cuses to me, old man," he said, moving
off. "That little woman has put Crawling Water on edge with admiration.
You're not the only one--or, maybe, you are."

Secretly eager though Wade was to reach the cottage, the nearer he
approached it, the slower he walked, fuming at himself for his sudden
spinelessness. Although no ladies' man, he had never been woman wary
until lately, and this of itself was a sign, the significance of which
he was far from realizing. When he was with Dorothy Purnell, he almost
forgot her sex in the easy companionability of their relationship; when
away from her, he thought no more of her than he might of some man
friend; but the approach had become a matter of embarrassing difficulty
with him. There had even been occasions when he had walked past the
cottage and ridden home without seeing her, trying speciously to
convince himself that such had all along been his intention.

Something of the sort might have happened now had she not hailed him
from the open doorway.

"Whither bound, stranger?" she smilingly demanded, in her low, rich
contralto. "Better come in where it's cool. Mother'll be glad to see
you, and I--shan't mind."

She had come to Crawling Water for the restorative effect of the bracing
mountain air upon the health of her mother, who was threatened with
nervous invalidism, following the death of Mr. Purnell, two years
before. The town called them Easterners because their home was as far
East as Michigan, but they had never been city dwellers, as Dorothy's
fresh complexion and lithe, alert figure bore witness.

Her chestnut hair, piled in a silken crown on her shapely head, shaded a
face that made those who saw it for the first time, catch their breath
in instant admiration. Her radiance was of a glorious, compelling, and
wholly distinct type, as refreshing as some view of green mountains from
out a gloomy canyon. She had eyes, blue in repose, but shading to violet
tints when aglow with vivacity; her nose was not perfect, because a
trifle tip-tilted, but her face gained character through the defect; her
very red lips held most delicious allurement in their slightly full
curves. Her hands and feet were small enough to pay tribute to her birth
and breeding, but not so small as to be doll-like. She wore a simple,
white dress, freshly laundered, which made her look cool and inviting.

"You won't mind? Now that's good of you, and no mistake." Wade shook
hands with her, slowly relinqui