h Protectionist tendencies,
but it galled him to be offered a woman's charity, and the words "If
you would care to earn it," left a sting. Nevertheless, he reflected
that any superfluous sensitiveness would be distinctly out of place in
one of his position, and, considering the wages paid in that country,
the man who rolled the boulder clear would well earn his dollar.
Accordingly he answered: "I should be glad to remove the rock, if I
can."

The two young women turned back towards the ranch, and Thurston
followed respectfully, as far as possible in the rear, that they might
not observe the condition of his attire. This was an entirely
superfluous precaution, for Helen's keen eyes had noticed.

Reaching the ranch, Geoffrey possessed himself of a grub-hoe, which is
a pick with an adz-shaped blade with an ax and shovel; also he returned
with the girls to the boulder. For an hour or two he toiled hard,
grubbing out hundredweights of soil and gravel from round about the
rock. Then cutting a young fir he inserted the butt of it as a lever,
and spent another thirty minutes focusing his full strength on the
opposite end. The rock, however, refused to move an inch, and, because
a few crackers are not much for a hungry man to work on after an
all-night march, Thurston became conscious that he had a headache and a
distressful stitch in his side. Still, being obstinate and filled with
an unreasoning desire to prove his trustworthiness to his fair
employer, he continued doggedly, and after another hour's digging found
the stone still immovable. Then it happened that while, with the
perspiration dripping from him, he tugged at the lever, the rancher who
had rebuffed him that morning, drew rein close beside.

"Hello! What are you after now? You're messing all this trail up if
you're doing nothing else," he declared in a tone of challenge.

"If you have come here to amuse yourself at my expense, take care. I'm
not in the mood for baiting," answered Thurston, who still smarted
under the recollection of the summary manner in which the speaker had
rejected his proffered services. "There are, however, folks in this
country more willing to give a stranger a chance than you, and I've
taken a contract to remove that rock for a dollar. Now, if you are
satisfied, ride on your way."

"Then you've made a blame bad bargain," commented the rancher, with
unruffled good humor. "I was figuring that I might help you. I
thought you