ole adventure had been the Texan--Tex, the
devil-may-care, the irresponsible, the whimsical. And yet, withal, the
capable, the masterful. He recollected vividly that there had been days
of indecision--days when her love had wavered between himself and this
man of the broad open spaces. Long before this adventure of the wilds
Endicott had known her,--had loved her--and she had never taken him
seriously.

With the suddenness of a blow, came the thought that when she did choose
him--when finally she yielded to his pleading and consented to become
his wife, it was because he had unexpectedly shown some of the
attributes that were the inborn heritage of the Texan. Could it be that
his great love for her had found no answering chord in her heart? If she
had loved the Texan, why had she married him? Could it be that she did
not even now take him seriously? Was her love so shallow a thing that it
must be fanned into a flame by the winds of high adventure? He knew that
the commonplaces of society bored her to extinction. Had the humdrum
existence of civilization palled on her until her heart in very
desperation had turned to her knight of the boundless plains. Had she
deliberately planned this journey in order to be once more with the
Texan? Had their meeting--their flight, even, been prearranged? Endicott
groaned aloud, and the next moment a hand was placed on his shoulder. He
leaped to his feet and peered into the face that stood vaguely outlined
in the darkness.

"_Oui_, A'm t'ink you don' 'member Ol' Bat."

"Bat! Bat!" cried the man, "remember you! I guess I do remember you!" He
seized a leathery hand in his own. "I'd rather see you, now, than any
man in the world. What do you make of it, Bat? Tell me--what has
happened?"

"_Oui_, A'm t'ink dat 'bout tam' A'm com' 'long. A'm t'ink you feel
pret' bad, _non_? A'm com' 'long w'en de men com' back for no kin ketch
Tex."

"You heard what they said?"

"_Oui_, A'm hear dat."

"Do you think they're alive?"

"_Oui, bien!_ A'm stan' clos' I kin git beside de hoss, an' A'm hear dat
man say de boat floatin' off, an' he ain' gon' spit 'bout dat. You com'
'long Ol' Bat--we fin' um."

Endicott thrust his face close and stared straight into the half-breed's
eyes: "Have you been with Tex all the time--this past year?"

"_Oui_, him wagon boss on Y Bar, an' me, A'm cook."

"Would you have known it if he had been writing letters? Has he ever
talked about--about--my wife?"

"_No