of his heart. He
experienced a singular exhilaration. That moment had been the one for
which he had been ripe, the event upon which strange circumstances had
been rushing him.

With a couple of strides he turned the corner. Laddy and Lash were
there talking to a man of burly form. Seen by day, both cowboys were
gray-haired, red-skinned, and weather-beaten, with lean, sharp
features, and gray eyes so much alike that they might have been
brothers.

"Hello, there's the young fellow," spoke up the burly man. "Mr. Gale,
I'm glad to meet you. My name's Belding."

His greeting was as warm as his handclasp was long and hard. Gale saw a
heavy man of medium height. His head was large and covered with
grizzled locks. He wore a short-cropped mustache and chin beard. His
skin was brown, and his dark eyes beamed with a genial light.

The cowboys were as cordial as if Dick had been their friend for years.

"Young man, did you run into anything as you came out?" asked Belding,
with twinkling eyes.

"Why, yes, I met something white and swift flying by," replied Dick.

"Did she see you?" asked Laddy.

"I think so; but she didn't wait for me to introduce myself."

"That was Nell Burton, my girl--step-daughter, I should say," said
Belding. "She's sure some whirlwind, as Laddy calls her. Come, let's
go in and meet the wife."

The house was long, like a barracks, with porch extending all the way,
and doors every dozen paces. When Dick was ushered into a
sitting-room, he was amazed at the light and comfort. This room had
two big windows and a door opening into a patio, where there were
luxuriant grass, roses in bloom, and flowering trees. He heard a slow
splashing of water.

In Mrs. Belding, Gale found a woman of noble proportions and striking
appearance. Her hair was white. She had a strong, serious, well-lined
face that bore haunting evidences of past beauty. The gaze she bent
upon him was almost piercing in its intensity. Her greeting, which
seemed to Dick rather slow in coming, was kind though not cordial.
Gale's first thought, after he had thanked these good people for their
hospitality, was to inquire about Mercedes. He was informed that the
Spanish girl had awakened with a considerable fever and nervousness.
When, however, her anxiety had been allayed and her thirst relieved,
she had fallen asleep again. Mrs. Belding said the girl had suffered
no great hardship, other than mental, and would very soon b