ing, dipped some water from the catch-basin and splashed it over
her face and arms. The cold water dispelled the last vestige of
sleepiness and she stood erect and breathed deeply of the crystal air.
At the farther side of the bowl-like plateau the horses grazed
contentedly, and a tiny black and white woodpecker flew from tree to
tree pecking busily at the bark. Above the edge of the rim-rocks the
high-flung peaks of the Bear Paws belied the half-night's ride that
separated them from the isolated Antelope Butte.

"What a view one should get from the edge!" she exclaimed, and turning
from the spring, made her way through the scraggly timber to the rock
wall beyond. It was not a long climb and five minutes later she stood
panting with exertion and leaned against an upstanding pinnacle of
jagged rock. For a long time she stood wonder-bound by the mighty
grandeur of the panorama that swept before her to lose itself somewhere
upon the dim horizon. Her brain grasped for details. It was all too
big--too unreal--too unlike the world she had known. In sheer
desperation, for sight of some familiar thing, her eyes turned toward
the camp. There was the little white tent, and the horses grazing
beyond. Her elevation carried her range of vision over the jutting
shoulder of rock, and she saw the Texan sitting beside his blankets
drawing on his boots. The blankets were mounded over the forms of the
others, and without disturbing them, the cowboy put on his hat and
started toward the spring. At the sight of the little tent he paused
and Alice saw him stand staring at the little patch of white canvas.
For a long time he stood unmoving, and then, impulsively, his two arms
stretched toward it. The arms were as quickly withdrawn. The Stetson
was lifted from his head and once more it seemed a long time that he
stood looking at the little tent with the soft brim of his Stetson
crushed tightly in his hand.

Evidently, for fear of waking her, the man did not go to the spring,
but retraced his steps and Alice saw him stoop and withdraw something
from his war-bag. Thrusting the object beneath his shirt, he rose
slowly and made his way toward the rim-rock, choosing for his ascent a
steep incline which, with the aid of some rock ledges, would bring him
to the top at a point not ten yards from where she stood.

It was with a sense of guilt that she realized she had spied upon this
man, and her cheeks flushed as she cast about despera