ness which he thought of as dangerous. "One, however, now and
then hears of violent crime in London."

They were mounted in a few minutes, and after a hard ride the party
broke up at dawn, dispersing so that each member of it could make
independent search and inquiries at the scattered homesteads. Meeting
places and means of communication were arranged; but Flora and her
father rode together, pushing on steadily southward over the vast gray
plain. Little was said except when they called at some outlying farm,
but Grant now and then glanced at the girl's set face with keenly
scrutinizing eyes. In the middle of the scorching afternoon he
suggested that she should await his return at a homestead in the
distance, but was not surprised when she uncompromisingly refused.
They spent the night at a small ranch, borrowed fresh horses in the
morning, and set out again; but they found no trace of the fugitives
during the day, and it was evening when Edgar and Grierson joined them,
as arranged, at a lonely farm. The two men rode in wearily on jaded
horses, and Flora, who was the first to notice their approach, went out
to meet them.

"Nothing?" she said, when she saw their dejected faces.

"Nothing," Edgar listlessly answered. "If the people we have seen
aren't in league with the rustlers--and I don't think that's
probable--the fellows must have gone a different way."

"They've gone south!" Flora insisted. "We may be a little too far to
the east of their track."

"Then, we must try a different line of country tomorrow."

The farmer's wife had promised to find Flora quarters, the men were
offered accommodation in a barn, and when the air cooled sharply in the
evening, Edgar walked out on to the prairie with the girl. She had
kept near him since his arrival, but he was inclined to believe this
was rather on account of his association with George than because she
found any charm in his society. By and by, they sat down on a low rise
from which they could see the sweep of grass run on, changing to shades
of blue and purple, toward the smoky red glare of sunset on its western
rim. To the south, it was all dim and steeped in dull neutral tones,
conveying an idea of vast distance.

Flora shivered, drawing her thin linen jacket together while she
buttoned it, and Edgar noticed something beneath it that broke the
outline of her waist.

"What's that at your belt?" he asked.

"A magazine pistol," she answered with a rathe