g into a pocket for the section of chain he had given her, he
slowly sauntered forward, and was within hearing distance when Barbara
spoke to Haydon.

"I was to give you this," she said--and she extended a hand toward
Haydon, the chain dangling from her fingers.

Harlan saw Haydon's muscles leap and become tense. He saw the man's color
go, saw his cheeks whiten; observed that his eyes widened and gleamed
with mingled astonishment and alarm.

He regained control of himself instantly, however, but Harlan had seen
enough to strengthen his convictions, and he grinned as Haydon flashed a
sharp glance at him.

Barbara, too, had noted the strange light in Haydon's eyes; she had seen
that Haydon had seemed about to shrink from the chain when she held it
out to him. She looked from Haydon to Harlan inquiringly and when her
glance again returned to Haydon he was smiling.

However, he had not taken the chain from her hand.

"Is it yours?" she asked.

"Yes--mine," he answered, hesitatingly. "Where did you find it?"

"Mr. Harlan found it." Barbara noted Haydon's quick start, the searching
glance he gave Harlan--who was now leaning on a rail of the corral fence,
seemingly uninterested.

Haydon laughed, a little hoarsely, it seemed to Barbara, and more loudly
than the occasion seemed to demand. She thought, though, that the laugh
might have been a jeer for Harlan's action in turning the chain over to
her instead of returning it directly to the owner.

She did not catch the searching inquiry of Haydon's glance at Harlan, nor
did she see Harlan's odd smile at Haydon, and the slow wink that
accompanied it.

But the wink and the smile conveyed to Haydon the intelligence that
Harlan knew the story connected with the loss of the chain, and that he
had not communicated it to the girl. They also expressed to Haydon the
message that Harlan and Haydon were kindred souls--the smile and the wink
told Haydon that this man who knew his secret was secretly applauding
him, even while inwardly laughing at him for his fear that the secret
would be betrayed.

Harlan's voice broke a short silence.

"Found it right about here--the other day. It must have laid there a long
time, for it took a heap of polishin' to brighten it up." Again he closed
an eye at Haydon, and the latter grinned broadly.

Barbara silently endured a pang of disappointment. She had caught
Harlan's wink. The man had betrayed jealousy only a few minutes ago, and
he had