coming slowly and distinctly.

He had realized before she answered that he had erred, and he smiled
deprecatingly, the effort contorting his face.

"I wasn't meanin' just that," he said weakly. "I reckon it's a clear
field an' no favors." He took a step toward her, his voice growing
tense. "I've been comin' down to your cabin a lot, sayin' that I was
comin' to see Ben. But I didn't come to see Ben--I wanted to look at
you. I reckon you knowed that. A woman can't help but see when a
man's in love with her. But you've never give me a chance to tell you.
I'm tellin' you now. I want you to marry me. I'm range boss for the
Two Diamond an' I've got some stock that's my own, an' money in the
bank over in Cimarron. I'll put up a shack a few miles down the river
an'----"

"Stop!" commanded Miss Radford imperiously.

Leviatt had been speaking rapidly, absorbed in his subject, assurance
shining in his face. But at Miss Radford's command he broke off
suddenly and stiffened, surprise widening his eyes.

"You have said enough," she continued; "quite enough. I have never
thought of you as a possible admirer. I certainly have done nothing
that might lead you to believe I would marry you. I do not even like
you--not even respect you. I am not certain that I shall ever marry,
but if I do, I certainly shall not marry a man whose every look is an
insult."

She turned haughtily and began to gather up her papers. There had been
no excitement in her manner; her voice had been steady, even, and
tempered with a slight scorn.

For a brief space Leviatt stood, while the full significance of her
refusal ate slowly into his consciousness. Whatever hopes he might
have had had been swept away in those few short, pithy sentences. His
passion checked, the structure erected by his imagination toppled to
ruin, his vanity hurt, he stood before her stripped of the veneer that
had made him seem, heretofore, nearly the man he professed to be.

In her note book had been written:

"Dave Leviatt. . . . One rather gets the impression that the stoop is
a reflection of the man's nature, which seems vindictive and suggests a
low cunning. His eyes are small, deep set, and glitter when he talks.
But they are steady and cold--almost merciless. One's thoughts go
instantly to the tiger. I shall try to create that impression in the
reader's mind."

And now as she looked at him she was sure that task would not be
difficult. She had now