gloved hands about his body, and looked up at the sky to see
whether the sun would presently shine and send a little warmth to this
bleak land where he wandered. He blamed the girl for all of this
discomfort, and he told himself that the next time a woman appeared
within his range of vision he would ride way around her. They invariably
brought trouble; of various sorts and degrees, it is true, but trouble
always. It was perfectly safe, he decided, to bank on that. And he
wished, more than ever, that he had not improvidently given that pint of
whisky to a disconsolate-looking sheep-herder he had met the day before
on his way out from town; or that he had put two flasks in his pocket
instead of one. In his opinion a good, big jolt right now would make a
new man of him.

Rambler, as he had half expected, was obliged to do his walking with
three legs only; which is awkward for a horse accustomed to four
exceedingly limber ones, and does not make for speed, however great
one's hurry. Ford walked around him twice, scooped water in his hands,
and once more bathed the shoulder--not that he had any great faith in
cold water as a liniment, but because there was nothing else that he
could do, and his anxiety and his pity impelled service of some sort. He
rubbed until his fingers were numb and his arm aching, tried him again,
and gave up all hope of leading the horse to a ranch. A mile he might
manage, if he had to but ten! He rubbed Rambler's nose commiseratingly,
straightened his forelock, told him over and over that it was a darned
shame, anyway, and finally turned to pick up his saddle. He could not
leave that lying on the prairie for inquisitive kit-foxes to chew into
shoestrings, however much he might dread the forty-pound burden of it on
his shoulders. He was stooping to pick it up when he saw a bit of paper
twisted and tied to the saddle-horn with a red ribbon.

"Lordy me!" he ejaculated ironically. "The lady left a note on my
pillow--and I never received it in time! Now, ain't that a darned
shame?" He plucked the knot loose, and held up the ribbon and the note,
and laughed.

"'When this reaches you, I shall be far away, though it breaks my heart
to go and this missive is mussed up scandalous with my bitter tears.
Forgive me if you can, and forget me if you have to. It is better thus,
for it couldn't otherwise was,'" he improvised mockingly, while his
chilled fingers fumbled to release the paper, which was evidently a lea