her, and yet he did not regret having done so. It would serve
as a sort of test of her regard, her sympathy. Now as he stood at the
door he hesitated--if it should be bare!

He turned the knob and entered. The effect of the first impression was
exalting, satisfying. All was in order, and the air was deliciously cool
and fragrant, infilled with some rare and delicate odor. Each article
was in its place--she had taken nothing but the finished pictures and
some sketches which she specially needed. Scraps of canvas covered with
splashes of color were pinned about on the walls, the easel stood in the
centre of the room, and her palette and brushes were on the table. The
young soldier closed the door behind him and took a seat in deep
emotion. At that moment he realized to the full his need of her, and his
irreparable loss. All he had suffered before was forgotten--swallowed up
in the empty, hungry ache of his heart. The curtains and draperies were
almost as much a part of her as her dress, and he could not have touched
them at the moment, so intimately personal did they seem.

It appeared that he had not fully understood himself, after all. This
empty temple, where she had lived and worked, these reminders of her
beautiful self, were not to be a solace and a comfort, after all, but a
torture. He felt broken and unmanned, and the aching in his throat grew
to an intolerable pain, and with a reaction to disdain of himself he
rose and went out, closing and locking the door.

XXXI

OUTWITTING THE SHERIFF

Maynard came over just as the wagon was being brought round, and with a
look of concern on his big, red face, began: "Now see here, Curtis,
you'd better take an escort. Those devils may be hanging round the edge
of the reservation. Say the word and I'll send Payne and a squad of
men."

"I don't think it at all necessary, Maynard. I don't want to excite the
settlers, and, besides, the troops are all needed here. I have no fear
of the mob while daylight lasts. They will not attempt to take the man
from me. I leave you in command. Wilson will keep the police out on the
hills and report any movement of the mob."

Maynard saluted. "Very well, Major; when may I look for you to return?"

"Not before to-morrow night. I shall get in by sundown to-day, for it is
all the way down hill; the return will be slower."

"I don't like to see you go away with that cut-throat sheriff."

"I am not alone," said Curtis. "I have two