goin' to to-night."

Rushing to Echo's defense Polly answered: "She may or may not have
loved Dick Lane, but I know that she loves Jack Payson now with all her
heart and, even if the 'Paches did not get your brother, he's as dead
to her as if they had."

Polly was startled and confused by Bud's accusations. Accordingly, it
was a relief to her when Payson appeared on the scene. They had been
so interested in their conversation that they did not hear him ride up
to the house. "Hello, Polly! Hello, Bud!" were his cordial greetings,
for he was determined to ignore his former employee's hostility. Bud
did not answer, but looked moodily on the ground.

To Eastern eyes Payson's wedding-attire would appear most incongruous.
About his waist was strapped a revolver. His riding-trousers,
close-fitting and corded, were buttoned over the calves of his legs.
Soft, highly polished leather boots reached to his knees. His shirt
was of silk, deeply embroidered down the front and at the collar. His
jacket gave him ample breathing-room about the chest, but tapered at
the waist and clung closely over the hips. He wore a sombrero and a
knotted silk handkerchief. His face was deeply sunburned, except a
spot shaped like crescent just below the hairline on the forehead,
which was protected from the sun by the hat and the shade of the brim.
A similar line of fairer skin ran around the edge of the scalp,
beginning over the ears. His hair shaded the upper part of his neck
from the sun's rays. When his hair was trimmed the untanned part
showed as plainly as if painted. It is the mark of the plainsman in a
city or on a holiday.

"Well, it's about time that you got here," said Polly, with a sigh of
relief. "Where have you been?"

"I stopped over to Sam Terrill's to see about something that I ordered
from Kansas City. Then I had to go back to my ranch--"

Bud started guiltily. Forgetting his determination to ignore Payson,
he asked anxiously. "You didn't see Terrill, did you?"

"Oh, yes. Why do you ask?"

Polly laid her hand on Payson's arm and told him briefly of the
shooting of Terrill.

"Who shot him?" he asked, when she had finished.

"They don't know--he was robbed of a pile of money--Slim Hoover's just
rode over to get a posse," she replied, looking toward the door. At
this bit of information Payson became anxious about the plans for his
wedding. The ceremony was uppermost in his mind at the time.

"Well, he can