a pair of gloves," he said, "that I
can tell which horse belongs to which. Do you take me?"

"Of course," said Betty. "Go ahead."

He guessed them nearly right, except that he gave Nigger to Mollie and
Old Nick to Betty.

"Almost does not avail," sang Betty gayly. "You owe me a box of candy,
Allen Washburn."

He looked at her for a moment laughing, and suddenly her gaze faltered.
There had been something new and forceful about Allen ever since he had
come back from the war that had made Betty a little afraid of him. But
she did not think any the less of him--oh, no indeed!

"I'll give you a dozen of them if you'll take them," he was saying
ardently--evidently in reference to the candies.

"And if she won't take 'em, I will," said Grace, with a gusto that made
them all laugh.

On the way home the girls, with what they thought was great
consideration, cantered along in front, leaving Allen and Betty to bring
up the rear. Allen blessed them for it, but Betty was furious and kept
up such a running fire of comment and laughing narrative that Allen had
no chance to say the things he had wanted to say.

Only once as they neared the ranch she paused a moment, pointing out
over the dazzling plains to the purple tipped mountains in the distance.

"Isn't the country beautiful, Allen?" she asked breathlessly. "I've
fallen dead in love with it."

"It looks too good to be true," Allen agreed seriously, then added
boyishly, with a glance that took her in, as well as the scenery: "Just
now, I don't care if I never go home!"

CHAPTER XVI

A TIP

For the next few days the girls took possession of Allen, showing him
the sights with a will and showering him with details of their
adventures till the poor fellow's head was in a whirl and he could
hardly tell whether it was the wolves or the landslide that had
frightened the girls into the cave on that memorable afternoon.

"Seems to me," he said, as the girls showed him the cave--at a safe
distance from the mountain, one may be sure--"that you young ladies need
a chaperone pretty badly."

"Do you think you're it?" teased Mollie.

"Great guns! I should hope not," said Allen, with a flash of his white
teeth. "I would rather face a dugout full of Boches than try to keep
tabs on you girls. See here," he added, suddenly serious. "Do you mean
to tell me that you were really caught in that cave with your horses and
nothing to dig your way out with but your hands?"

"