er in wonder. What had this
hateful visitor said that had made Lottie so angry? She was not able to
understand the meaning of his words, but Eva knew he had offended her
dear sister, and she bent her brows and sent indignant glances in his
direction.

But Mart Highton paid little heed to the child; he was wondering how
this young girl, whom he had expected so easily to impose upon, had
penetrated his scheme, and how long she would hold out against him.

He knew nothing of the solitary night watch when those words of his
which had put her on her guard had reached her ears.

That a young girl like this should "show fight," as he phrased it to
himself, was a complete surprise, and for a moment he stared at her
silently. Then he burst into a loud laugh, and, when he had laughed long
enough, he said, jocosely:

"An' so you're a-goin' to hold on to my quarter-section, be you? You're
a mighty peart sort of a girl! I declar' I admire your spunk! But if I
was you, I wouldn't look _too_ strong fer that father o' yourn. You'll
never set eyes on _him_ till Gabriel blows his horn: an' that'll be a
middlin' long spell to hold out agin me an' the land office."

And Mart Highton laughed again at his own wit.

Lottie was too indignant at his brutality to make any answer. She felt
her limbs trembling beneath her, and sat down again quickly that it
might not be noticed, for she really feared the man.

But the gentleman in the arm-chair made no offensive movement, as she
had thought he might do; for in her eyes he was a wretch capable of any
crime, and, knowing that she and Eva were utterly alone and friendless
in this isolated spot, might he not have it in his heart to kill them
and so get them out of his way?

She knew instinctively that he was a man who would hesitate at nothing
that would serve to gain his ends. If he could not get possession of the
property he coveted in any other way, what was there to hinder him if he
chose to take their lives? There was not a friend, not even an
acquaintance, within miles of them who would be interested to inquire
into their fate. And then a dreadful fear flashed upon her. Perhaps he
_had_ murdered Jimmy--had lured him away from home with fair promises,
and had then killed him.

Her face blanched at the thought as she turned and looked searchingly at
the hateful countenance confronting her, and, almost without knowing
that she spoke, Lottie uttered the words, very nearly like those with