the trail, Roger lingered to
wipe a gauge tenderly with a bit of waste. As he did so, he noticed
that Charley was standing in the doorway, her eyes fastened wistfully on
the whirring fly wheel. She looked very like Felicia in her blue denim
blouse and skirt and once more that old confusion of personalities
flashed over Roger.

"It's--it's like Felicia's own engine, somehow," said Charley. "She did
love to help you so. I wish she knew."

"Charley, dear girl--we miss her so, don't we!" Roger half whispered.

Charley's lips quivered and Roger, hastily wiping his hands, took one of
hers and carried it to his lips. "You are so like her!" he said. "So
like her!"

Then, they turned slowly and joined the others at breakfast.

CHAPTER XVI

THE RIVER RANGE

Late in the afternoon, after the men had carried on many and
increasingly satisfactory tests on the Plant, Charley joined Roger on
the porch. The others were with Dick in the alfalfa fields. They sat in
silence for a time, then Charley said,

"Roger, has it struck you that Ernest has been unlike himself since his
return?"

Roger pulled at his pipe and nodded. "He's putting up a good front, but
the dear old boy does hate this desert life. It was a twist for him to
come back to it."

"It's more than that, Roger. He's uneasy and irritable. That's
absolutely abnormal for Ernest, isn't it?" Then without waiting for an
answer, she went on. "Roger, has Ernest given you any details of his
interviews with the people in Washington?"

"Sure he has, at least all I wanted. He said he explained everything to
the Big Boss down there and that after they had spent hours together and
had gotten Dean Erskine on the long distance, he got the money. It was
the mistake of some underling, turning me down, after Austin's death.
The head of the Institution had supposed I had been taken care of."

"Oh!" murmured Charley. She looked at Roger's face, so lined and tanned
and now for the first time in months wearing an expression of relaxed
contentment. She bit her lips and with an evident effort began again.

"Don't think I'm intruding, Roger, will you, but I do want to ask you
one more question."

"You can ask me anything on earth, dear old Charley," replied Roger.

"Well then, have you a clear understanding of the terms on which the
Smithsonian let you have this money?"

"Yes, on the same terms we had with Austin."

"Do you know that, or do you just take it for granted?"