on brought the two rough
suitors of the night before, and two more equally crude. Mrs. Dick, to
Beth's intense uneasiness, regarded the matter as one to be expected,
and quite in accord with reason and proper regulations. A good-looking
girl in camp, with her men-folks all giving her the go-by--and what
could you expect? Moreover, as some of these would-be courtiers were
husky and in line for fortune's smile, with chances as good as any
other man's, she might do worse than let them come, and hear what they
had to say. It was no girl's need to be neglected as Searle and Van
were patently neglecting Beth.

This was the stage in which Beth at length began to meditate on Spartan
remedies. The situation was not to be endured. No word had come from
Searle. The world might have swallowed him up. She was sick of
him--sick of his ways of neglect. And as for Van----

There was no one to whom she could turn--unless it were Glen. If only
she could flee to her brother! She thought about it earnestly. She
tried to plan the way.

Her horse was at the hay-yard. Starlight was only one day off in the
desert. The convicts were no longer about. If only she could ride
there--even alone! An early start--a little urging of the pony--she
could fancy the journey accomplished with the utmost ease; then
scornful defiance, both of Bostwick and of Van.

But a woman--riding in this lawless land alone! She was utterly
disheartened, disillusionized at the thought. It would be no less than
madness. And yet, it seemed as if she must presently go. Searle's
silence, coupled to conditions here, was absolutely intolerable.

With plans decidedly hazy--nothing but a wild, bright dream really
clear--she questioned Billy Stitts concerning the roads. He was
familiar with every route in miles, whether roadway, trail, or "course
by compass," as he termed trackless cruising in the desert. He gave
her directions with the utmost minutae of detail as to every highway to
Starlight. He drew her a plan. She was sure that she could almost
ride to Starlight in the dark. What branches of the road to shun,
which trails to choose, possibly, for gaining time, what places to
water a famishing horse--all these and more she learned with feverish
interest.

"Now a man would do this," and "a man would do that," said Billy time
after time, till a new, fantastic notion came bounding full-fledged
into Beth's anxious brain and almost made her laugh with