e, till
somebody else kills him for you." A few mornings later, as Keith was
going down the street, he met again the "only decent-lookin' gal in
Gumbolt." It was too late for him to turn off, for when he first caught
sight of her he saw that she had seen him, and her head went up, and she
turned her eyes away. He hoped to pass without appearing to know her;
but just before they met, she cut her eye at him, and though his gaze
was straight ahead, she said, "Good morning," and he touched his hat as
he passed. That afternoon he met her again. He was passing on as before,
without looking at her, but she stopped him. "Good afternoon." She spoke
rather timidly, and the color that mounted to her face made her very
handsome. He returned the salutation coldly, and with an uneasy feeling
that he was about to be made the object of another outpouring of her
wrath. Her intention, however, was quite different. "I don't want you to
think I set that man on you; it was somebody else done it." The color
came and went in her cheeks.

Keith bowed politely, but preserved silence.

"I was mad enough to do it, but I didn't, and them that says I done it
lies." She flushed, but looked him straight in the face.

"Oh, that's all right," said Keith, civilly, starting to move on.

"I wish they would let me and my affairs alone," she began.' "They're
always a-talkin' about me, and I never done 'em no harm. First thing
they know, I'll give 'em something to talk about."

The suppressed fire was beginning to blaze again, and Keith looked
somewhat anxiously down the street, wishing he were anywhere except in
that particular company. To relieve the tension, he said:

"I did not mean to be rude to you the other day. Good morning."

At the kind tone her face changed.

"I knew it. I was riled that mornin' about another thing--somethin' what
happened the day before, about Bill," she explained. "Bill's bad enough
when he's in liquor, and I'd have sent him off for good long ago if they
had let him alone. But they're always a-peckin' and a-diggin' at him.
They set him on drinkin' and fightin', and not one of 'em is man enough
to stand up to him."

She gave a little whimper, and then, as if not trusting herself further,
walked hastily away. Mr. Gilsey said to Gordon soon afterwards:

"Well, you've got one friend in Gumbolt as is a team by herself; you've
captured Terp. She says you're the only man in Gumbolt as treats her
like a lady."

Keith was bo