seemed to have been replaced by something
else--determination.

Beneath the drooping mustache Sheila saw the lines of his lips; they had
always seemed hard to her, and now there were little curves at the corners
which hinted at amusement--grim amusement. His eyes, too, were different;
the mockery had departed from them. They were steady and unwavering, as
before, and though they still baffled her, she was certain that she saw a
slumbering devil in them--as though he possessed some mysterious knowledge
and purposed to confound Sheila and her father with it, though in his own
way and to suit his convenience. Yet behind it all there lurked a certain
gravity--a cold deliberation that seemed to proclaim that he was in no
mood to trifle and that he proposed to follow some plan and would brook no
interference.

Fascinated by the change in him Sheila resumed her seat on the edge of the
bunk, watching him closely. He drew a chair over near the door, tilted it
back and dropped into it, thus mutely announcing that he intended keeping
the prisoners until he had delivered himself of that mysterious knowledge
which seemed to be in his mind.

Glancing furtively at her father, Sheila observed that he appeared to have
formed some sort of a conclusion regarding Dakota's actions also, for he
sat very erect on his chair, staring at the latter, an intense interest in
his eyes.

Sheila had become interested, too; she had forgotten her weariness. And
yet Dakota's first words disappointed her--somehow they seemed
irrelevant.

"This isn't such a big world, after all, is it?" He addressed both Sheila
and her father, though he looked at neither. His tone was quietly
conversational, and when he received no answer to his remark he looked up
with a quiet smile.

"That has been said by a great many people, hasn't it? I've heard it many
times. I reckon you have, too. But it's a fact, just the same. The world
_is_ a small place. Take us three. You"--he said, pointing to
Langford--"come out here from Albany and buy a ranch. You"--he smiled at
Sheila--"came with your father as a matter of course. You"--he looked
again at Langford--"might have bought a ranch in another part of the
country. You didn't need to buy this particular one. But you did. Take me.
I spent five years in Dakota before I came here. I've been here five
years.

"A man up in Dakota wanted me to stay there; said he'd do most anything
for me if I would. But I didn't like Dakota; s