pable of
winning a romantic woman's regard than good-natured, impulsive,
domineering Jeff?

The thoughts flashed through his brain with the rapidity of
lightning, and only his instinct of reserve protected him from his
blundering tongue.

"I--I was--" he began, and stopped short. The idea of loyalty had
ruled his mind so long that it had become a habit, ill suited to the
cause of a jealous lover; and Jeff had confided to him as a child
might run to its mother. Should a man take advantage of his friend's
innocence to deprive him of that for which they both strove? Hardy
fought the devil away and spoke again, quietly.

"I was going up the river to-morrow, Jeff," he said. "Seemed to me I
saw a kind of smoke, or dust, over south of Hell's Hip Pocket this
afternoon--and we can't take any chances now. That would take all day,
you know."

He lay still after that, his brain whirling with contending emotions.
Each evening as he listened to the music of her laughter he had
resolved to quit his lonely watch and snatch from life the pleasure of
a single day with Kitty, such days as they used to have when he was
her unacknowledged lover and all the world was young. Then he could
always please her. He could bend to her moods like a willow, braving
the storms of her displeasure, which only drew them closer in the end,
secure in the hope of her ultimate yielding. But now the two barren
years lay between; years which had stiffened his jaw and left him
rough in his ways; years which had wrought some change in her, he knew
not what. A single day might solve the crux--nay, it might bring the
great happiness of which he dreamed. But each morning as he woke with
the dawn he saw that mighty army without banners, the sheep, marching
upon their stronghold, the broad mesa which fed the last of Jeff's
cows, and Judge Ware's, and Lucy's--and sprang from his blankets. And
when the sun rose and Kitty came forth he was far away. But now--

He was awakened from his dreams by the voice of Creede, low, vibrant,
full of brotherly love.

"Rufe," he was saying, "Miss Bonnair has told me a lot about you--a
lot I didn't know. She likes you, boy, and she's a good woman. I never
knowed but one like her, and that was Sallie Winship. You mustn't let
anything that's happened stand between you. Of course she never said
anything--never said a word--but I'm wise that way; I can tell by
their voice, and all that. You want to let them dam' sheep go for a
day