r the rattle of
wheels sank into the silence of the prairie, the girl Maud Barrington
had spoken to rejoined her companion.

"Could Courthorne have seen you coming in?" he asked.

"Yes," said the girl, blushing. "He did."

"Then it can't be helped, and, after all, Courthorne wouldn't talk,
even if he wasn't what he is," said the lad. "You don't know why, and
I'm not going to tell you, but it wouldn't become him."

"You don't mean Maud Barrington?" asked his companion.

"No," said the lad, with a laugh. "Courthorne is not like me. He has
no sense. It's quite another kind of girl, you see."

CHAPTER XXII

COLONEL BARRINGTON IS CONVINCED

It was not until early morning that Courthorne awakened from the stupor
he sank into soon after Winston conveyed him into his homestead.
First, however, he asked for a little food, and ate it with apparent
difficulty. When Winston came in he looked up from the bed where he
lay, with the dust still white upon his clothing, and his face showed
gray and haggard in the creeping light.

"I'm feeling a trifle better now," he said; "still, I scarcely fancy I
could get up just yet. I gave you a little surprise last night?"

Winston nodded. "You did. Of course, I knew how much your promise was
worth, but in view of the risks you ran, I had not expected you to turn
up at the Grange."

"The risks!" said Courthorne, with an unpleasant smile.

"Yes," said Winston wearily, "I have a good deal on hand I would like
to finish here and it will not take me long, but I am quite prepared to
give myself up now, if it is necessary."

Courthorne laughed. "I don't think you need, and it wouldn't be wise.
You see, even if you made out your innocence, which you couldn't do,
you rendered yourself an accessory by not denouncing me long ago. I
fancy we can come to an understanding which would be pleasanter to both
of us."

"The difficulty," said Winston, "is that an understanding is useless
when made with a man who never keeps his word."

"Well," said Courthorne dryly, "we shall gain nothing by paying each
other compliments, and whether you believe it or otherwise, it was not
by intention I turned up at the Grange. I was coming here from a place
west of the settlement, and you can see that I have been ill if you
look at me. I counted too much on my strength, couldn't find a
homestead where I could get anything to eat, and the rest may be
accounted for by the execrable brandy I had