lled up in his blanket and slept till daybreak, when he
took up a vantage-point near the house and waited developments. Shortly
after breakfast Wong came out to the barn and saddled the white horse
for Helen. The half-breed noticed with satisfaction that the girl rode
directly toward the reservation instead of following the road that led
to the agency. Hastily securing his horse the half-breed skirted the
ranch and located the girl's trail on the prairie. Instead of following
it he ensconced himself comfortably in some aspens at the bottom of a
draw, confident that the girl would return by the same trail.

If McFann had continued on Helen's trail he would have followed her to
an Indian ranch not far away. A tattered tepee or two snuggled against a
dilapidated cabin. The owner of the ranch was struggling with
tuberculosis. His wife was trying to run the place and to bring up
several children, whose condition had aroused the mother instinct in
Helen. Though she had found her first efforts regarded with suspicion,
Helen had persisted, until she had won the confidence of mother and
children. Her visits were frequent, and she had helped the family so
materially that she had astonished the field matron, an energetic woman
who covered enormous distances in the saddle in the fulfillment of
duties which would soon wear out a settlement worker.

The half-breed smoked uneasily, his rifle across his knees. Two hours
passed, but he did not stir, so confident was he that Helen would return
by the way she had followed in departing from the ranch.

McFann's patience was rewarded, and he tossed away his cigarette with a
sigh of satisfaction when Helen's voice came to him from the top of the
hill. She was singing a nonsense song from the nursery, and, astride
behind her saddle and clinging to her waist, was a wide-eyed Indian girl
of six years, enjoying both the ride and the singing.

Here was a complication upon which the half-breed had not counted. In
fact, during his hours of waiting Jim had begun to look at matters in a
different light. It was necessary to get Helen away, where she could not
possibly tell what she knew, but why not hide her in the mountains? Or,
if stronger methods were necessary, let Talpers attend to them himself?
For the first time since he had come under Talpers's domination, Jim
McFann was beginning to weaken. As the girl came singing down the
hillside, Jim peered uneasily through the bushes. Talpers had shove