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from a branch of the mesquite. At the foot of the ridge their horses
were halted in a shady spot.
"Take off your sombrero," I said to Sally. "You look hot. Besides,
you're prettier with your hair flying." As she made no move, I took it
off for her. Then I made bold to perform the same office for Miss
Sampson. She faintly smiled her thanks. Assuredly she had forgotten all
her resentment. There were little beads of perspiration upon her white
brow. What a beautiful mass of black-brown hair, with strands of red or
gold! Pretty soon she would be bending that exquisite head and face over
poor Steele, and I, who had schemed this meeting, did not care what he
might do to me.
Pretty soon, also, there was likely to be an interview that would shake
us all to our depths, and naturally, I was somber at heart. But though
my outward mood of good humor may have been pretense, it certainly was a
pleasure to be with the girls again way out in the open. Both girls were
quiet, and this made my task harder, and perhaps in my anxiety to ward
off questions and appear happy for their own sakes I made an ass of
myself with my silly talk and familiarity. Had ever a Ranger such a job
as mine?
"Diane, did Sally show you her engagement ring?" I went on, bound to
talk.
Miss Sampson either did not notice my use of her first name or she did
not object. She seemed so friendly, so helplessly wistful. "Yes. It's
very pretty. An antique. I've seen a few of them," she replied.
"I hope you'll let Sally marry me soon."
"_Let_ her? Sally Langdon? You haven't become acquainted with your
fiancee. But when--"
"Oh, next week, just as soon--"
"Russ!" cried Sally, blushing furiously.
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"What's the matter?" I queried innocently.
"You're a little previous."
"Well, Sally, I don't presume to split hairs over dates. But, you see,
you've become extremely more desirable--in the light of certain
revelations. Diane, wasn't Sally the deceitful thing? An heiress all the
time! And I'm to be a planter and smoke fine cigars and drink mint
juleps! No, there won't be any juleps."
"Russ, you're talking nonsense," reproved Sally. "Surely it's no time to
be funny."
"All right," I replied with resignation. It was no task to discard that
hollow mask of humor. A silence ensued, and I waited for it to be
broken.
"Is Steele badly hurt?" asked Miss Sampson presently.
"No. Not what he or I'd call hurt at all. He's got a scalp wound, where
a bullet bounced off his skull. It's only a scratch. Then he's got
another in the shoulder; but it's not bad, either."
"Where is he now?"
"Look across on the other ridge. See the big white stone? There, down
under the trees, is our camp. He's there."
"When may--I see him?" There was a catch in her low voice.
"He's asleep now. After what happened yesterday he was exhausted, and
the pain in his head kept him awake till late. Let him sleep a while
yet. Then you can see him."
"Did he know we were coming?"
"He hadn't the slightest idea. He'll be overjoyed to see you. He can't
help that. But he'll about fall upon me with harmful intent."
"Why?"
"Well, I know he's afraid to see you."
"Why?"
"Because it only makes his duty harder."
"Ah!" she breathed.
It seemed to me that my intelligence confirmed a hope of hers and gave
her relief. I felt something terrible in the balance for Steele. And I
was glad to be able to throw them together. The catastrophe must fall,
and now the sooner it fell the better. But I experienced a tightening of
my lips and a tugging at my heart-strings.
"Sally, what do you and Diane know about the goings-on in town
yesterday?" I asked.
"Not much. George was like an insane man. I was afraid to go near him.
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Uncle wore a sardonic smile. I heard him curse George--oh, terribly! I
believe he hates George. Same as day before yesterday, there were men
riding in and out. But Diane and I heard only a little, and conflicting
statements at that. We knew there was fighting. Dick and the servants,
the cowboys, all brought rumors. Steele was killed at least ten times
and came to life just as many.
"I can't recall, don't want to recall, all we heard. But this morning
when I saw the red scarf flying in the wind--well, Russ, I was so glad I
could not see through the glass any more. We knew then Steele was all
right or you wouldn't have put up the signal."
"Reckon few people in Linrock realize just what _did_ come off," I
replied with a grim chuckle.
"Russ, I want you to tell me," said Miss Sampson earnestly.
"What?" I queried sharply.
"About yesterday--what Steele did--what happened."
"Miss Sampson, I could tell you in a few short statements of fact or I
could take two hours in the telling. Which do you prefer?"
"I prefer the long telling. I want to know all about him."
"But why, Miss Sampson? Consider. This is hardly a story for a
sensitive woman's ears."
"I am no coward," she replied, turning eyes to me that flashed like dark
fire.
"But why?" I persisted. I wanted a good reason for calling up all the
details of the most strenuous and terrible day in my border experience.
She was silent a moment. I saw her gaze turn to the spot where Steele
lay asleep, and it was a pity he could not see her eyes then. "Frankly,
I don't want to tell you," I added, and I surely would have been glad to
get out of the job.
"I want to hear--because I glory in his work," she replied deliberately.
I gathered as much from the expression of her face as from the deep ring
of her voice, the clear content of her statement. She loved the Ranger,
but that was not all of her reason.
"His work?" I echoed. "Do you want him to succeed in it?"
"With all my heart," she said, with a white glow on her face.
"My God!" I ejaculated. I just could not help it. I felt Sally's small
fingers clutching my arm like sharp pincers. I bit my lips to keep them
shut. What if Steele had heard her say that? Poor, noble,
justice-loving, blind girl! She knew even less than I hoped. I forced my
thought to the question immediately at hand. She gloried in the Ranger's
work. She wanted with all her heart to see him succeed in it. She had a
woman's pride in his manliness. Perhaps, with a woman's complex,
incomprehensible motive, she wanted Steele to be shown to her in all the
power that made him hated and feared by lawless men. She had finally
accepted the wild life of this border as something terrible and
inevitable, but passing. Steele was one of the strange and great and
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misunderstood men who were making that wild life pass.
For the first time I realized that Miss Sampson, through sharpened eyes
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