s, the jumper's down. Harry rode straight into him--the
fool might have known his horse was blown. The other one's used up.
Somasco's leading clear again."

Alice Deringham was trembling visibly, and knew that Mrs. Forel's eyes
were upon her, but that did not seem to count at all. She could see a
figure standing over a fallen horse up the trail, while another that
had already left it far behind was sinking into the shadow of the
pines. The jumper was beaten, but Alton was riding still--for Somasco
and Carnaby--with a fresh horse beneath him.

Then she turned to Mrs. Forel with a softness in her eyes which
somewhat astonished the elder lady.

"I should like to go back to Somasco now," she said. "I am a little
tired, and I know that he will win."

A wagon was awaiting them, and Forel several times came near
overturning it in his excitement as he drove them home to the ranch.

It was a week later when one evening the leading inhabitants of the
district assembled in Somasco ranch. Those who were married had
brought their wives with them, and the cook and Mrs. Margery had toiled
since morning to set out the table in a fashion befitting the occasion,
for the chief roads and trails surveyor and a member of the Provincial
Government were to be entertained that evening.

The sombre green of cedar-sprays relieved the red-veined panelling,
there were flowers and early fruits upon the table, and the fragrance
of the firs came in through the open windows, while when the bronzed
men filed in there was expectancy in their steady eyes. Several of
them had ridden here and there with the surveyor all that day, and he
had expressed grave approval of all they had shown him. Once, too, he
appeared a trifle astonished when pointed out the new road they had
driven under Alton's guidance along the mountain side. It would reduce
the distance to the settlement several miles, but it had cost many
dollars and weeks of perilous toil, while the surveyor had only stated
that it was well done, and the men of Somasco had as yet no answer to
the important question whether the Government would complete what
remained unfinished or in any way recompense them.

Supper was served with as much ceremony as was possible at Somasco, but
the meal was a somewhat silent one. The ranchers were a trifle anxious
while the surveyor spoke most to Alice Deringham, who sat next him near
the head of the table, and the member of the Government divided his