unt. He had no blame for the weaknesses of human
nature. Why should he have? Who was he to judge?

There was a silence for some moments. Eve continued to gaze at the
sunset. The glorious ever-changing lights held her physical vision,
but her mind was traveling in that realm of woman's thought, whither
no mere man can follow it.

It was Jim who spoke at last.

"But I didn't come to--to air troubles," he said thoughtfully. "I came
to tell you of two things. One of 'em is Peter. He's packing his
wagon. He goes at sun-up to-morrow. He says he must move on--keep
moving. He says all that held him to Barnriff is finished with, so now
there's nothing left but to hit the trail."

"Poor old Peter!" Eve murmured softly. "I s'pose he means the gold
business?"

"Maybe," replied the man, without conviction.

"Why--what do you mean?"

Eve's eyes were widely questioning. The other shrugged.

"You can't tell. It's hard to get at what's passing through his quaint
mind. I don't think gold interests him as much as you'd think. Peter
has plenty of money. Do you know, he offered to advance me ten
thousand dollars to buy up a ranch around here. He pressed it on me,
and tried to make out it would be a favor to him if I took it. Said I
didn't know how much I'd be obliging him. He's a good man. A--a
wonderful man. I tried to get him to stop on--but----"

"I don't blame him for going," said Eve, regretfully.

"Nor do I."

Again that silence fell, and each was busy with thoughts they neither
could easily have expressed.

"What's the other?" Eve inquired presently. "You said--two things."

"Did I? Oh, yes, of course."

But Jim did not at once tell her the other reason for his visit.
Instead he sat thinking of many things, and all his thoughts were
centred round her. He was thinking the honest thoughts of a man who
loves a woman so well that he shrinks from offering her so little of
worldly goods as he possesses. He had come there, as a man will come,
to hover round and burn his fingers at the fire which he has not the
courage to turn his back upon. He had come there to tell her that he
was going away, even as Peter was going--going away to make one more
of those many starts which it had been his lot to make in the past.

"Well?" Eve faced him with smiling eyes. She understood that his
second reason was troubling him, and she wanted to encourage him.

He shook his head.

"It isn't a scrap 'well,'" he said, with an attempt at a