e gate opening into the Canby lease
and sprang into the saddle.

He kept his eyes fixed on the cattle as he rode toward Aunt Lizzie,
making the best time he could, with her cayuse pulling back obstinately
on the bridle, but, in any case, he could not have seen Helene Spenceley
and Canby riding from the opposite direction, for they were still on the
other side of a small ridge which hid them.

Helene had stopped at the Canby ranch for luncheon on her way to pay her
long-deferred visit to her whilom acquaintances of The Colonial, and
though Canby had not relished the thought that she was going there, he
had asked to accompany her across the leases. Pleased that she had
stopped without an invitation, he was more likable than ever she had
seen him, and he made no pretense of concealing the fact that she could
be mistress of the most pretentious house in the country if she chose
to.

Helene could not well have been otherwise than impressed by its
magnificence. She was aware that with Canby's money and her personal
popularity she could make an enviable position for herself very easily,
and she was nothing if not ambitious. The traits in Canby which so
frequently antagonized her, his arrogance, his selfish egotism and
disregard of others' rights and feelings, to-day were not in evidence.
He was spontaneous, genial, boyish almost, and she never had felt so
kindly disposed toward him nor so tolerant of his failings.

She looked at him speculatively now as he rode beside her and wondered
if association would beget an affection that would do as well as love if
supplemented by the many things he had to offer?

Her friendlier mood was not lost on Canby who was quick to take
advantage of it. He leaned over and laid his hand on hers as it rested
on the saddle horn.

"Your thoughts of me are kinder than usual, aren't they, Helene? You are
less critical?" He spoke almost humbly.

She smiled at him as she admitted:

"Perhaps so."

"I wish you could think so of me always, because I should be very happy
if--you----" His narrow, selfish face had a softness she never had seen
in it as he paused while he groped for the exact words he wished in
which to express himself.

There was no need for him to finish, for his meaning was unmistakable,
and the colour rose in Helene's cheeks as she averted her eyes from his
steady gaze and looked on past him.

Their horses had been climbing slowly and had now reached the top of the
ridge whi