knowing himself a different man.

"It's a glorious morning," said Bess, in greeting.

"Yes. After the storm the west wind," he replied.

"Last night was I--very much of a baby?" she asked, watching him.

"Pretty much."

"Oh, I couldn't help it!"

"I'm glad you were afraid."

"Why?" she asked, in slow surprise.

"I'll tell you some day," he answered, soberly. Then around the
camp-fire and through the morning meal he was silent; afterward he
strolled thoughtfully off alone along the terrace. He climbed a great
yellow rock raising its crest among the spruces, and there he sat down
to face the valley and the west.

"I love her!"

Aloud he spoke--unburdened his heart--confessed his secret. For an
instant the golden valley swam before his eyes, and the walls waved, and
all about him whirled with tumult within.

"I love her!... I understand now."

Reviving memory of Jane Withersteen and thought of the complications of
the present amazed him with proof of how far he had drifted from his
old life. He discovered that he hated to take up the broken threads, to
delve into dark problems and difficulties. In this beautiful valley he
had been living a beautiful dream. Tranquillity had come to him, and the
joy of solitude, and interest in all the wild creatures and crannies of
this incomparable valley--and love. Under the shadow of the great stone
bridge God had revealed Himself to Venters.

"The world seems very far away," he muttered, "but it's there--and I'm
not yet done with it. Perhaps I never shall be.... Only--how glorious it
would be to live here always and never think again!"

Whereupon the resurging reality of the present, as if in irony of his
wish, steeped him instantly in contending thought. Out of it all he
presently evolved these things: he must go to Cottonwoods; he must bring
supplies back to Surprise Valley; he must cultivate the soil and raise
corn and stock, and, most imperative of all, he must decide the future
of the girl who loved him and whom he loved. The first of these things
required tremendous effort, the last one, concerning Bess, seemed simply
and naturally easy of accomplishment. He would marry her. Suddenly, as
from roots of poisonous fire, flamed up the forgotten truth concerning
her. It seemed to wither and shrivel up all his joy on its hot, tearing
way to his heart. She had been Oldring's Masked Rider. To Venters's
question, "What were you to Oldring?" she had answered with scarlet