehow, suggested to him the freshness of lettuce. She
laughed a little when he told her of that and called him foolish, though
the smile that showed a dimple in her chin belied her words.

"Then the posse is still at the ranch?" she asked.

"I think so. If they are, we are going to run them off to-morrow
morning, or perhaps to-night. I've had enough of this nonsense and I
mean to meet Moran halfway from now on."

"Yes, I suppose you must," she admitted reluctantly. "But do be careful,
Gordon."

"As careful as I can be under the circumstances," he said cheerfully,
and told her that his chief purpose in coming to see her was to thank
her again for the service she had rendered him.

"Oh, you don't need to thank me for that. Do you know"--she puckered up
her brows in a reflective way--"I've been thinking. It seems very
strange to me that Senator Rexhill and Moran should be willing to go to
such lengths merely to get hold of this land as a speculation. Doesn't
it seem so to you?"

"Yes, it does, but that must be their reason."

"I'm not so sure of that, Gordon. There must be something more behind
all this. That's what I have been thinking about. You remember that when
Moran first came here he had an office just across the street from his
present one?"

"Yes. Simon Barsdale had Moran's present office until he moved to
Sheridan. You were his stenographer for a while, I remember." Wade
looked at her curiously, wondering what she was driving at.

"Moran bought Mr. Barsdale's safe." Her voice sounded strange and
unnatural. "I know the old combination. I wonder if it has been
changed?"

"Lem Trowbridge was saying only this morning," said Wade thoughtfully,
for he was beginning to catch her meaning, "that if we could only ge