d Betty, and so they changed their course a little to
include the mine.

Meggy was glad to see them as usual but they could tell by the weariness
of her bearing that there was no good news as far as she was concerned
and they had not the heart to tell her their own.

"Can't you come over to the ranch for a little while?" asked Betty,
eager to do some little thing toward cheering the girl. But Meggy shook
her head.

"I can't leave father--even for a little while," she said sadly. "He
ain't feeling well, and I'm afraid if his luck doesn't change pretty
soon I--I--won't have any dad----" she choked and turned away. Betty was
beside her in a moment, her arm about the girl's shoulders.

"We're awfully sorry, honey," she said compassionately. "We didn't know
that your father was feeling bad. Is he--is he really sick?"

"Sick of life, I guess," said Meggy, conquering her emotion and
instantly ashamed of it. "I've heered of people dyin' of a broken heart,
an' that's what dad's doin', I guess. Bad luck can kill you if it keeps
up long enough."

The girls rode home saddened by this brief encounter. It seemed almost
wrong for them to be happy when Dan Higgins was "dyin' of a broken
heart" and Meggy, brave, splendid girl that she was, had almost lost
hope.

"If only everybody in the world could be happy," said Grace plaintively.
"It just spoils all your fun when you know that other people are
miserable."

"The worst of it is," said Betty soberly, "that with all this luck
coming our way we can't pass on a single little bit of it to that poor
girl and her dad. If only they weren't so proud----" The sentence
trailed off into a sigh, and she gazed pensively out over the plain.

"Well, there's no use of crying over it," said Mollie briskly. "We may
find a way of being useful to Meggy yet, and until then, as my mother
says, 'let's be canty with thinking about it.' Oh, look, girls, here
comes Allen. I wonder what kind of news he has."

They galloped gayly to meet him, and Allen thought they made a very
pretty picture as they swept up to him.

"Well," he said as they surrounded him, "everything is settled and they
are to begin work to-morrow morning. Our news has aroused great
excitement in town, and there's a rush to establish claims near that end
of our ranch. Better give your friend, Dan Higgins, a hint, so that he
can get in first. So long. I'm on to the house for the map, and then I'm
going to join Mr. Nelson again in to