nge. Outside, the sun devils were whirling maliciously, here and there
kicking up a dust-spout in the wake of the sadly-tormented breezlets
which foolishly ventured out in that July inferno. Overhead the sun was
herding his cloud flocks to their fold in the brassy west, wearily
dipping out of sight momentarily amidst their billowy fleeces. There was
an intolerable shimmer on the low-lying adobe flats to the east, and the
sea of alfalfa to the north drooped flaccidly in the furnace heat.

Her neglected novel lay limply on a bamboo tabour at her side and an
open letter lay where it had fallen unrecked on the veranda floor. On
the wide rail shelf blazed a glory of multi-colored cacti artistically
potted in harmoniously contrasting cool-gray jars. A luxuriant wistaria
at the porch angle behind her supplied the requisite foil for as perfect
a picture as ever filled the eye of mortal man, and Douglass, coming
noiselessly through the fetlock-deep dust of the driveway, reined up his
tired horse in eager admiration.

The girl, lulled to sleep by the languor of the hour, was very good to
look, upon and his eyes drank in her beauty greedily. Her hands, locked
together under the shapely head, were hidden in the wealth of golden
brown hair that somehow had escaped its fastenings and lay in an aureole
of glory about her delicately-chiseled face. The wide sleeves of the
thin lavender-tinted silk kimono had fallen away from her arms,
revealing their soft rounded contour and exquisite modeling. The
clinging stuff of her filmy gown betrayed every perfection of outline,
and peeping over one edge of the hammock was just a ravishing suspicion
of silk-stockinged foot and ankle, dainty as a child's. Her skin, tanned
golden tawny to the limit of the sun's daily caress, betrayed its true
coloring in the creamy white hollow of her uncovered throat, where the
treacherous fabric had failed in its trust. The lips, not too full but
rather of a gentle firmness, were slightly parted, revealing well-shaped
teeth, and the eyelashes and brows were long and beautifully arched.

As he sat unconsciously glowering at her, she moved slightly and the
kimono slipped to one side, exposing the bodice of thin stuff beneath.
Through its folds the rise and fall of her bosom were distinctly
perceptible. He whirled his horse with a deep-chested oath and rode
unseen to the stables. Taking something from his saddle-roll, he tiptoed
back to the veranda and without once