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the baking grass; his eyes closed dreamily。  He was awakened by

the sound of voices。  They were distant; they were vague; they

approached no nearer。  He rolled himself to the verge of the first

precipitous grassy descent。  There was another bank or plateau

below him; and then a confused depth of olive shadows; pierced here

and there by the spiked helmets of pines。



There was no trace of habitation; yet the voices were those of some

monotonous occupation; and Lance distinctly heard through them the

click of crockery and the ring of some household utensil。  It

appeared to be the interjectional; half listless; half perfunctory;

domestic dialogue of an old man and a girl; of which the words were

unintelligible。  Their voices indicated the solitude of the

mountain; but without sadness; they were mysterious without being

awe…inspiring。  They might have uttered the dreariest commonplaces;

but; in their vast isolation; they seemed musical and eloquent。

Lance drew his first sigh;they had suggested dinner。



Careless as his nature was; he was too cautious to risk detection

in broad daylight。  He contented himself for the present with

endeavoring to locate that particular part of the depths from which

the voices seemed to rise。  It was more difficult; however; to

select some other way of penetrating it than by the stage road。

〃They're bound to have a fire or show a light when it's dark;〃 he

reasoned; and; satisfied with that reflection; lay down again。

Presently he began to amuse himself by tossing some silver coins in

the air。  Then his attention was directed to a spur of the Coast

Range which had been sharply silhouetted against the cloudless

western sky。  Something intensely white; something so small that it

was scarcely larger than the silver coin in his hand; was appearing

in a slight cleft of the range。



While he looked it gradually filled and obliterated the cleft。  In

another moment the whole serrated line of mountain had disappeared。

The dense; dazzling white; encompassing host began to pour over and

down every ravine and pass of the coast。  Lance recognized the sea…

fog; and knew that scarcely twenty miles away lay the oceanand

safety!  The drooping sun was now caught and hidden in its soft

embraces。  A sudden chill breathed over the mountain。  He shivered;

rose; and plunged again for very warmth into the spice…laden

thicket。  The heated balsamic air began to affect him like a

powerful sedative; his hunger was forgotten in the languor of

fatigue; he slumbered。  When he awoke it was dark。  He groped his

way through the thicket。  A few stars were shining directly above

him; but beyond and below; everything was lost in the soft; white;

fleecy veil of fog。  Whatever light or fire might have betokened

human habitation was hidden。  To push on blindly would be madness;

he could only wait for morning。  It suited the outcast's lazy

philosophy。  He crept back again to his bed in the hollow and

slept。  In that profound silence and shadow; shut out from human

association and sympathy by the ghostly fog; what torturing visions

conjured up by remorse and fear should have pursued him?  What

spirit passed before him; or slowly shaped itself out of the

infinite blackness of the wood?  None。  As he slipped gently into

that blackness he remembered with a slight regret; some biscuits

that were dropped from the coach by a careless luncheon…consuming

passenger。  That pang over; he slept as sweetly; as profoundly; as

divinely; as a child。





CHAPTER II。





He awoke with the aroma of the woods still steeping his senses。

His first instinct was that of all young animals; he seized a few

of the young; tender green leaves of the yerba buena vine that

crept over his mossy pillow and ate them; being rewarded by a half

berry…like flavor that seemed to soothe the cravings of his

appetite。  The languor of sleep being still upon him; he lazily

watched the quivering of a sunbeam that was caught in the canopying

boughs above。  Then he dozed again。  Hovering between sleeping and

waking; he became conscious of a slight movement among the dead

leaves on the bank beside the hollow in which he lay。  The movement

appeared to be intelligent; and directed toward his revolver; which

glittered on the bank。  Amused at this evident return of his

larcenous friend of the previous day; he lay perfectly still。  The

movement and rustle continued; but it now seemed long and

undulating。  Lance's eyes suddenly became set; he was intensely;

keenly awake。  It was not a snake; but the hand of a human arm;

