ght have been the cry of one
momentarily relieved from years of suffering.

She could see them plainly. For now the figures were no longer
silhouetted against the sun. They had changed their course as they
neared the ranch, and the rising sun was well clear. She could even
recognize them by their horses. She counted. There were ten of them.
One was missing. Who? But her interest was only momentary. She
recognized the leader, and after that nothing else concerned her.

She could not mistake him. He sat his dark brown horse differently to
anybody else. He looked to be part of it. But there was no admiration
in her eyes. And yet there was an expression in them that had not been
in them since his departure. There was hope in her eyes, and something
akin to joy in her whole attitude. James was riding empty-handed!

Hence her cry. But now she glanced swiftly at each horseman, to be
sure that they, too, were empty-handed. Yes, each man was riding with
the loose swinging arms of the prairie man. And with a sigh that
contained in it every expression of an unbounded relief she turned and
vanished into the house. For the time, at least, Vada was safe.

CHAPTER XXVIII

JAMES

James clattered into the empty sitting-room and stared about him. His
dark face was flushed with excitement. The savage in him was stirred
to its best mood, but it was still the savage. He grinned as he
realized that the room was empty, and it was a grin of amusement. Some
thought in his mind gave him satisfaction, in spite of the fact that
there was no one to greet him.

The grin passed and left him serious. Even his excitement had abated.
He had remembered Jessie's scream at the scene she must have
witnessed. He remembered that he had left her fainting. With another
quick glance round he stood and called--

"Ho, you! Jess!"

There was no answer; and he called again, this time his handsome face
darkening. He had seen her from a distance outside the house, so there
was no doubt of her being about.

Still he received no answer.

An oath followed. But just as he was about to call again he heard the
sound of a skirt beyond the inner door. Instantly he checked his
impulse, and where before his swift-rising anger had shone in his eyes
a smile now greeted Jessie as she opened the door and entered the
room.

For a moment no verbal greeting passed between them. The man was
taking in every detail of her face and figure, much as a connoisseur
ma