ion for Stratton's
society, and when he came to know her better he found her frank, breezy,
and delightfully companionable. He knew perfectly well that unless he
wanted to take a chance of making some tremendous blunder he ought to
avoid any prolonged conversation with the lady. But she was so charming
that every now and then he flung prudence to the winds--and usually
regretted it.

It was not that she said anything definitely disconcerting, but there were
occasional hints and innuendoes, and now and then a question which seemed
innocent enough but which Stratton found difficult to parry. He couldn't
quite make up his mind whether or not she suspected the truth about his
former mental condition, but he had an uncomfortable notion that she
sensed a difference and was trying to find out just where it lay.

Time and again he told himself that at the worst there was nothing
disgraceful in that vanished past. But he had the ordinary healthy man's
horror for the abnormal, and the very fact that it had vanished so utterly
beyond recall made him willing, in order to avoid having it dragged back
into the light and made public property, to do almost anything, even to
being almost rude to a pretty girl.

Thus between escaping Miss Manning and trying to keep an eye on Lynch,
Stratton had his work cut out for him. He knew that sooner or later some
one would be sent out to take a look through the middle pasture, and he
wanted very much to be on hand when the report came back to Lynch that his
plot had miscarried. It was consequently with very bad grace that Buck
received an order to ride in to Paloma one morning for the long-delayed
wagon-bolts and a few necessary supplies from the store.

He felt at once that it was a put-up job to get him out of the way. Only
yesterday Rick Bemis, able at length to ride that distance, had quit the
ranch escorted by Slim McCabe. If anything was really needed the latter
could have brought it back and saved the expense of sending another man
twenty-four hours later.

But there was no reasonable excuse for Buck's protesting, and he held his
tongue. He wished that he had taken Jessup into his confidence about the
blackleg plot, but there was no time for that now. He did manage, on his
way to the corral, to whisper a word or two in passing, urging the
youngster to take particular note of anything that went on during his
absence, but he would have much preferred giving Bud some definite idea of
what