Bob Hampton of Placer

the hands of the lustful Sioux, Mr. Hampton had scarcely so much as noted her presence. Of late years he had not felt greatly interested in the sex, and his inclination, since uniting hi

protect. The never wholly eradicated instincts of one born and bred a gentleman, although heavily overlaid by the habits acquired in many a rough year passed along the border, brought vividly before him the requirements of the situation. Undoubtedly death

llet, glancing from off the polished surface of the rock, which found lodgment in the sturdy old fighter's brain. The girl had caught him as he fell, had wasted all her treasured store of water in a vain effort to cleanse the blood from his features, and now sat there, pillowing his head upon her knee, although the old man was stone dead with the first touch of the ball. That had occurred fully an hour before, but she continued in the same pos

f. "Might fail to develop into very much of a soci

se home-made dress of dark calico fitted her sadly, while her rumpled hair, from which the broad-brimmed hat had fallen, possessed a reddish copper tinge where it

that way as any other," he reflected,

est fraction of an inch, but reaching forward with blindly groping hands, caught hold upon any projecting root or stone which enabled him to drag his body an inch farther. Twice they fired directly down at him from the opposite summit, and once a fleck of sharp rock, chipped by a glancing bullet, embedded itself in

d, a falter in her voice; and he noticed that her eyes were da

swered, quietly, "and hope to discover some mean

here was a look of positive di

n a tone of complete surprise. "Surely you could not

seemed to catch in her throat. "He told

of these impulsive words, and the confident smile deserted his lips. For a moment they sat thus, the dead body lying betwee

I might plead with some justice that Eberly enjoyed the honor of shooting first. I was not aware of your personal feeling in the matter, or I might have permitted some

never before in all her rough frontier experience had she been addressed thus formally. H

asserted, soberly. "

ngs of his heart, yet the unconcealed shrinking of this uncouth child from slightest personal contact with him cut through his acquired reserve as per

g back beside the others, wh

you ta

nd I can do nothing to aid him. But the

go," she decla

stock of each other. He realized the utter futility of any further argument, while she felt instinc

ng himself out more comfortably in the rock shadow. "

such result she had directly appealed to his better judgment, and enabled him to perceive her from an entirely fresh view-point. Her clearly expressed disdain, her sturdy independence both of word and action, coupled with her frankly voiced dislike, awoke within him an earnest desire to stand higher in her regard. Her dark, glowing eyes were lowered upon the white face of the dead ma

heartily, holding out toward her as

the welcome water to her mouth, while Hampton, observing it all

r," he reflected soberly, "I shou

lifting her eyes again to his face. "I was so thirsty." Her low tone

man questioned, determined to

e so; I d

d you are actually uncertain wheth

pton, but I answered you all right. He brought me up, and I called him 'dad' about as far back as I can re

as Gillis,

nodded

er at Fort

led head silen

is you

ly, "but I reckon if you have any further occasion

reckless humor instantly re

ng lady! However, I believe we might become good friends if we ever have sufficient luck to get o

s face, her lips parted as though trembling with a sharp retort. The

onless. Not that he greatly cared; oh, no! still, it was an entirely new experience; the arrow went deeper than he would have willingly admitted. Men of middle age, gray hairs already commencing to shade their temples, are not apt to enjoy being openly despised by young women, n

te so apt to appeal to him as dead gameness. He glanced surreptitiously aside at her once more, but there was no sign of relenting in the averted face. He rested lower against the rock, his face upturned toward the sky, and thought. He was becoming vaguely aware that something entirely new, and rather

as his words signified. Deeply conscious of a life long ago irretrievably wrecked, everything behind a chaos, everything before worthless,-for years he had been actually seeking death; a hundred times he had gladly marked its apparent approach, a smile of welcome upon his lips. Yet it had never quite succeeded in rea

im hitherto. Suddenly his puzzled face brightened to the birth of an idea. By heavens! it might be done! Surely it might be done! Inch by inch he traced the obscure passage, seeking to impress each faint detail upon his memory-that narrow ledge within easy reach of an upstretched arm, the sharp ou

every nerve tingling to the newborn hope. God helping them, even so desperate a deed might be accomplished, although it would test the foot and nerve of a Swiss mountaineer. He glanced again uneasily toward his companion, and saw the same moti