o Diamond men had made similar
mistakes, but not he. He smiled broadly. "Mebbe I did," he said;
"sometimes I'm mighty careless in handlin' the truth. Mebbe I thought
then that I'd come over to see your brother. But we have different
thoughts at different times. You say your brother ain't here now?"

"He left early this morning to go down the river," she informed him.
"He said he would be back before sun-down."

His eyes narrowed perceptibly. "Down" the river meant that Radford's
trail led in the general direction of the spot where he had seen the
fleeing horseman and the dead Two Diamond cow with her orphaned calf.
Yet this proved nothing. Radford might easily have been miles away
when the deed had been done. For the present there was nothing he
could do, except to wait until Radford returned, to form whatever
conclusions he might from the young man's appearance when he should
find a Two Diamond man at the cabin. But anxiety to see the brother
was not the only reason that would keep him waiting.

He removed his hat and sat regarding it with a speculative eye. Miss
Radford smiled knowingly.

"I expect I have been scarcely polite," she said. "Won't you get off
your horse?"

"Why, yes," he responded, obeying promptly; "I expect Mustard's been
doin' a lot of wonderin' why I didn't get off before."

If he had meant to imply that her invitation had been tardy he had hit
the mark fairly, for Miss Radford nibbled her lips with suppressed
mirth. The underplay of meaning was not the only subtleness of the
speech, for the tone in which it had been uttered was rich in
interrogation, as though its author, while realizing the pony's dimness
of perception, half believed the animal had noticed Miss Radford's
lapse of hospitality.

"I'm thinkin' you are laughin' at me again, ma'am," he said as he came
to the edge of the porch and stood looking up at her, grinning.

"Do you think I am laughing?" she questioned, again biting her lips to
keep them from twitching.

"No-o. I wouldn't say that you was laughin' with your lips--laughin'
regular. But there's a heap of it inside of you--tryin' to get out."

"Don't you ever laugh inwardly?" she questioned.

He laughed frankly. "I expect there's times when I do."

"But you haven't lately?"

"Well, no, I reckon not."

"Not even when you thought your horse might have noticed that I had
neglected to invite you off?"

"Did I think that?" he questioned.

"Of course yo