"Stop! I'm going away to find your brother."

"One can understand your going away!" she flung back at him as she passed
on down the hall.

Prescott drove home at a reckless pace. Facing the situation boldly, he
recognized that the outlook was very dark.

CHAPTER XII

PRESCOTT'S FLIGHT

Two days after the arrival of the Colstons, Gertrude Jernyngham walked
down the trail from the Leslie homestead in a very bitter mood. During
the last few weeks her cold nature had kindled into sudden warmth; love
had most unexpectedly crept into her heart. At first she had struggled
against and been ashamed of it, for its object was a man beneath her in
rank and of widely different mode of thought; but by degrees the judgment
she had hitherto exercised had given place to passion. After the narrow,
conventional life she had led, there was a strange exhilaration and
excitement in yielding to her impulses; the virility of Prescott's
character and his physical perfection stirred her. She desired him and
had boldly used such charms as she possessed in his subjugation. Misled
by his gentleness, she imagined him responsive, and then Muriel had
appeared on the scene and the truth was plain to her when she saw his
face light up at sight of the girl. She had read warm love in his eager
glance.

Now Gertrude was crushed and humbled. She had cheapened herself, as she
thought of it, to this rancher, only to find that he preferred another.
Her punishment was severe, but she felt that it was deserved, and her
ripening passion had turned to something very much like hate. Whether he
had really had any hand in her brother's death was a point she would not
calmly reason out, though she had a half-conscious feeling that he could
not be charged with this. She wanted to think him base: to believe in his
guilt would be an excuse for making him suffer.

While she walked, she cast quick glances across the waste of grass,
looking for a mounted figure that did not appear, until at last she
turned with a start at the sound of footsteps as Muriel came up.

"I saw you alone and thought I would join you," Muriel said.

"It's a relief to be by oneself now and then," Gertrude answered with
curt ungraciousness.

"One can understand that. I tried to give Harry a hint that our visit
might be an intrusion, when he talked of joining your father; but he
thought it would be some comfort for you to have your friends about you."

"He was some time in putting