he jackal's spying to scorn and rode away,
bantering, racing, and chasing each other in the saddle, as solely
concerned in their happiness as if there were nothing else of moment
in the whole wide world.

CHAPTER XX

FACING THE MUSIC

They had not underestimated the danger from Sassoon's suspicious
malevolence. He returned next morning to read what further he could
among the rocks. It was little, but it spelled a meeting of two
people--Nan and another--and he was stimulated to keep his eyes and
ears open for further discoveries. Moreover, continuing ease in seeing
each other, undetected by hostile eyes, gradually rendered the lovers
less cautious in their arrangements. The one thing that possessed
their energies was to be together.

De Spain, naturally reckless, had won in Nan a girl hardly more
concerned. Self-reliant, both of them, and instinctively vigilant,
they spent so much time together that Scott and Lefever, who, before a
fortnight had passed after Duke's return home, surmised that de Spain
must be carrying on some sort of a clandestine affair hinting toward
the Gap, only questioned how long it would be before something
happened, and only hoped it would not be, in their own word,
unpleasant. It was not theirs in any case to admonish de Spain, nor
to dog the movements of so capable a friend even when his safety was
concerned, so long as he preferred to keep his own counsel--there are
limits within which no man welcomes uninvited assistance. And de
Spain, in his long and frequent rides, his protracted absences,
indifference to the details of business and careless humor, had
evidently passed within these limits.

What was stage traffic to him compared to the sunshine on Nan's hair;
what attraction had schedules to offer against a moment of her eyes;
what pleasing connection could there be between bad-order wheels and
her low laugh?

The two felt they must meet to discuss their constant perplexities and
the problems of their difficult situation; but when they reached their
trysting-places, there was more of gayety than gravity, more of
nonchalance than concern, more of looking into each other's hearts
than looking into the troublesome future. And there was hardly an
inviting spot within miles of Music Mountain that one or the other of
the two had not waited near.

There were, of course, disappointments, but there were only a few
failures in their arrangements. The difficulties of these fell chiefl