ause I know him. You are one of his men, I presume."

"Not exactly; but is there anything I can do----"

"Oh, thank you, nothing, except that you might tell him the pretty bay
colt he sent over to us has sprung his shoulder."

"He will be sorry to hear it, I'm sure."

"But we are doing everything possible for him. He is going to make a
perfectly lovely horse."

"And whom may I say the message is from?" Though disconcerted, McCloud
was regaining his wits. He felt perfectly certain there was no danger,
if she knew Sinclair and lived in the mountains, but that she would
sometime find out he was not a conductor. When he asked his question
she appeared slightly surprised and answered easily, "Mr. Sinclair
will know it is from Dicksie Dunning."

McCloud knew her then. Every one knew Dicksie Dunning in the high
country. This was Dicksie Dunning of the great Crawling Stone ranch,
most widely known of all the mountain ranches. While his stupidity in
not guessing her identity before overwhelmed him, he resolved to
exhaust the last effort to win her interest.

"I don't know just when I shall see Mr. Sinclair," he answered
gravely, "but he shall certainly have your message."

A doubt seemed to steal over Dicksie at the change in McCloud's
manner. "Oh, pardon me--I thought you were working for the company."

"You are quite right, I am; but Mr. Sinclair is not."

Her eyebrows rose a little. "I think you are mistaken, aren't you?"

"It is possible I am; but if he is working for the company, it is
pretty certain that I am not," he continued, heaping mystification on
her. "However, that will not prevent my delivering the message. By the
way, may I ask which shoulder?"

"Shoulder!"

"Which shoulder is sprung."

"Oh, of course! The right shoulder, and it is sprung pretty badly,
too, Cousin Lance says. How very stupid of me to ride over here for a
freight wreck!"

McCloud felt humiliated at having nothing better worth while to offer.
"It was a very bad one," he ventured.

"But not of the kind I can be of any help at, I fear."

McCloud smiled. "We are certainly short of help."

Dicksie brought her horse's head around. She felt again of the girth
as she replied, "Not such as I can supply, I'm afraid." And with the
words she stepped away, as if preparing to mount.

McCloud intervened. "I hope you won't go away without resting
your horse. The sun is so hot. Mayn't I offer you some sort of
refreshment?"

Dicksie Dunnin