ce.
Who could be living in this out-of-the-way spot, in the heart of this
inhospitable desert? It would be no cattle outpost surely, for there was
no surrounding grazing land, while surely no professional hunter would
choose such a barren spot for headquarters. Either a hermit, anxious to
escape all intercourse with humanity, or some outlaw hiding from arrest,
would be likely to select so isolated a place in which to live. To them
it would be ideal. Away from all trails, where not even widely roving
cattlemen would penetrate, in midst of a desert avoided by Indians
because of lack of game,--a man might hide here year after year without
danger of discovery. Yet such a one would not be likely to welcome their
coming, and they were without arms. But Keith was not a man to hesitate
long because of possible danger, and he stepped down into the shallow
water.

"Come on, Neb," he commanded, "and we 'll find out who lives here."

The window faced the west, and he came up the low bank to where the
door fronted the north in intense darkness. Under the shadow of the
cottonwoods he could see nothing, groping his way, with hands extended.
His foot struck a flat stone, and he plunged forward, striking the
unlatched door so heavily as to swing it open, and fell partially
forward into the room. As he struggled to his knees, Neb's black face
peering past him into the lighted interior, he seemed to perceive in one
swift, comprehensive glance, every revealed detail. A lamp burned on
a rudely constructed set of drawers near the window, and a wood fire
blazed redly in a stone fireplace opposite, the yellow and red lights
blending in a peculiar glow of color. Under this radiance were revealed
the rough log walls, plastered with yellow clay, and hung about with
the skins of wild animals, a roughly made table, bare except for a book
lying upon it, and a few ordinary appearing boxes, evidently utilized as
seats, together with a barrel cut so as to make a comfortable chair.
In the back wall was a door, partially open, apparently leading into a
second room. That was all, except the woman.

Keith must have perceived all these in that first hurried glance, for
they were ever after closely associated together in his mind, yet at the
moment he possessed no clear thought of anything except her. She stood
directly behind the table, where she must have sprung hastily at the
first sound of their approach, clutching at the rude mantel above the
firepla