s were
displayed from beneath the hem of her coarse dungaree habit. Her Stetson
hat was pushed back on her head, leaving the broad low forehead exposed.
Her black waving hair streamed about her face, a perfect framing for
the Van Dyke coloring of her skin. She was very beautiful.

The man shifted his position.

"Tell me," he went on, gazing over towards where a flock of wild ducks
had suddenly settled upon a reedy swamp, and were noisily revelling in
the water, "did your uncle know anything about this?"

"Not a soul on God's earth knew. Did you ever suspect anything?"

Bill shook his head.

"Not a thing. I was as well posted on the subject of Peter as any one.
Sometimes I thought it curious that old John's stock and my own were
never interfered with. But I had no suspicion of the truth. Peter's
relationship to your mother--did the Breeds in the settlement know
anything of it?"

"No--I alone knew."

"Ah!"

The girl looked curiously into her companion's face. The tone of his
exclamation startled her. She wondered towards what end his questions
were leading. His face was inscrutable; she gained no inspiration from
it. There was a short pause. She wondered anxiously how her story had
affected him in regard to herself. After all, she was only a woman--a
woman of strong affections and deep feelings. Her hardihood, her mannish
self-reliance, were but outer coverings, the result of the surroundings
of her daily life. She feared lest he should turn from her in utter
loathing.

The Hon. Bunning-Ford had no such thoughts, however. Twenty-four hours
ago her story might have startled him. But now it was different. His was
as wild and reckless a nature as her own. Law and order were matters
which he regarded in the light of personal inclinations. He had seen too
much of the early life on the prairie to be horrified by the part this
courageous girl had taken in her blood-relative's interests. Under other
circumstances "Lord" Bill might well have developed into a "bad man"
himself. As it was, his sympathies were always with those whose daring
led them into ways of danger and risk of personal safety.

"How far does this valley extend?" he asked abruptly, stepping over as
though to obtain a view of the southern extremity of the mysterious
hollow.

"Guess we reckoned it 300 miles. Dead straight into the heart of the
mountains, then out again sharply into the foot-hills thirty miles south
of the border. It comes to an end in