with the
prospectin'? Found yer dad's claim yet?"

"You ought to know whether I have or not," she retorted, hotly.

"That's so. If you had, you wouldn't still be huntin' it, would you?"

"No. And if I had, I'd have had a nice little race on my hands to file
it, wouldn't I?"

"Well, I expect maybe you would. But that horse of yours is pretty
handy on his feet. Used to belong to Bob Smith--that's his brand--that
KN on the left shoulder."

"Yes," answered the girl, meaningly. "I understand there is only one
horse in the hills that could outrun him."

"Buck can. I won ten dollars off Bob one time. We run a mile, an' Buck
won, easy. But the best thing about Buck, he's a distance horse. He's
got the wind--an' he don't know what it means to quit. He could run
all day if he had to, couldn't you, Buck?" The man stroked the
buckskin's neck affectionately as he talked.

Patty's eyes glinted angrily: "The stakes would have to be pretty
high for you to run him, say, fifty miles, wouldn't they?"

"Yes. Pretty high," he repeated, and changed the subject abruptly.
"Must find it kind of lonesome out here in the hills, after livin' in
the East where there's lots of folks around all the time."

"Oh, not at all," answered the girl, quickly. "Some of my neighbors
are good enough to call on me once in a while--_when I am at home_.
And there is at least _one_ that calls very regularly when I am not at
home. He is a genius for detail--that one. Sharp eyes, and a light
touch. He's something of an expert in the matter of duplicate keys,
too. In any large city he should make a grand success--as a burglar.
It is really too bad that he's wasting his talents, here in the
hills."

"Maybe he figures that the stakes are higher, and the risk less--here
in the hills."

"Of course," sneered Patty. "And I must say his reasoning does him
credit. If he should succeed in burglarizing even the biggest bank in
the richest city, he could not expect to carry off a gold mine. And,
here in the hills, instead of burglar-proof devices and armed
policemen, he has only an unlocked cabin, and a woman to contend
with. Yes, the risk is far less here in the hills. His location speaks
well for his reasoning--if not for his courage."

"I suppose he figures that plenty of brutes have got courage, but only
humans can reason," answered the man, blandly. "But, ridin' out in the
hills this way--that must be a lonesome job."

"Not at all," she answered, in a voice