rt that
she would never be sorry for this day in which she had promised to
become the wife of the man of the desert, and she would always cherish
the memory of this her first setting of the little table, and let it
make all future settings of that table a holy ordinance.

She found a can of soup in the cupboard, and made it hot in a small
saucepan on the fire, and set forth on the table crackers and cheese, a
glass of jelly, a small bottle of stuffed olives and some little cakes
she had brought with her in her suit-case. She had thought she might
need something of the sort when she landed in Arizona, for there was no
telling but she might have to ride across the desert to find her
missionary; and sure enough that had been the case.

It looked very cozy when Brownleigh came in to say that the wagon was
ready and he thought he saw the Indian in the dusk coming across the
plain, but he stopped short without speech, for here before him was the
picture which his mind and heart had painted for him many a time: this
girl, the one girl in all the earth for him, kneeling beside his hearth
and dishing up the steaming soup into the hot dishes, the firelight
playing on her sweet face and golden hair, and every line and motion of
her graceful body calling for his adoration! So he stood for one long
minute and feasted his hungry eyes upon the sight, until she turned and
saw his heart in his eyes, and her own face grew rosy with the joy and
the meaning of it all.

And so they sat down to their first meal in the little house together,
and then having sent the Indian back to the fort with a message, they
took their way forth in the starlight together to begin their wedding
journey.

XVII

DEDICATION

Billy made good time in spite of the fact that he had been out all day
on parishional work, but he knew who he was hauling, and seemed to take
deep satisfaction in having Hazel back again, for now and again he would
turn back towards the wagon when they stopped for water and whinny
happily.

They reached the stopping place about nine o'clock, and the news that
the missionary was going to be married spread like wildfire among the
men and out to the neighbouring shacks. In no time a small crowd had
collected about the place, peering out of the starlit darkness.

Hazel retired to the forlorn little chamber where she had spent the
night before and rummaged in her trunk for bridal apparel. In a few
minutes she emerged into the