frankly, no deceit in his eyes, but a mild surprise to
hear her chide him so.

"If I could forget of her what no forgiving soul should remember, I'd
feel more like a man," he said.

"I thought--I thought--" she stammered, bending her head, her voice soft
and low, "you were grieving for her, Duke. Forgive me."

"Taterleg is leaving tonight," he said, overlooking her soft appeal. "I
thought I'd go at the same time."

"It will be so lonesome here on the ranch without you, Duke--lonesome as
it never was lonesome before."

"Even if there was anything I could do around the ranch any longer, with
the cattle all gone and nobody left to cut the fence, I wouldn't be any
use, dodging in for every blizzard that came along, as the doctor says I
must."

"I've come to depend on you as I never depended on anybody in my life."

"And I couldn't do that, you know, any more than I'd be content to lie
around doing nothing."

"You've been square with me on everything, from the biggest to the
least. I never knew before what it was to lie down in security and get
up in peace. You've fought and suffered for me here in a measure far in
excess of anything that common loyalty demanded of you, and I've given
you nothing in return. It will be like losing my right hand, Duke, to
see you go."

"Taterleg's going to Wyoming to marry a girl he used to know back in
Kansas. We can travel together part of the way."

"If it hadn't been for you they'd have robbed me of everything by
now--killed me, maybe--for I couldn't have fought them alone, and there
was no other help."

"I thought maybe in California an old half-invalid might pick up and get
some blood put into him again."

"You came out of the desert, as if God sent you, when my load was
heavier than I could bear. It will be like losing my right eye, Duke, to
see you go."

"A man that's a fool for only a little while, even, is bound to leave
false impressions and misunderstandings of himself, no matter how wide
his own eyes have been opened, or how long. So I've resigned my job on
the ranch here with you, Vesta, and I'm going away."

"There's no misunderstanding, Duke--it's all clear to me now. When I
look in your eyes and hear you speak I know you better than you know
yourself. It will be like losing the whole world to have you go!"

"A man couldn't sit around and eat out of a woman's hand in idleness and
ever respect himself any more. My work's finished----"

"All I've got is your