least, would have been sure of deference from him, and, perhaps,
have had little cause for complaint had he married her. Of late the
admiration he felt for her was becoming tinged with a genuine respect.

He knew that the homesteaders, who had very little cause to love him, were
in a somewhat dangerous mood just then, but that was of no great moment to
him. He had a cynical contempt for them, and a pride which would have made
him feel degraded had he allowed any fear of what they might do to
influence him. He had also, with less creditable motives, found himself in
difficult positions once or twice already, and his quickly arrogant
fearlessness had enabled him to retire from them without bodily hurt or
loss of dignity.

The lights of Muller's homestead rose out of the prairie almost before he
expected to see them, and a few minutes later he rode at a gallop up to
the door. It opened before he swung himself down, for the beat of hoofs
had carried far, and when he stood in the entrance, slightly dazed by the
warmth and light, there was a murmur of wonder.

"Clavering!" said somebody, and a man he could not clearly see laid a hand
on his shoulder.

He shook the grasp off contemptuously, moved forward a pace or two, and
then sat down blinking about him. Muller sat by the stove, a big pipe in
hand, looking at him over his spectacles. His daughter stood behind him
knitting tranquilly, though there was a shade more colour than usual in
her cheeks, and a big, grim-faced man stood at the end of the room with
one hand on a rifle that hung on the wall. Clavering instinctively glanced
over his shoulder, and saw that another man now stood with his back to the
door.

"You have come alone?" asked the latter.

"Oh, yes," said Clavering unconcernedly. "You might put my horse in, one
of you. If I could have helped it, I would not have worried you, but my
sleigh got damaged and Miss Torrance and another lady are freezing in the
Bitter Creek bluff, and I know you don't hurt women."

"No," said the man dropping his hand from the rifle, with a little
unpleasant laugh. "We haven't got that far yet, though your folks are
starving them."

"Well," said Clavering, "I'm going to ask you to send a sledge and drive
them back to Cedar or on to Allonby's."

The men exchanged glances. "It's a trick," said one.

"So!" said Muller. "Der ambuscade. Lotta, you ride to Fremont, und Larry
bring. I show you how when we have drubbles mit der franc t