se, and outhouses marked the
place as one of the more ambitious ranches of the valley.

An old Mexican came forward with a face wreathed in smiles.

_"Buenos,_ Dona Maria," he cried, in greeting.

"_Buenos,_ Antonio. This gentleman is Mr. Richard Muir."

"_Buenos, senor_. A friend of Dona Maria is a friend of Antonio."

"The older people call me '_dona,_'" the girl explained. "I suppose they
think it strange a girl should have to do with affairs, and so they
think of me as '_dona,_' instead of '_senorita,_' to satisfy
themselves."

A vague suspicion, that had been born in the young man's mind
immediately after his rescue from the river now recurred.

His first thought then had been that this young woman must be Valencia
Valdes; but he had dismissed it when he had seen the initial M on her
kerchief, and when she had subsequently left him to infer that such was
not the case.

He remembered now in what respect she was held in the home _hacienda_;
how everybody they had met had greeted her with almost reverence. It was
not likely that two young heiresses, both of them beautiful orphans,
should be living within a few miles of each other.

Besides, he remembered that this very Antelope Springs was mentioned in
the deed of conveyance which he had lately examined before leaving the
mining camp. She was giving orders about irrigating ditches as if she
were owner.

It followed then that she must be Valencia Valdes. There could be no
doubt of it.

He watched her as she talked to old Antonio and gave the necessary
directions. How radiant and happy she was in this life which had fallen
to her; by inheritance! He vowed she should not be disinherited through
any action of his. He owed her his life. At least, he could spare her
this blow.

They drove home more silently than they had come. He was thinking over
the best way to do what he was going to do. The evening before they had
sat together in front of the fire in the living-room, while her old
duenna had nodded in a big arm-chair. So they would sit to-night and
to-morrow night.

He would send at once for the papers upon which his claim depended, and
he would burn them before her eyes. After that they would be
friends--and, in the end, much more than friends.

He was still dreaming his air-castle, when they drove through the gate
that led to her home. In front of the porch a saddled bronco trailed its
rein, and near by stood a young man in riding-breeches and spurs.