d not resist the
temptation to put her head out of the stage and look back at the place
where she had last seen him.

He was still sitting quietly on his horse at the place where they had
parted so unceremoniously, his face turned in her direction--horse and
rider silhouetted against the western sky which showed a crimson hue
below a greenish blue that was sapphire farther from the horizon.

II.

Not until a turn of the road hid the stage from sight did the stranger
fix his gaze elsewhere. Even then it was not easy for him, and there had
been a moment when he was ready to throw everything to the winds and
follow it. But when on the point of doing so there suddenly flashed
through his mind the thought of the summons that he had received. And
so, not unlike one who had come to the conclusion that it was indeed a
farewell, he waved his hand resignedly in the direction that the stage
had taken and, calling to his _vaquero_, he gave his horse a thrust of
the long rowel of his spur and galloped off towards the foothills of the
Sierras.

For some miles the riders travelled a road which wound through beautiful
green fields; but master and man were wholly indifferent, seeing neither
the wild flowers lining each side of the road nor the sycamores and live
oaks which were shining overhead from the recent rains. In the case of
the young man every foot of the way to his father's rancho was familiar.
All hours of the day and night he had made the trip to the highway, for
with the exception of the few years that had been given to his education
in foreign lands, his whole life had been passed on the rancho. Scarcely
less acquainted with the road than his young master was the _vaquero_,
so neither gave a glance at the country through which they were passing,
but side by side took the miles in silence.

An hour passed with the young man still wrapt in thought. The truth was,
though he was scarcely ready to admit it, he had been hard hit. In more
ways than one the Girl had made a deep impression on him. Not only had
her appearance awakened his interest to the point of enthusiasm, but
there was something irresistibly attractive to him in her lack of
affectation and audacious frankness. Over and over again he thought
of her happy face, her straightforward way of looking at things and,
last but not least, her evident pleasure in meeting him. And when he
reflected on the hopelessness of their ever meeting again, a feeling of
dep