ost a five or ten-dollar piece.'

He evaded. 'It's of no moment.' he said hastily. 'A few bucks one way
or the other won't plug a hole in a 'dobe wall. And this _hombre_ is
waiting.'

This time Helen did not even gasp. Something had occurred to work
havoc with her father's accustomed fine academic speech. This smacked,
she thought, of the influence of Barbee.

But soon she forgot this and with it the discrepancy in cash; she had
begun to purchase, to barter with the storekeeper, to fairly revel in
delights of camp preparations. For, after all, life was not all
seriousness, and here, offering itself for the morrow, was a rare lark.
A spice of recklessness entered the moment; the dollars went skipping
across the counter, and packages and boxes came heaped up in their
places.

Howard looked in on them once; they did not see him. He went his way,
and still Longstreet made new suggestions and Helen and the Mexican
bargained. The first coolness of the late afternoon was stirring, the
broad sun had gone down, leaving the land in soft, grateful shadow,
something over a hundred dollars had been spent, when with a sigh Helen
put the residue of the family fortune into the old purse, and the
purse, though reluctantly, into her father's pocket. She did not want
to hurt his feelings now; but she really thought that once they were
settled in their new home, she ought to employ some tactful method of
acquiring custody.

They went down the dusty street arm in arm and in gay spirits. Tod
Barstow had driven off to a stable somewhere; the goods were to be
called for to-morrow morning; now they could go down to the hotel, to
the chairs on the shady porch, and then to dinner. And, thought Helen,
with more than a flicker of interest, she would see the 'widow.'

As though she were awaiting them, Mrs. Murray was on the porch. With
her was Barbee, who rose promptly and elaborately performed the
ceremony of introduction.

'Mr. Longstreet,' he said formally, 'shake hands with my friend, Mrs.
Murray. Miss Longstreet, make you acquainted with my friend, Mrs.
Murray.'

Mrs. Murray shook hands with them both, exclaiming brightly at her
delight. Then, as they all sat down, she and Helen considered each
other. Oddly, Helen had known all along that she would not like Mrs.
Murray; now, and after the first probing glance, she was prepared for
downright dislike. Longstreet, on the other hand, was obviously very
favourably impresse