ff," he said.

"No talking there! Gallop!" said Grant, and the horsemen flitted across
the railroad track, and with a sinking thud of hoofs melted into the
prairie. They had accomplished their purpose, and the cattle-men, going
back disgustedly to remonstrate with the Sheriff, for a while failed to
find him.

IX

THE PRISONER

The prairie was shining white in the moonlight with the first frost when
Torrance, Hetty, and Miss Schuyler drove up to Allonby's ranch. They were
late in arriving and found a company of neighbours already assembled in
the big general room. It was panelled with cedar from the Pacific slope,
and about the doors and windows were rich hangings of tapestry, but the
dust was thick upon them and their beauty had been wasted by the moth.
Tarnished silver candlesticks and lamps which might have come from England
a century ago, and a scarred piano littered with tattered music, were in
keeping with the tapestry; for signs of taste were balanced by those of
neglect, while here and there a roughly patched piece of furniture
conveyed a plainer hint that dollars were scanty with Allonby. He was from
the South, a spare, grey-haired man, with a stamp of old-fashioned
dignity, and in his face a sadness not far removed from apathy and which,
perhaps, accounted for the condition of his property.

His guests, among whom were a number of young men and women, were,
however, apparently light-hearted, and had whiled away an hour or two with
song and badinage. A little removed from them, in a corner with the great
dusty curtain of a window behind her, sat Hetty Torrance with Allonby's
nephew and daughter. Miss Allonby was pale and slight and silent; but her
cousin united the vivacity of the Northerner with the distinction that is
still common in the South, and--for he was very young--Hetty found a
mischievous pleasure in noticing his almost too open admiration for Flora
Schuyler, who sat close beside them. A girl was singing indifferently, and
when she stopped, Miss Allonby raised her head as a rhythmical sound
became audible through the closing chords of the piano.

"Somebody riding here in a hurry!" she said.

It was significant that the hum of voices which followed the music ceased
as the drumming of hoofs grew louder; the women looked anxious and the men
glanced at one another. Tidings brought in haste were usually of moment
then. Torrance, however, stood up and smiled at the assembly.

"I guess some