hailed her gayly:

"The top o' the mornin' to you, Miss 'Lissie."

She drew up to wait for him. "My name is still Miss Lee," she told him
mildly, by way of correction.

"I'm glad it is, but we can change it in three minutes at any time, my
dear," he laughed.

She had been prepared to be more friendly toward him, but at this she
froze again.

"Did you leave Mrs. O'Connor and the children well?" she asked pointedly,
looking directly at him.

His smile vanished, and he stared at her in a very strange fashion. She
had taken the wind completely out of his sails. It had not occurred to him
that O'Connor might be a married man. Nor did he know but that it might be
a trick to catch him. He did the only thing he could do--made answer in an
ironic fashion, which might mean anything or nothing.

"Very well, thank you."

She saw at once that the topic did not allure him, and pushed home her
advantage. "You must miss Mrs. O'Connor when you are away on duty."

"Must I?"

"And the children, too. By the way, what are their names?"

"You're getting up a right smart interest in my family, all of a sudden,"
he countered.

"One can't talk about the weather all the time."

He boldly decided to slay the illusion of domesticity. "If you want to
know, I have neither wife nor children."

"But I've heard about them all," she retorted.

"You have heard of Mrs. O'Connor, no doubt; but she happens to be the
wife of a cousin of mine."

The look which she flashed at him held more than doubt.

"You don't believe me?" he continued. "I give you my word that I'm not
married."

They had left the road, and were following a short cut which wound down
toward Tonti, in and out among the great boulders. The town, dwarfed to
microscopic size by distance, looked, in the glare of the sunlight, as if
it were made of white chalk. Along the narrow trail they went singly,
Melissy leading the way.

She made no answer, but at the first opportunity he forced his horse to a
level with hers.

"Well--you heard what I said," he challenged.

"The subject is of no importance to me," she said.

"It's important to me. I'm not going to have you doing me an injustice. I
tell you I'm not married. You've got to believe me."

Her mind was again alive with suspicions. Jack had told her Bucky O'Connor
was married, and he must have known what he was talking about.

"I don't know whether you are married or not. I am of the opinion that
Lieutenant O'Connor