re bound
to attend that affair I will take you there, and we can look on and----"

"I don't want to look on. I want to dance--to be in it all. It will
be an experience I'll never forget."

The man nodded: "And one you may never cease to regret. What do you
know of that man? Of his character; of his antecedents? He may be the
veriest desperado for all you know."

The girl clapped her hands in mock delight: "Oh, wouldn't that be
grand! I hadn't thought of that. To attend a dance with just a plain
cowboy doesn't fall to every girl's lot, but one who is a cowboy and a
desperado, too!" She rolled her eyes to express the seventh heavendom
of delight.

Endicott ignored the mockery. "I am sure neither your mother nor your
father----"

"No, neither of them would approve, of course. But really, Winthrop,
I'm way past the short petticoat stage--though the way they're making
them now nobody would guess it. I know it's improper and
unconventional and that it isn't done east of the Mississippi nor west
of the Rocky Mountains. But when in Rome do as the roamers do, as
someone has said. And as for Mr. Purdy," she paused and looked
Endicott squarely in the eyes. "Do you know why he didn't shoot that
disgusting Tex when he insulted him?"

Endicott nodded. "Yes," he answered. "Because he was afraid to."

Colour suffused the girl's face and she arose abruptly from the table.
"At least," she said haughtily, "you and Wolf River are thoroughly in
accord on _that_ point."

As the man watched her disappear through the doorway he became aware
that the fat woman who had sought refuge under the coach was staring at
him through her lorgnette from her seat across the aisle.

"Young man, I believe you insulted that girl!" she wheezed indignantly.

"You should be a detective, madam. Not even a great one could be
farther from the truth," he replied dryly, and rising, passed into the
smoking compartment of his Pullman where he consumed innumerable
cigarettes as he stared out into the gathering night.

Seated in her own section of the same Pullman, Alice Marcum sat and
watched the twilight deepen and the lights of the little town twinkle
one by one from the windows. Alone in the darkening coach the girl was
not nearly so sure she was going to enjoy her forthcoming adventure.
Loud shouts, accompanied by hilarious laughter and an occasional pistol
shot, floated across the flat. She pressed her lips tighter and
heartily wish