on would meet again under that cold gleam of snow amidst
the great desolation of the ranges.

CHAPTER IX

MISS DERINGHAM FEELS SLIGHTED

The morning was still and almost unpleasantly warm, but Miss Deringham
looked very fresh and cool in her long white dress as she lay in a
deerhide chair on the verandah of the Somasco ranch. She had hung her
hat on the back of the chair, and a shaft of sunlight called up an
answering brightness from the coils of lustrous hair. One foot in the
scantiest form of slipper rested on the lowest rail of the balustrade,
and she had slightly curled herself up in the chair in a fashion which
implied a languid content with her surroundings, and that there was no
longer any need for ceremony between herself and her companion. It is
possible that Miss Deringham was aware of this, even if she had not
intended to convey that impression.

Alton, who now wore a new jean jacket buttoned right up to the neck,
leaned against a pillar, answering the questions of the girl, who
glanced at him with a smile occasionally. He had, as usual, a good
deal to do that day, and now and then turned his eyes towards the sun,
as though noticing its height above the cedars, which did not, of
course, escape Miss Deringham's attention. Still, he lingered upon the
verandah, and what she deduced from this was not unpleasant to the
girl. Though it still returned at increasing intervals, she had almost
forgotten her antipathy to the man, and the fact that he was rapidly
yielding to her refining and sometimes chastening influence was
indirectly flattering. Miss Deringham experienced the more
gratification in using it because he was quick-witted, and a veiled
rebuke would bring a little darker colour into his sun-darkened face,
and she could forgive his offences, which were indeed not frequent, for
the sake of his penitence.

"You have been very patient," she said at length.

"No," said Alton with a twinkle in his eyes, "I don't think that is a
thing anybody could bring up against me."

"Still," said the girl, "you have been an hour here talking to me, when
you must have been dying to get away."

Alton laughed, and Miss Deringham found something pleasant in his naive
directness. "Now, that's not fair. If I had been I should have gone,"
said he. "It would please me to stay right here and talk to you all
day."

Miss Deringham shook her head reproachfully. "One should imply such
things and not put them i