The two radiant knights walked together toward the road, neither
uttering a word. McNeil whistled carelessly, and Moffat gazed intently
at the distant hills. Just beyond the gate, and without so much as
glancing toward his companion, the latter turned and strode up one of
the numerous diverging trails. McNeil halted and stared after him in
surprise.

"Ain't you--eh--goin' on down town?"

"I reckon not. Take a look at my mine first."

McNeil chuckled. "You--eh--better be careful goin' up
that--eh--gully," he volunteered, soberly, "the--eh--ghosts of them
four--eh--Injuns might--eh--haunt ye!"

Moffat wheeled about as if he had been shot in the back. "You
blathering, mutton-headed cowherd!" he yelled, savagely.

But McNeil was already nearly out of hearing.

CHAPTER II

BECOMING ACQUAINTED

Once within the cool shadows of the livingroom, Mrs. Herndon again
bethought herself to kiss her niece in a fresh glow of welcome, while
the latter sank into a convenient rocker and began enthusiastically
expressing her unbounded enjoyment of the West, and of the impressions
gathered during her journey. Suddenly the elder woman glanced about
and exclaimed, laughingly, "Why, I had completely forgotten. You have
not yet met your room-mate. Come out here, Naida; this is my niece,
Phoebe Spencer."

The girl thus addressed advanced, a slender, graceful figure dressed in
white, and extended her hand shyly. Miss Spencer clasped it warmly,
her eyes upon the flushed, winsome face.

"And is this Naida Gillis!" she cried. "I am so delighted that you are
still here, and that we are to be together. Aunt Lydia has written so
much about you that I feel as If we must have known each other for
years. Why, how pretty you are!"

Naida's cheeks were burning, and her eyes fell, but she had never yet
succeeded in conquering the blunt independence of her speech. "Nobody
else ever says so," she said, uneasily. "Perhaps it's the light."

Miss Spencer turned her about so as to face the window. "Well, you
are," she announced, decisively. "I guess I know; you 've got
magnificent hair, and your eyes are perfectly wonderful. You just
don't fix yourself up right; Aunt Lydia never did have any taste in
such things, but I 'll make a new girl out of you. Let's go upstairs;
I 'm simply dying to see our room, and get some of my dresses unpacked.
They must look perfect frights by this time."

They came down perhaps an hour lat