n a sea
of blue. Like a map the country seemed as Miss Radford and Ferguson
looked down upon it, yet a big map, over which one might wonder; more
vast, more nearly perfect, richer in detail than any that could be
evolved from the talents of man.

Ridges, valleys, gullies, hills, knobs, and draws were all laid out in
a vast basin. Miss Radford's gaze swept down into a section of flat
near the river.

"Why, there are some cattle down there!" she exclaimed.

"Sure," he returned; "they're Two Diamond. Way off there behind that
ridge is where the wagon is." He pointed to a long range of flat hills
that stretched several miles. "The boys that are workin' on the other
side of that ridge can't see them cattle like we can. Looks plum
re-diculous."

"There are no men with those cattle down there," she said, pointing to
those below in the flat.

"No," he returned quietly; "they're all off on the other side of the
ridge."

She smiled demurely at him. "Then we won't be interrupted--as we were
yesterday," she said.

Did she know that this was why he had selected this spot for the end of
the ride? He looked quickly at her, but answered slowly.

"They couldn't see us," he said. "If we was out in the open we'd be
right on the skyline. Then anyone could see us. But we've got this
thicket behind us, an' I reckon from down there we'd be pretty near
invisible."

He turned around, clasping his hands about one knee and looking
squarely at her. "I expect you done a heap with your book
yesterday--after I went away?"

Her cheeks colored a little under his straight gaze.

"I didn't stay there long," she equivocated. "But I got some very good
ideas, and I am glad that I didn't write much. I should have had to
destroy it, because I have decided upon a different beginning. Ben
made the trip to Dry Bottom yesterday, and last night he told something
that had happened there that has given me some very good material for a
beginning."

"That's awful interestin'," he observed. "So now you'll be able to
start your book with somethin' that really happened?"

"Real and original," she returned, with a quick glance at him. "Ben
told me that about a month ago some men had a shooting match in Dry
Bottom. They used a can for a target, and one man kept it in the air
until he put six bullet holes through it. Ben says he is pretty handy
with his weapons, but he could never do that. He insists that few men
can, and he is incline