nverse with the judge and Kitty scampering about like an Indian on
her pinto horse, Hardy and Lucy Ware glanced at each other, and
laughed.

"Did you ever see any one like her?" exclaimed Lucy, and Hardy
admitted with a sigh that he never had.

"And I am afraid," observed Miss Lucy frankly, "you were not
altogether pleased to see her--at first. But really, Rufus, what can
any one hope to do with Kitty? When she has set her heart on anything
she _will have it_, and from the very moment she read your first
letter she was determined to come down here. Of course father thinks
he came down to look into this matter of the sheep, and _I_ think that
I came down to look after him, but in reality I have no doubt we are
both here because Kitty Bonnair so wills it."

"Very likely," replied Hardy, with a doubtful smile. "But since you
are in her counsels perhaps you can tell what her intentions are
toward me. I used to be one of her gentlemen-in-waiting, you know, and
this visit looks rather ominous for me."

"Well, just exactly what are you talking about, Rufus?"

"I guess you know, all right," replied Hardy. "Have I got to ride a
bucking bronco, or kill a sheep-herder or two--or is it just another
case of 'move on'?"

He paused and smiled bitterly to himself, but Lucy was not in a mood
to humor him in his misanthropy.

"I must confess," she said, "that you may be called upon to do a
few chivalrous feats of horsemanship, but as for the sheep-herder
part of it, I hope you will try to please me by leaving them alone. It
worries me, Rufus," she continued soberly, "to see you becoming so
strong-willed and silent. There was a whole year, when none of us
heard a word from you--and then it was quite by accident. And
father thinks you stopped writing to him with the deliberate intention
of driving the sheep away by violence."

"Well, I'm glad he understands so well," replied Hardy naively. "Of
course I wouldn't embarrass him by asking for orders, but--"

"Oh, Rufus!" exclaimed Miss Lucy impatiently, "do try to be natural
again and take your mind off those sheep. Do you know what I am
thinking of doing?" she demanded seriously. "I am thinking of asking
father to give me this ranch--he said he would if I wanted it--and
then I'll discharge you! You shall not be such a brutal, ugly man! But
come, now, I want you to help clear the table, and then we will go up
to Hidden Water and read your poems. But tell me, have you had any
troubl