" he added, "but we'll do, I
reckon. Do you want to eat the sandwiches now, or do you prefer dinner at
six?"

Polly eyed the two big sandwiches with a serious eye. "Let's look at them
a while first," she said, hungrily. "Isn't there any way of getting
anything else? Can't you shoot something?"

"I don't see anything but you and me and the horses. What's the matter?"
For the girl had given a shriek of joy.

"In my coat pocket! A cake of chocolate that Mrs. Van put there--and the
sugar. I always bring it for the horses. We'll keep the chocolate for
breakfast, shall we?"

They ate the sandwiches and topped off with the sugar. "Which," said
Polly, seriously, "is very strengthening. I've heard that they feed it to
the Japanese army."

"Yes, I've heard that, too," assented Scott, "but I reckon that's not all
they feed 'em."

"Well, it's not all you've been fed, either, so don't grumble," said the
lady, practically.

"I think," said Scott, rising, "that before it grows dark I'll investigate
this trail a bit. It looks sort of blind to me. If we have to start by
moonlight it'll be just as well to have some notion of where to begin."

Polly leaned back against a tree and watched him lazily. He looked very
strong and capable. She recalled Joyce Henderson's graceful proportions
and smiled. She had had to come a long way to find the man she wanted but
she was well content. It was odd, she reflected, that she and Joyce
Henderson, who had known each other all their lives, were like strangers
once they attempted the more intimate relation; while for this man whom
she had known but a few weeks she felt a sense of familiarity, of
belongingness, that she could scarcely believe. She was trusting him now
in a way that she had never imagined herself trusting any man and yet she
felt at ease.

Scott, returning, threw himself down beside her. "I've found the trail,"
he said, "but we've got some traveling ahead of us. Don't look to me as if
anybody'd been over it since Gomez was."

"Didn't those men come this way?"

"No. They must have hit the trail lower down--from some place we've
missed. I'll swear no crowd like that have been where I've just been."

The girl looked at him gravely. "Do you think we ought to go back?"

"Back? No, I don't. Those folks are waiting for us at Soria's and I want
to get Tom started for them as soon as I can."

"I wonder if those men will make any trouble at Soria's?"

"I don't believe so. If it w