t had
said about him, Mr. Moreton Kenyon was certainly a man of some
refinement. She had never heard that such neatness and cleanliness was
the habit amongst small bachelor farmers in the outlands of the West.
And this was the man who had carried her--where from?

Again she sat down in the rocker and gave herself up to the puzzlement
of those hours of her unconsciousness. The last event that was clear
in her mind was the struggle of the teamster to keep his horses
head-on for the bank of the flooded river. She remembered the surging
waters, she remembered that the bottom of the cart was awash, and that
she sat with her feet lifted and resting on the side of the vehicle.
She remembered that the horses were swimming before the driver's
flogging whip and blasphemous shoutings. All this was plain enough
still. Then came the man's order to herself. He warned her to get
ready to jump, and she had been quick to realize the necessity. In
spite of the horses' wildest struggles the cart was being washed
down-stream. Then had come his final shout. And she had jumped on the
instant.

At this point of her recollections things became confused. She had a
hazy memory of floundering in the water, also she remembered a heavy
blow on the shoulder. Then some one seemed to seize hold of her. It
must have been the teamster, though she did not remember seeing him in
the water. How she got out was a mystery to her. Again it must have
been the teamster. Then what of him? Mrs. Ransford had not spoken of
him. Had he, too, escaped? or had he--she shuddered. For some moments
her thoughts depressed her. The thought of a brave man's life
sacrificed for her was too terrible.

But after a while she continued in a lighter strain. It was at this
point that the blank began. True, she seemed to have some dim
recollection of a rough hut. It seemed to be made of logs. Then, too,
she had a dreamy sort of cognizance of a number of men's voices
talking. Then--no, there was nothing more after that. Nothing until
she awoke and found herself in bed, with a strange doctor standing
over her.

It was all very puzzling, but--she turned toward the window as the
afternoon sun fell athwart it and lit the plain interior of her new
bedroom, searching the corners and the simple furnishings of the
carpetless room.

From where she sat she could see the barns and corrals, and beyond
them the heavy-hued pine woods. Then, away out far, far in the
distance, the endless wh