iver Jordan's heart. That's what you'd
do!"

Her brain was whirling. She grasped at the first thought that came to
her.

"Then wait till he comes back before you touch Jim Perris."

"And let Perris raise the devil in the meantime?"

He laughed in her face.

"At least," she cried, her voice shrill with anger and fear, "let me
know where he is. Let me send for him myself."

"Dunno that I'm exactly sure about where he is myself," fenced Lew
Hervey.

"Ah," moaned the girl, half-breaking down under the strain. "Why do
you hate me so? What have I done to you?"

"Nothing," said Hervey grimly. "Made me the laughing stock of the
mountains--that's all. Made me a joke--that's all you've done to me.
'Lew Hervey and his boss--the girl.' That's what they been saying
about me. But I ain't been taking that to heart. What I'm doing now is
for your own good, only you don't know it! You'll see it later on."

"Mr. Hervey," she pleaded, "if it will change you, I'll give you my
oath to stop bothering with the management of the ranch. You can run
it your own way. I'll leave if you say the word, but----"

"I know," said Hervey. "I know what you'd say. But Lord above, Miss
Jordan, I ain't doing this for my own sake. I'm doing it for yours
and your father's. He'll thank me if you don't! Far as Perris goes,
I'd----"

He halted. She had sunk into a chair--collapsed into it, rather, and
lay there half fainting with one arm thrown across her face. Hervey
glowered down on her a moment and then turned on his heel and left the
house.

He went straight to the bunkhouse, gathered the men about him, and
told them the news.

"Boys," he said, "the cat's out of the bag. I've found out everything,
and it's what I been fearing. She started begging me to keep off Red
Jim's trail. Wouldn't hear no reason. I told her there wasn't nothing
for me to gain by throwing him off the ranch. Except that he'd been
ordered off and he had to go. It'd make a joke of me and all of you
boys if the word got around that one gent had laughed at us and stayed
right in the Valley when we told him to get out."

A fierce volley of curses bore him out.

"Well," said Hervey, "then she come right out and told me the truth:
she's in love with Perris. She told me so herself!"

They gaped at him. They were young enough, most of them, and lonely
and romantic enough, to have looked on Marianne with a sort of sad
longing which their sense of humor kept from being anything