But he laughed and had no answer for her. At her own daring words
Carley's heart had leaped to her lips. If he had responded, even
teasingly, she could have burst out with her longing to take him back.
But silence inhibited her, and the moment passed.

At the end of that dance Hutter claimed Glenn in the interest of
neighboring sheep men. And Carley, crossing the big living room alone,
passed close to one of the porch doors. Some one, indistinct in the
shadow, spoke to her in low voice: "Hello, pretty eyes!"

Carley felt a little cold shock go tingling through her. But she gave no
sign that she had heard. She recognized the voice and also the epithet.
Passing to the other side of the room and joining the company there,
Carley presently took a casual glance at the door. Several men were
lounging there. One of them was the sheep dipper, Haze Ruff. His bold
eyes were on her now, and his coarse face wore a slight, meaning smile,
as if he understood something about her that was a secret to others.
Carley dropped her eyes. But she could not shake off the feeling that
wherever she moved this man's gaze followed her. The unpleasantness
of this incident would have been nothing to Carley had she at once
forgotten it. Most unaccountably, however, she could not make herself
unaware of this ruffian's attention. It did no good for her to argue
that she was merely the cynosure of all eyes. This Ruff's tone and look
possessed something heretofore unknown to Carley. Once she was tempted
to tell Glenn. But that would only cause a fight, so she kept her
counsel. She danced again, and helped Flo entertain her guests, and
passed that door often; and once stood before it, deliberately, with all
the strange and contrary impulse so inscrutable in a woman, and never
for a moment wholly lost the sense of the man's boldness. It dawned
upon her, at length, that the singular thing about this boldness was
its difference from any, which had ever before affronted her. The fool's
smile meant that he thought she saw his attention, and, understanding
it perfectly, had secret delight in it. Many and various had been the
masculine egotisms which had come under her observation. But quite
beyond Carley was this brawny sheep dipper, Haze Ruff. Once the party
broke up and the guests had departed, she instantly forgot both man and
incident.

Next day, late in the afternoon, when Carley came out on the porch, she
was hailed by Flo, who had just ridden in f