arm," she said to her husband,
"she is socially beneath Ross Cavanagh, even in a State where social
barriers are few."

"Come out on the veranda," suggested Cavanagh, "and I'll show you the
hills I must climb."

Lee accepted innocently; but as the young people left the room Mrs.
Enderby looked at her hostess with significant glance. "There's the lady
Ross rode down to meet. Who is she?"

"Her mother is that dreadful old creature that keeps the Wetherford Hotel
in Roaring Fork."

"No!" exclaimed Mrs. Enderby.

"Yes; Lee Virginia is Lize Wetherford's daughter."

"But the girl is charming."

"I cannot understand it. Hugh came home a week or so ago full of her
praise--" And at this point her voice dropped lower and the other drew
closer.

Outside, the young people stood in silence. There was no moon, and the
mountains rose darkly, a sheer wall at the end of the garden, their tops
cutting into the starry sky with a dull edge, over which a dim white cone
peered.

"That snow-peak is Wolftooth, and thirty miles from here, and at the head
of my 'beat,'" said the ranger, after a pause, as they leaned against the
railing and looked away to the south. "I go up that ridge which you see
faintly at the left of the main canon, and through that deep notch which
is above timber-line."

The girl's eyes widened with awe of the big, silent, dark world he
indicated. "Aren't you afraid to start out on such a trip alone--I mean,
don't you dread it?"

"I'll be sorry to start back, yes, but not because of the dark. I've
enjoyed my visit here so much it will be hard to say good-night."

"It seems strange to me that you should prefer this wild country to
England."

"Do you like the East better than the West?"

"In some ways; but then, you see, I was born out here."

"So was I--I mean to say I was regenerated out here. The truth is I was a
good deal of a scapegrace when I left England. I was always for hunting
and horses, and naturally I came directly to the wild West country, and
here I've been ever since. I've had my turn at each phase of
it--cow-puncher, soldier, Rough-rider, and finally forest ranger. I reckon
I've found my job at last."

"Do you like it so much?"

"At the present time I am perfectly contented. I'm associated now with a
country that will never yield to the plough--yes, I like my work. I love
the forests and the streams. I wish I might show them to you. You don't
know how beautiful they are. The most beau