essary to the
horseman, under such circumstances, as it is to the mariner.

For a time the roughness of the road required her attention. Kitty was
surefooted, but the outstanding roots with which her path was lined
needed careful negotiation. Presently the trail became wider and its
surface more even, and signs of recent usage became apparent. The
roots were worn down and the projecting stones had been removed.
Neither did it take the girl long to decide whose servants had done
these things. On this obscure trail were to be seen many signs of the
traffic upon which the owner of Lonely Ranch had been engaged. Now
Prudence gave Kitty her head, and the mare travelled at a great pace.

The breeze had chastened the laden air of the pine world. The redolent
woods no longer scented the air, which had in consequence become fresh
and bracing. For the moment the emergency of her journey had dulled
the girl's sensibilities to her surroundings. She looked out upon the
beautiful tinted world, but she heeded nothing of what her eyes
beheld. Her mind was set upon the object of her journey, and her
thoughts were centred round the players in the drama of her life.

How different her life seemed to have suddenly become from that which
she had contemplated that morning. A great triumphant joy was with her
since her lover had established his innocence to her. Her troubles and
anxieties were still many, and the least thing might upset every hope
she entertained, but there was always with her the remembrance that
George Iredale was innocent, and in that thought she felt a wonderful
security. That he was a smuggler was a matter of insignificance. She
loved him too well to let such knowledge narrow her estimation of him.
She was too essentially of the prairie to consider so trifling a
matter. Half the farmers in the country were in the habit of breaking
the Customs regulations by cutting wood and hay on Government lands
without a permit, and even hauling these things from across the border
when such a course suited them, and in every case it was "contraband";
but they were thought no less of by their friends. Iredale was no
worse than they, in spite of the fact that his offence carried with it
a vastly heavier sentence.

But for the dread that she might be too late to intercept her brother,
Prudence would almost have been happy as she raced along that
westward-bound trail. She knew her brother's nature well. She knew
that he was vindictive