p who one moment flooded the moonlit desert
with inspired snatches from the opera sung in the voice of an angel, and
the next lashed at his horse like a devil incarnate? How reconcile the
outstanding inconsistencies in him? For his every inflection, every
motion, proclaimed the strain of good blood gone wrong and trampled
under foot of set, sardonic purpose, indicated him a man of culture in
a hell of his own choosing. Lounging on his elbow in the flickering
shadows, so carelessly insouciant in every picturesque inch of him, he
seemed to radiate the melodrama of the untamed frontier, just as her
guest of tarnished reputation now at the ranch seemed to breathe forth
its romance.

"Sleep well, little partner. Don't be afraid; nothing can harm you,"
this man had told her.

Promptly she had answered, "I'm not afraid, thank you, in the least";
and after a moment had added, not to seem hostile, "Good night, big
partner."

But despite her calm assurance she knew she did not feel so entirely
safe as if it had been one of her own ranch boys on the other side of
the fire, or even that other vagabond who had made so direct an appeal
to her heart. If she were not afraid, at least she knew some vague hint
of anxiety.

She was still thinking of him when she fell asleep, and when she
awakened the first sound that fell on her ears was his tuneful whistle.
Indeed she had an indistinct memory of him in the night, wrapping the
blankets closer about her when the chill air had half stirred her from
her slumber. The day was still very young, but the abundant desert light
dismissed sleep summarily. She shook and brushed the wrinkles out of her
clothes and went down to the creek to wash her face with the inadequate
facilities at hand. After redressing her hair she returned to the fire,
upon which a coffee pot was already simmering.

She came up noiselessly behind him, but his trained senses were apprised
of her approach.

"Good mo'ning! How did y'u find your bedroom?" he asked, without turning
from the bacon he was broiling on the end of a stick.

"Quite up to the specifications. With all Wyoming for a floor and the
sky for a ceiling, I never had a room I liked better. But have you eyes
in the back of your head?"

He laughed grimly. "I have to be all eyes and ears in my business."

"Is your business of a nature so sensitive?"

"As much so as stocks on Wall Street. And we haven't any ticker to warn
us to get under cover. Do you tak