sleep, her quarrel with Mormon Joe had not been out of her
mind since, three days before, she had stood shivering at the door and
watched him vanish through the sagebrush. Now, in addition, she was
worried over his absence. She had kept supper waiting until long after
her usual bedtime and to-day she had worn a trail to the top of the
hill, watching, and still had seen no sign of him. Poignant regret for
what she had said and shame for her ingratitude overwhelmed her. Along
with the feelings was a fear lest he refuse to forgive her and insist
upon her leaving. Then, too, there was her promise to Mrs. Toomey.

Kate was confronted with her first problem. She had threshed it out,
turned it over and over, finally arriving at the conclusion that she
must keep her promise at any cost to herself. A promise was a promise,
and she had given her hand on it. Her regard for her word was a dominant
trait in Kate. Mormon Joe had fostered this ideal by words and his own
example. So she had slowly made up her mind that having given her word
she would not recall it, though it would be a high price to pay for a
principle if it cost her his friendship and protection.

Kate intended to plead with him; to beg his forgiveness upon her knees,
if necessary; to put her arms about his neck and make him understand how
much she loved him. She had taken everything for granted heretofore, as
her right because he had given it so readily, but all would be different
if only he would forget what she had said and give her another
opportunity, and if he would let her keep her promise to Mrs. Toomey she
would herd sheep until she had saved the amount in a herder's wages.

This was her plan after sleepless hours and three days of thinking.
Until their quarrel Kate never would have doubted that she could have
her way without much difficulty, but then she had not met the cool
polite stranger with the adamant beneath his polished exterior. The girl
wondered if the whimsical unselfish friend and comrade ever would come
back to her. The doubt of it set her chin quivering.

Kate trudged through the snow to turn back the sheep that Bowers had
seen, and at the top of the hill stopped and gave a cry of relief and
gladness. A thin blue thread of smoke was rising from the "draw" and she
wondered how anyone could have come without her seeing them. She looked
at the sun and calculated that she could shortly be starting the sheep
back to the bed-ground, and her spirit