h comment--entirely unfavorable to her. Yes, it was
odd, yet considering Dakota, she was not in the least disturbed. So far
his conduct toward her had been that of the perfect gentleman, and in
spite of the recklessness that gleamed in his eyes whenever he looked at
her she was certain that he would continue to be a gentleman.

It was restful to lie and listen to the rain splashing on the roof and
against the window, but sleep, for some unaccountable reason, seemed to
grow farther from her--the recollection of events during the past few
hours left no room in her thoughts for sleep. Turning, after a while, to
seek a more comfortable position, she saw Dakota sitting at the table, on
the side opposite her, watching her intently.

"Can't sleep, eh?" he said, when he saw her looking at him. "Storm bother
you?"

"I think it was the thunder that awakened me," she returned. "Thunder
always does. Evidently it disturbs you too."

"I haven't been asleep," he said in a curt tone.

He continued to watch her with a quiet, appraising gaze. It was evident
that he had been thinking of her when she had turned to look at him. She
flushed with embarrassment over the thought that while she had been asleep
he must have been considering her, and yet, looking closely at him now,
she decided that his expression was frankly impersonal.

He glanced at his watch. "You've been asleep two hours," he said. "I've
been watching you--and envying you."

"Envying me? Why? Are you troubled with insomnia?"

He laughed. "Nothing so serious as that. It's just thoughts."

"Pleasant ones, of course."

"You might call them pleasant. I've been thinking of you."

Sheila found no reply to make to this, but blushed again.

"Thinking of you," repeated Dakota. "Of the chance you took in coming out
here alone--in coming into my shack. We're twenty miles from town
here--twenty miles from the Double R--the nearest ranch. It isn't likely
that a soul will pass here for a month. Suppose----"

"We won't 'suppose,' if you please," said Sheila. Her face had grown
slowly pale, but there was a confident smile on her lips as she looked at
him.

"No?" he said, watching her steadily. "Why? Isn't it quite possible that
you could have fallen in with a sort of man----"

"As it happens, I did not," interrupted Sheila.

"How do you know?"

Sheila's gaze met his unwaveringly. "Because you are the man," she said
slowly.

She thought she saw a glint of pleasure in his