ny I knowed who was leadin' her. Where you been, girl?"

Sprague was a little, stoop-shouldered old man, with grizzled head and
face, and shrewd gray eyes that beamed kindly on her over his ruddy
cheeks. Ellen did not like the tobacco stain on his grizzled beard nor
the dirty, motley, ragged, ill-smelling garb he wore, but she had
ceased her useless attempts to make him more cleanly.

"I've been herdin' sheep," replied Ellen. "And where have y'u been,
uncle? I missed y'u on the way over."

"Been packin' in some grub. An' I reckon I stayed longer in Grass
Valley than I recollect. But thet was only natural, considerin'--"

"What?" asked Ellen, bluntly, as the old man paused.

Sprague took a black pipe out of his vest pocket and began rimming the
bowl with his fingers. The glance he bent on Ellen was thoughtful and
earnest, and so kind that she feared it was pity. Ellen suddenly
burned for news from the village.

"Wal, come in an' set down, won't you?" he asked.

"No, thanks," replied Ellen, and she took a seat on the chopping block.
"Tell me, uncle, what's goin' on down in the Valley?"

"Nothin' much yet--except talk. An' there's a heap of thet."

"Humph! There always was talk," declared Ellen, contemptuously. "A
nasty, gossipy, catty hole, that Grass Valley!"

"Ellen, thar's goin' to be war--a bloody war in the ole Tonto Basin,"
went on Sprague, seriously.

"War! ... Between whom?"

"The Isbels an' their enemies. I reckon most people down thar, an'
sure all the cattlemen, air on old Gass's side. Blaisdell, Gordon,
Fredericks, Blue--they'll all be in it."

"Who are they goin' to fight?" queried Ellen, sharply.

"Wal, the open talk is thet the sheepmen are forcin' this war. But
thar's talk not so open, an' I reckon not very healthy for any man to
whisper hyarbouts."

"Uncle John, y'u needn't be afraid to tell me anythin'," said Ellen.
"I'd never give y'u away. Y'u've been a good friend to me."

"Reckon I want to be, Ellen," he returned, nodding his shaggy head. "It
ain't easy to be fond of you as I am an' keep my mouth shet.... I'd
like to know somethin'. Hev you any relatives away from hyar thet you
could go to till this fight's over?"

"No. All I have, so far as I know, are right heah."

"How aboot friends?"

"Uncle John, I have none," she said, sadly, with bowed head.

"Wal, wal, I'm sorry. I was hopin' you might git away."

She lifted her face. "Shore y'u don't think I'd run o