r broom, a greater civilizing influence, he
thought, than the sword.

He did not go inside the tent, but stood holding up the flap, looking
around the dim interior. Her lantern stood on a box, matches beside it,
as if it had been left there ready to his hand in the expectation that
he would come in and make himself at home.

It was not likely, he thought, that any of the neighbors could tell him
where she had gone when she had not felt like giving him that much of
her confidence. But he went down to Smith's, making casual inquiry,
saying nothing about the note which she had left, not taking that to be
any of Smith's concern.

As always, Smith had been astir at an early hour. He had seen her pass,
going in the direction of Comanche. She was riding briskly, he said, as
if she had only a short journey ahead of her, and was out of hail before
he could push the pan of biscuits he was working over into the oven and
open the door. It was Smith's opinion, given with his usual volubility
and without solicitation, that she had gone out on one of her
excursions.

"More than likely," said the doctor. "I think I'll go back up there and
kind of keep an eye on her stuff. Somebody might carry some of it off."

This unmalicious reflection on the integrity of the community hurt
Smith. There was evidence of deep sorrow in his heart as he began to
argue refutation of the ingenuous charge. It was humiliating, he
declared, that a man should come among them and hold them in such low
esteem.

"In this country nobody don't go around stealin' stuff out of houses and
tents," he protested. "You can put your stuff down on the side of the
road and leave it there, and go back in a month and find it. Sheepmen
leave supplies for their herders that way, and I've known 'em to leave
their pay along with 'em. Maybe it'd be a week or two before them
fellers got around to it, but it'd be there when they got there. There's
no such a thing as a tramp in this country. What'd a tramp live on
here?"

"I don't question your defense of conditions as they were," the doctor
rejoined; "but I'm looking at things as they are. There are a lot of new
people in here, the country is becoming civilized; and the more
civilized men grow the more police and battle-ships and regiments of
soldiers they need to keep things happy and peaceful between them, and
to prevent their equally civilized and cultured neighbors from stepping
in from across the seas and booting them o