to meet her on
foot.

Taterleg remained at the gate, because he looked better on a horse than
off, and he was not wanting in that vain streak which any man with a
backbone and marrow in him possesses. He wanted to appear at his best
when the boss of that high-class outfit laid her eyes on him for the
first time; and if he had hopes that she might succumb to his charms,
they were no more extravagant than most men's are under similar
conditions.

Off to one side of a long barn Lambert saw her as he opened the gate.
She was trying to coax a young calf to drink out of a bucket that an old
negro held under its nose. Perhaps his heart climbed a little, and his
eyes grew hot with a sudden surge of blood, after the way of youth, as
he went forward.

He could not see her face fully, for she was bending over the calf, and
the broad brim of her hat interposed. She looked up at the sound of his
approach, a startled expression in her frank, gray eyes. Handsome, in
truth, she was, in her riding habit of brown duck, her heavy sombrero,
her strong, high boots. Her hair was the color of old honeycomb, her
face browned by sun and wind.

She was a maid to gladden a man's heart, with the morning sun upon her,
the strength of her great courage in her clear eyes; a girl of breeding,
as one could see by her proud carriage.

But she was _not_ the girl whose handkerchief he had won in his reckless
race with the train!

CHAPTER IX

A KNIGHT-ERRANT

The Duke took off his hat, standing before her foolishly dumb between
his disappointment and embarrassment. He had counted so fully on finding
the girl of his romance that he was reluctant to accept the testimony of
his eyes. Here was one charming enough to compensate a man for a hundred
fasts and fevers, but she was not the lodestone that had drawn upon his
heart with that impelling force which could not be denied.

What a stupid blunder his impetuous conclusion had led him into; what an
awkward situation! Pretty as she was, he didn't want to serve this
woman, no matter for her embarrassments and distress. He could not
remain there a week in the ferment of his longing to be on his way,
searching the world for her whom his soul desired. This ran over him
like an electric shock as he stood before her, hat in hand, head bent a
little, like a culprit, looking rather stupid in his confusion.

"Were you looking for somebody?" she asked, her handsome face sunning
over with a smile that