His
face was somewhat weary, and the girl noticed the stiffness of his
movements. He also looked about him with a curious expression which
seemed to suggest reverence in his eyes.

"No," he said gravely, "it wouldn't be a waste of time."

Alice Deringham smiled a little, and moved one foot a trifle nearer the
stove. It was little, and delicately moulded, and lost nothing from
being encased in a very open bronze slipper. Alton, noticing the
slight rustle of fabric which accompanied the movement, glanced towards
it, and then turned his eyes away.

"You see I have been taking liberties," said the girl. "All this is
very tawdry, isn't it?"

Alton's eyes were wistful. "No. Do you know, this place has quite an
effect on me. It makes me feel--as if I were in church," said he.

Miss Deringham's face was not responsive. There were times when she
was sensible of a curious compunction in this rancher's presence. "A
sensation of that kind is apt to become oppressive," she said. "When
we have gone you will throw these things away."

The man seemed to wince, as though the contemplation of something was
painful to him, but he looked at his companion gravely.

"I think I shall screw the door up tight," he said.

Alice Deringham laughed musically. "Now I think that was very pretty,"
she said. "It seems commonplace to offer you a cup of coffee after it,
and no doubt you will consider the indulgence in such luxuries a sign
of weakness. I have reasons for believing that Mrs. Margery does."

Alton smiled somewhat grimly. "I'm just about as fond of good things
as most other men," he said. "The difficulty was that I seldom had the
chance of getting them."

Miss Deringham busied herself with a spirit lamp, and Alton watched her
with a little glint in his eyes. Possibly the girl knew that her
movements were graceful as she bent over the lamp, and that the light
from the one above her struck a fine sparkle from her hair. She may
also have been aware that the picture had its attractions for a man who
had lived a grim life of toil and self-denial, as this one had done.

"It has occurred to me that this coffee is not the same that we had
when we first came to Somasco," she said.

Alton appeared a trifle embarrassed. "I had to go down and worry
Horton about one or two little things," he said. "It's good for him
occasionally, and he had been sending me flour we couldn't use lately."

Miss Deringham nodded, though s