h, a light in his eyes he had never permitted her to
see before, and her woman's instinct set her heart beating fast, so
fast that she trembled and fidgeted nervously.

"Diane," he went on, reaching out and quietly taking possession of one
of her hands, and raising it till the bared wrist displayed the cruel
bruise encircling it, "no man has a right to lay a hand upon a woman
to give her pain. A woman has a right to look to her men-folk to
protect her, and when they fail her, she is indeed in sore straits.
This," touching the bruises with his finger, "is the work of your
father, the man of all who should protect you. You are sadly alone, so
much alone that I cannot see what will be the end of it--if it is
allowed to go on. Diane, I love you, and I want you, henceforward, to
let me be your protector. You will need some whole-hearted support in
the future. I can see it. And you can see it too. Say, tell me,
little girl, fate has pitched us together in a stormy sea, surely it
is for me to aid you with all the loving care and help I can bestow.
Believe me, I am no idle boaster. I do not even say that my protection
will be worth as much as that of our faithful old Joe, but, such as it
is, it is yours, whether you take me with it or no, for as long as I
live."

Diane had had time to recover from her first embarrassment. She knew
that she loved this man; knew that she had done so almost from the
very first. He was so different from the men she had known about the
ranch. She understood, and acknowledged without shame, the feeling
that had prompted her first warning to him. She knew that ever since
his coming to the ranch he had hardly ever been out of her thoughts.
She had never attempted to deceive herself about him. All she had
feared was that she might, by some chance act, betray her feelings to
him, and so earn his everlasting contempt. She was very simple and
single-minded. She had known practically no association with her sex.
Her father, who had kept her a willing slave by his side all her life,
had seen to that. And so she had been thrown upon her own resources,
with the excellent result that she had grown up with a mind untainted
by any worldly thought. And now, when this man came to her with his
version of the old, old story, she knew no coquetry, knew how to
exercise no coyness or other blandishment. She made no pretense of any
sort. She loved him, so what else was there to do but to tell him so?

"Joe has been my