, he fought his battles alone and in silence. That
he never once touched his bed, the hotel maids could have testified the
next morning. As to the decision that followed those sleepless hours,
his own action gave a clue. He had left a call for an early train West,
and at daylight a tap sounded on his door, while a voice announced the
time.

"Yes," answered the guest; but he did not stir.

In a few minutes the tap was repeated more insistently. "You've only
time to make your train if you hurry," warned the voice.

For a moment Blair did not answer. Then he said: "I have decided not to
go."

CHAPTER XXV

OF WHAT AVAIL?

It was late next morning, almost noon in fact, when Florence Baker
awoke; and even then she did not at once rise. A physical listlessness,
very unusual to her, lay upon her like a weight. A year ago, by this
time of day, she would have been ravenously hungry; but now she had a
feeling that she could not have taken a mouthful of food had her life
depended on it. The room, although it faced the west and was well
ventilated, seemed hot and depressing. A breeze stirred the lace
curtains at the window, but it was heated by the blocks of city
pavements over which it had come. The girl involuntarily compared this
awakening with that of a former life in what now seemed to her the very
long ago. She remembered the light morning wind of the prairies, which,
always fresh with the coolness of dew and of growing things, had drifted
in at the tiny windows of the Baker ranch-house. She recalled the sweet
scent of the buffalo grass with a vague sense of depression and
irrevocable loss.

She turned restlessly beneath the covers, and in doing so her face came
in contact with the moistened surface of her pillow. Propping herself up
on her elbow, she looked curiously at the tell-tale bit of linen.
Obviously, she had been crying in her sleep; and for this there must
have been a reason. Until that moment she had not thought of the
previous night; but now the sudden recollection overwhelmed her. She was
only a girl-woman--a child of nature, incapable of repression. Two great
tears gathered in her soft brown eyes; with instinctive desire of
concealment the fluffy head dropped to the pillow, and the sobs broke
out afresh.

Minutes passed; then her mother's hesitating steps approached the door.

"Florence," called a voice. "Florence, are you well?"

The dishevelled brown head lifted, but the girl made no motion