great form of the other with a critical
eye, as he returned, "Durned if I don't believe you'd push him
mighty close, if he'd only play fair. But--but I 'lowed you ought
to know it was a comin'."

"I have knowed it for a long time," said the other cheerfully;
"but I heard 'Preachin' Bill' say once, that if a feller don't
fuss about what he knows for sure, the things he don't know ain't
apt to bother him none. It's this here guessin' that sure gets a
man down."

"'Preachin' Bill' hits it every pop, don't he?" exclaimed Jim,
admiringly. "But there's somethin' else you ought to know, too,
Matt. Wash has done made his threats agin the old man down there."

"You mean Dad Howitt?" said Young Matt, sharply. "What's Wash got
agin Dad, Jim?"

Mr. Lane shifted uneasily, "Some fool notion of hisn. You mind old
man Lewis, I reckon?"

The big man's muscles tightened. "Dad told us about his stoppin'
at the ranch the other night. Wash Gibbs better keep his hands off
Mr. Howitt."

"I ain't told nobody about this, Grant, and you can do as you like
about tellin' your father, and the old man. But if anything
happens, get word to me, quick."

Before more could be said, Sammy appeared in the doorway, and soon
the two young people were riding on their way. Long after they had
passed from sight in the depth of the forest, the dark mountaineer
stood at the big gate, looking in the direction they had gone.

Young Matt was like a captive, tugging at his bonds. Mr. Lane's
words had stirred the fire, and the girl's presence by his side
added fuel to the flame. He could not speak. He dared not even
look at her, but rode with his eyes fixed upon the ground, where
the sunlight fell in long bars of gold. Sammy, too, was silent.
She felt something that was strangely like fear, when she found
herself alone with her big neighbor. Now and then she glanced
timidly up at him and tried to find some word with which to break
the silence. She half wished that she had not come. So they rode
together through the lights and shadows down into the valley, the
only creatures in all the free life of the forest who were not
free.

At last the girl spoke, "It's mighty good of you to take me over
to Mandy's to-night. There ain't no one else I could o' gone
with." There was no reply, and Sammy, seeming not to notice,
continued talking in a matter-of-fact tone that soon--for such is
the way of a woman--won him from his mood, and the two chatted
away like the