lady--throw her
money away right in sight of a sure proposition; even if you can't go into
improved orchards, any Hesperides investment is safe. It means at least
double the price to you within two years. I've bonded forty acres more of
wild land joining my tract, and I shall plant thirty of it in the fall.
The last ten will be cleared and reserved for speculation. The piece comes
within a stone's throw of the Great Northern's tracks. There's a siding
there now, and when the Vale comes into full bearing, they are bound to
make it a shipping station. Then I'm going to plat that strip into town
lots and put it on the market." He paused while her glance, returning from
the desert, met his in a veiled side-look, and the flush of the bellflower
again tinged his cheek. "I mean," he added, "I'd be mighty glad to let you
in."

The blue sparkles played under her lashes. "Thank you, it sounds like
riches, but--"

She stopped, leaving the excuse unsaid. The station master had turned his
face suddenly towards the Columbia; he was not listening to her. Then,
presently, the sound that had caught his alert ear reached her own
faintly. Somewhere out in the solitudes a train had whistled. "The
westbound freight!" she exclaimed softly. "Isn't it the westbound
freight?"

He nodded. "She's signalling Beverley. They'll call me in a minute." And
he started around to the office door.

She rose and followed to the corner to look for Tisdale. Midway the road
doubled a knoll and was lost, to reappear, a paler streak, on the gray
slope where the ranch house stood; and it was there, at the turn, she
first noticed a cloud of dust. It advanced rapidly, but for a while she
was not able to determine whether it enveloped a rider or a man on foot;
she was certain there was no led horse. Then a gust of wind parted the
cloud an instant, and the sparkle suffused her whole face. He was
returning as she had hoped, afoot.

She stood watching the moving cloud; the man's bulk began to detach from
it and gathered shape. Between pauses, the click of the telegraph reached
her, then suddenly the shriek of the whistle cut the stillness. The train
must have crossed the Columbia and was winding up through the dunes. She
went along the platform and picked up her hat, which she had left on the
suitcase with her coat. While she pinned it on and tied her veil over it,
the freight signalled twice. It was so close she caught the echo of the
thundering trucks from som