under false pretenses. Perhaps you think I'm an English nobleman
in disguise. But I'm not--I'm just a plain dub of a forest ranger,
ninety dollars a month and board myself."

She laughed at his disclaimer, and yet under her momentary lightness he
still perceived something of the strong current of bitter sadness which
had so profoundly moved him at the inquest and which still remained
unexplained; therefore he hesitated about referring to the Watson case.

As he ate, she stood to serve him, but not with the air of a
serving-maid; on the contrary, though her face was bronzed by the winds,
and her hands calloused by spade and hoe, there was little of the rustic
in her action. Her blouse, cut sailor fashion at the throat, displayed a
lovely neck (also burned by the sun), and she carried herself with the
grace of an athlete. Her trust and confidence in her visitor became more
evident each moment.

"No," she said in answer to his question. "We hardly ever have visitors.
Now and then some cowboy rides past, but you are almost the only caller
we have ever had. The settlers in the valley do not attract me."

"I should think you'd get lonesome."

She looked away, and a sterner, older expression came into her face. "I
do, sometimes," she admitted; then she bravely faced him. "But my health
is so much better--it was quite broken when I came--that I have every
reason to be thankful. After all, health is happiness. I ought to be
perfectly content, and I am when I think how miserable I once was."

"Health is cheap with me," he smilingly replied. "But I get so lonesome
sometimes that I pretty near quit and go out. Do you intend to stay here
all winter?"

"We expect to."

He thought it well to warn her. "The snow falls deep in this
valley--terribly deep."

She showed some uneasiness. "I know it, but I'm going to learn to
snow-shoe."

"I wish you'd let me come over and teach you."

"Can you snow-shoe? I thought rangers always rode horseback."

He smiled. "You've been reading the opposition press. A forest ranger
who is on the job has got to snow-shoe like a Canuck or else go down the
valley after the snow begins to fall. It was five feet deep around my
cabin last year. I hate to think of your being here alone. If one of you
should be sick, it would be--tough. Unless you absolutely have to stay
here, I advise you to go down the creek."

"Perhaps our neighbors and not the snow will drive us out," she replied.
"They've alrea