rl, as a mischievous smile flitted about her lips,
"and I am very glad you will accompany me. I shall make you acquainted
with some of my very dear friends."

Carson was forgetting his millions in the mine and letting his mind
wander to the expected joys of entertaining and being entertained by
people of real worth once more. He felt returning pride, and then the
thought of the Frankenstein with the uplifted axe made him groan
inwardly. But pshaw! she did not know--never would know, and what
people do not know will not hurt them, he reasoned.

He felt an increasing admiration for the girl beside him. They were
alone in the wide expanse of valley and had known each other only an
hour, yet this girl was willing to trust to his honor and manhood. And
be it said for Carson, as it may be said for thousands of other men on
the American frontier, he would have yielded his life rather than
betray that sacred trust. Instances like this are common in the West.

As they drove down the main street of Saguache, the passers looked
curiously at the pair in the sleigh and at the dead lion strapped
behind. When they stopped in front of the postoffice, a crowd gathered
around the sleigh. A supple figure edged through the crowd and
addressed the girl:

"Kill it all by yourself, Annie?"

The familiarity with which he spoke nettled the girl, and she turned
her head without answering. The supple figure felt the rebuff and all
the more because others noticed it. He stood his ground, however,
until Carson returned and when he saw his face he quickly drew out of
sight.

"Tomorrow at seven," said Carson, as he bade her good-bye at her
house.

Carson went to his hotel with a lighter heart than he had had for
months. He lit a cigar and sat by the window, then felt for something
in his pocket, and threw it in the wood-box. "There are other jug
handles," he said to himself.

He walked the streets aimlessly until supper. He retired early and
tried to sleep, but his thoughts ran wild on the events of the day. He
could think of no one except Annie. It was still early in the night,
when he arose from a restless bed and went out on the streets. Lights
blazed from the Lone Tree saloon, and as he entered he saw a crowd
about the faro table. The sudden exclamations of many voices told
that some one was winning heavily. He pressed forward through the
crowd and saw the form of a woman. When she partially turned her face,
he felt his heart give a gr