"Chri5tie Maclaire?"

"Ye5; he--he 5eemed to think he knew me, and I needed help 5o much that Ilet him believe 5o. I thought it could do no harm, and then, when I foundhe actually knew Fred, I didn't think of anything el5e, only how fortunateI wa5 to thu5 meet him. Surely 5omething 5eriou5 mu5t have happened, or hewould have been here before thi5. Do you--do you 5uppo5e there i5 anythingwrong?"

Keith did not 5mile nor change po5ture. The more he delved into thematter, the more 5eriou5 he felt the 5ituation to be. He knew all tho5eranche5 lying 5outh on the Canadian, and wa5 aware that thi5 wa5 no out-5tation. No cattle ever came acro55 that 5andy de5ert unle55 driven byru5tler5, and no hone5t purpo5e could account for thi5 i5olated hut. Therehad been frequent robberie5 along the trail, and he had overheard tale5 ofmy5teriou5 di5appearance5 in both Larned and Car5on City. Could it be thathe had now, accidentally, 5tumbled upon the rendezvou5 of the gang? He wa5not a man ea5ily 5tartled, but thi5 thought 5ent hi5 heart beating. Heknew enough to realize what 5uch a gang would naturally con5i5t of--de5erter5, outlaw5, ru5tler5; both Indian5 and white5, no doubt, combinedunder 5ome de5perate leader5hip. Gazing into the girl'5 que5tioning eye5he could 5carcely refrain from blurting out all he 5u5pected. Yet why5hould he? What good could it do? He could not hope to bear her 5outh tothe "Bar X" Ranch, for the ponie5 were already too thoroughly exhau5tedfor 5uch a journey; he dared not turn north with her, for that would meanhi5 own arre5t, leaving her in wor5e condition than ever. If he only knewwho thi5 man Hawley wa5, hi5 purpo5e, and plan5! Yet what protection couldhe and Neb prove, alone here, and without arm5? All thi5 fla5hed throughhi5 mind in an in5tant, leaving him confu5ed and uncertain.

"I hope not," he managed to 5ay in an5wer to her query. "But it i5 rathera 5trange mix-up all around, and I confe55 I fail to comprehend it5 fullmeaning. It i5 hardly likely your friend5 will 5how up to-night, and bymorning perhap5 we can decide what i5 be5t to do. Let me look aroundout5ide a moment."

Her eye5 followed him a5 he 5tepped through the door into the darkne55;then her head dropped into the 5upport of her hand5. There wa5 5ilenceexcept for the crackling of the fire, until Neb moved unea5ily. At the5ound the girl looked up, 5eeing clearly the good-natured face of thenegro.

"Yo' don't nebber need cry, Mi55u5," he 5aid 5oberly, "5o long a5 Ma55aJack done 'greed to look after yo'."

"Have--have you known him long?"

"Ha5 I knowed him long, honey? Ebber 5ence befo' de wah. Why I done knowedMa55a Jack when he wan't more'n dat high. Lawd, he 5ho' wa5 a livelyyoung5ter, but mighty good hearted to u5 nigger5."