half hidden in the moss; groping for the weapon。  In that flash of

perception he saw that it was small; bare; and deeply freckled。  In

an instant he grasped it firmly; and rose to his feet; dragging to

his own level as he did so; the struggling figure of a young girl。



〃Leave me go!〃 she said; more ashamed than frightened。



Lance looked at her。  She was scarcely more than fifteen; slight

and lithe; with a boyish flatness of breast and back。  Her flushed

face and bare throat were absolutely peppered with minute brown

freckles; like grains of spent gunpowder。  Her eyes; which were

large and gray; presented the singular spectacle of being also

freckled;at least they were shot through in pupil and cornea

with tiny spots like powdered allspice。  Her hair was even more

remarkable in its tawny; deer…skin color; full of lighter shades;

and bleached to the faintest of blondes on the crown of her head;

as if by the action of the sun。  She had evidently outgrown her

dress; which was made for a smaller child; and the too brief skirt

disclosed a bare; freckled; and sandy desert of shapely limb; for

which the darned stockings were equally too scant。  Lance let his

grasp slip from her thin wrist to her hand; and then with a good…

humored gesture tossed it lightly back to her。



She did not retreat; but continued looking at him in a half…surly

embarrassment。



〃I ain't a bit frightened;〃 she said; 〃I'm not going to run away;

don't you fear。〃



〃Glad to hear it;〃 said Lance; with unmistakable satisfaction; 〃but

why did you go for my revolver?〃



She flushed again and was silent。  Presently she began to kick the

earth at the roots of the tree; and said; as if confidentially to

her foot;



〃I wanted to get hold of it before you did。〃



〃You did?and why?〃



〃Oh; you know why。〃



Every tooth in Lance's head showed that he did; perfectly。  But he

was discreetly silent。



〃I didn't know what you were hiding there for;〃 she went on; still

addressing the tree; 〃and;〃 looking at him sideways under her white

lashes; 〃I didn't see your face。〃



This subtle compliment was the first suggestion of her artful sex。

It actually sent the blood into the careless rascal's face; and for

a moment confused him。  He coughed。  〃So you thought you'd freeze

on to that six…shooter of mine until you saw my hand?〃



She nodded。  Then she picked up a broken hazel branch; fitted it

into the small of her back; threw her tanned bare arms over the

ends of it; and expanded her chest and her biceps at the same

moment。  This simple action was supposed to convey an impression at

once of ease and muscular force。



〃Perhaps you'd like to take it now;〃 said Lance; handing her the

pistol。



〃I've seen six…shooters before now;〃 said the girl; evading the

proffered weapon and its suggestion。  〃Dad has one; and my brother

had two derringers before he was half as big as me。〃



She stopped to observe in her companion the effect of this capacity

of her family to bear arms。  Lance only regarded her amusedly。

Presently she again spoke abruptly:



〃What made you eat that grass; just now?〃



〃Grass!〃 echoed Lance。



〃Yes; there;〃 pointing to the yerba buena。



Lance laughed。  〃I was hungry。  Look!〃 he said; gayly tossing some

silver into the air。  〃Do you think you could get me some breakfast

for that; and have enough left to buy something for yourself?〃



The girl eyed the money and the man with half…bashful curiosity。



〃I reckon Dad might give ye suthing if he had a mind ter; though ez

a rule he's down on tramps ever since they run off his chickens。

Ye might try。〃



〃But I want YOU to try。  You can bring it to me here。〃



The girl retreated a step; dropped her eyes; and; with a smile that

was a charming hesitation between bashfulness and impudence; said:

〃So you ARE hidin'; are ye?〃



〃That's just it。  Your head's level。  I am;〃 laughed Lance

unconcernedly。



〃Yur ain't one o' the McCarty gangare ye?〃



Mr。 Lance Harriott felt a momentary moral exaltation in declaring

truthfully that he was not one of a notorious band of mountain

freebooters known in the district under that name。



〃Nor ye ain't one of them chicken lifters that raided Henderson's

ranch?  We don't go much on that kind o' cattle yer。〃



〃No;〃 said Lance; cheerfully。



〃Nor ye ai

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