on hossback, an' Lawdy, but he
did look scrumptuous when he first got his uniform. He done fought all
through de wah, an' dey say Ginral Lee done shook hands wid him, an'
said how proud he was ter know him. You kin sutt'nly tie to Massa Jack,
Missus."

The negro's voice had scarcely ceased when Keith came in again, closing
the door securely behind him.

"All quiet outside," he announced, speaking with new confidence.
"I wanted to get an understanding of the surroundings in case of
emergency," he explained, as if in answer to the questioning of the
brown eyes gravely uplifted to his face. "I see there is quite a corral
at the lower end of this island, safely hidden behind the fringe of
cottonwoods. And a log stable back of the house. Is the creek fordable
both ways?"

"I think so; the man who brought me here rode away south."

"And are you going to trust yourself to my care?"

She came around the table with hands extended. He took them into his
grasp, looking down into her eyes.

"Yes," she said softly, "I am going to trust you, Captain Keith."

He laughed.

"Captain, hey? You must have been talking with that black rascal there."

The swift color flooded her face, but her hands remained imprisoned.

"I just done tol' her who de Keiths was down in ol' Virginia, sah,"
burst in Neb indignantly. "I sho' don't want nobody to think I go
trapsin' 'round wid any low white trash."

The gray eyes and the brown, gazing into one another, smiled with
understanding.

"Oh, well," Keith acknowledged, genially, "I cannot say I am sorry you
know something of my past glories; if one can't have a future, it is
some source of pride to have a past to remember. But now about the
present. We're not much protection to any one, the way we're fixed, as
we are unarmed."

"There is a big revolver hanging in a holster in the other room," she
answered, "and a short, sawed-off gun of some kind, but I don't know
about ammunition."

"May we investigate?"

"Most certainly," and she threw open the intervening door. As the two
stepped into the other apartment she held the lamp in aid of their
search. "There is the revolver on the wall, and the gun is in the
opposite corner. Isn't it strange you should be out in this country
without arms?"

Keith glanced up, the revolver in his hands. The radiance of the light
was full upon her face, revealing the clearness of her skin, the dark
shadows of her lashes. There was the faintest tinge of sus