that
she resented the attitude of familiarity which he had adopted toward her.

She sat erect in the saddle, experiencing a feeling of elation which
brought the color into her face and brightened her eyes. It was the first
time since her arrival at the Double R that she had been able to ride out
alone, and it was also the first time that she really appreciated the
vastness and beauty of the country. For the trail to the river, which she
had decided she would follow, led through a fertile country where the
bunch grass grew long and green, the barren stretches of alkali were
infrequent, and where the low wooded hills and the shallow gullies seemed
to hint at the mystery. Before long the depression which had made her life
miserable had fled and she was enjoying herself.

When she reached the river she crossed it at a shallow and urged her pony
up a sloping bank and out upon a grass plain that spread away like the
level of a great, green sea. Once into the plain, though, she discovered
that its promise of continuing green was a mere illusion, for the grass
grew here in bunches, the same as it grew on the Double R side of the
river. Yet though she was slightly disappointed she found many things to
interest her, and she lingered long over the odd rock formations that she
encountered and spent much time peering down into gullies and exploring
sand draws which seemed to be on every side.

About noon, when she became convinced that she had seen everything worth
seeing in that section of the country, she wheeled her pony and headed it
back toward the river. She reached it after a time and urged her beast
along its banks, searching for the shallow which she had crossed some time
before. A dim trail led along the river and she felt certain that if she
followed it long enough it would lead her to the crossing, but after
riding half an hour and encountering nothing but hills and rock cliffs she
began to doubt. But she rode on for another half hour and then, slightly
disturbed over her inability to find the shallow, she halted the pony and
looked about her.

The country was strange and unfamiliar and a sudden misgiving assailed
her. Had she lost her idea of direction? She looked up at the sun and saw
that it was slightly past the zenith on its downward path. She smiled. Of
course all she had to do was to follow the river and in time she would
come in sight of the Double R buildings. Certain that she had missed the
shallow because