'cause I rode in too late to rustle any fresh meat, and the
delivery-wagon won't be 'round before morning." So saying, he withdrew
to the fire.

The woman ate and drank slowly. She was too tired to be hungry, and
meanwhile the young man squatted upon his heels and watched her through
the smoke from a husk cigarette. It was perhaps fortunate for her peace
of mind that she could not correctly interpret his expression, for had
she been able to do so she would have realized something of the turmoil
into which her presence had thrown him. He was accustomed to meeting
men in unexpected places--even in the desert's isolation--but to have a
night camp in the chaparral invaded by a young and unescorted woman, to
have a foot-sore goddess stumble out of the dark and collapse into his
arms, was a unique experience and one calculated to disturb a person of
his solitary habits.

"Have you had your supper?" she finally inquired.

"Who, me? Oh, I'll eat with the help." He smiled, and when his flashing
teeth showed white against his leathery tan the woman decided he was
not at all bad-looking. He was very tall and quite lean, with the long
legs of a horseman--this latter feature accentuated by his high-heeled
boots and by the short canvas cowboy coat that reached only to his
cartridge-belt. His features she could not well make out, for the fire
was little more than a bed of coals, and he fed it, Indian-like, with a
twig or two at a time.

"I beg your pardon. I'm selfish." She extended her cup and plate as an
invitation for him to share their contents. "Please eat with me."

But he refused. "I ain't hungry," he affirmed. "Honest!"

Accustomed as she was to the diffidence of ranch-hands, she refrained
from urging him, and proceeded with her repast. When she had finished
she lay back and watched him as he ate sparingly.

"My horse fell crossing the Arroyo Grande," she announced, abruptly.
"He broke a leg, and I had to shoot him."

"Is there any water in the Grande?" asked the man.

"No. They told me there was plenty. I knew of this charco, so I made
for it."

"Who told you there was water in the arroyo?"

"Those Mexicans at the little-goat ranch."

"Balli. So you walked in from Arroyo Grande. Lord! It's a good ten
miles straightaway, and I reckon you came crooked. Eh?"

"Yes. And it was very hot. I was never here but once, and--the country
looks different when you're afoot."

"It certainly does," the man nodded. Then he co