died out in her eyes. "That's good of you, Wiley, and I certainly
appreciate it; because no one would trust them with Charley. I'm going
to take the two kittens, but you can have the rest of them and--you can
write to me about them, sometimes."

"Every week," answered Wiley. "I'll take 'em back to the ranch and the
girls will look after them when I'm gone. We'll have to put them in
sacks, but that will be better----"

"Yes, that's better than starving," assented Virginia absently, and
Wiley rose suddenly to go. There was something indefinable that stood
between them, and no effort of his could break it down. He shook hands
perfunctorily and started down the gallery and then abruptly he turned
and swung back.

"Here," he said, throwing her stock down before her, "I told you to hold
onto that, once."

CHAPTER XIV

THE EXPLOSION

There are moments when his great secret rises to every man's lips and
flutters to wing away; but a thought, a glance, a word said or unsaid,
turns it back and he holds it more closely. Wiley Holman had a secret
which might have changed Virginia's life and filled every day with joy
and hope, but he shut down his lips and held it back and spoke kind
words instead. There was a look in her eyes, a brooding glow of
resentment when he spoke of his father and hers; and, while he spoke
from the heart, she drooped her dark lashes and was silent beyond her
wont. He gave her much but she gave him little--and the reason she was
sorry to leave Keno was the parting with six suffering cats.

There were girls that he knew who would have gone the limit and said
something about missing Wiley Holman. So he gave her back her stock and
put the cats in sacks and burnt up the road to the ranch. The next day
the news came that he had bonded the Paymaster, but Wiley was far away.
He caught the Limited and went speeding east, and then he came back,
headed west; and finally he left Vegas followed by four lumbering auto
trucks loaded down with freight and men. The time had come when he must
put his fortunes to the test and Keno awaited him, anxiously.

A cold, dusty wind raved down through the pass, driving even old Charley
to shelter; but as the procession moved in across the desert the city of
lost hopes came to life. Old grudges were forgotten, the dead past was
thrust aside, and they lined up to bid him welcome--Death Valley Charley
and Heine, Mrs. Huff and Virginia, and the last of ten thousand brave