UL OF COTTONWOOD TREES CLUSTERED ABOUT THE
HOUSE."]

"I always wanted to see a cattle ranch," she said.

"Oh, this is no cattle ranch. It's only a dairy." And he took her about
through the many sheds and barns, which were hidden in a hollow a few
rods away. Here he showed her his ice-houses, his huge churns, and his
mammoth "separator" that went whirling around, dividing the cream from
hundreds of gallons of milk in the time it would have taken her to skim
a couple of three-pint pans.

"Sakes alive!" she exclaimed again and again, as these wonders were
explained to her--"sakes alive! what would our folks say to that?"

"You'll have a great deal to tell them when you go back," said Warren,
studying her animated face.

"If I ever go," she said, with a little sigh.

This was after dinner, which had been a savory meal served by a man
cook.

"Do you want very much to go?"

"Oh yes! I shall go just as soon as ever Atchison begins to pay again. I
hope I haven't any false pride," she added, deprecatingly, "but I can
live cheaper here than I should be willing to there, where I've seen
better days."

Brave little Mrs. Nancy! It was not indeed false pride that deterred
her, but the fear of being a burden to others.

They were sitting in the big living-room, which on this great occasion
had been made as neat as her own little parlor. Antlers and other
strange trophies ornamented the walls, where also guns and spurs and
lassos hung. The little woman did not seem in the least out of place
among these warlike objects. She sat in an old leathern chair, her feet
on a coyote-skin, looking about her with quick bright motions that made
the big fellow think of the shy field creatures that sometimes strayed
over his threshold--ground squirrels, rabbits, and the like. David lay
curled up close beside her, and half a dozen less-favored dogs looked
wistfully in from time to time. Warren was wondering whether she could
possibly fit in naturally to the stiff, scant New England life which he
had fled away from when a boy. Presently he said:

"Have you any idea how much your house and land are worth?"

"Oh yes! We paid ten hundred and fifty dollars for it when the house was
new, but it's a good deal out of repair now."

"But you know real estate is pretty high here just now."

Struck by the peculiar emphasis with which he spoke, Mrs. Nancy gave him
a startled look. "Why--why--what do you mean?"

"Well, I was talking with a real-e