Where the Trail Divides

e ranch house, and, without leaving the pony's back, opened and closed the gate of the barb wire fence surrounding the yard and approached the

peared distinctly bored. Neither Landor himself nor the girl was anywhere visible, and, after a moment, the spectator moved on around the corner. The dining-room as he passed was dark, likewise the kitchen, and the rider made the complete circuit of the house, pausing at last under a certain window on the second floor facing the south. It was the girl's room, and, although

of a sudden the

eated the hat

no a

he night air being a bit frosty

e, "it is I, How. Won't

ifted and the sash was opened; a face appea

ow," said a vo

in his seat and the s

ere, Bess?" he hesita

ong," monotonously. "I'

t, looking up at her. Repressed human that he was, there seemed to him nothing now to say, no

n ground r

ast. "You mustn't sit there in the wi

ck until her fac

for the second time, and

tionless; but the light did not return, nor did he hear a sound, a

sod and weather-board barn. The reason for this was obvious, to one acquainted with the tenant's habits particularly so. Just how long the Indian had remained separate, just why he had first made the change, Landor himself could hardly have told. Suffice it to say it had been for years, and in all that time, even in the coldest weather, the

night. From the adjoining stall, out of the darkness, there came a nasal puppyish whine and the protest of a straining chain. Had it been daylight, an observer would have seen a woolly grey ball with a pointed nose and a pair of sharp eyes tugging at the end of that tether; but as it was, two gleaming eyes, very close together, were al

light there was a moist spot on his cheek where

he light, and as the newcomer opened the flap and stepped inside the maker of t

to-night,"

es

no explanation was offered or e

where he had been sitting he produced a couple of cold boiled potatoes and sliced them into the opposite side of the same pan. He did not hurry, he rather seemed to be dawdling; yet almost before the observer awoke to the fact that supper was under preparation a tiny folding table with a turkey red cloth was set, the odour of coffee-cheap coffee, yet surprisingly fragrant-was in the a

greeting not a word had been spoken. Now, th

ou must have had an early supper. I not

man sank lower into his seat wearily.

ter, swiftly and methodically as he had prepared the meal, cleared the table and put all in order. Then at last, the fire replenished and a couple of long-haired buffalo robes thrown within the radius of its heat, he stretched full length there

with a trace

you ever smoked

was no suggestion of the superf

h his little finger. The match he lit crackled explosively, and he started at the unexpected s

tly, "I wish you would do me a

ate, did not question. "If in

; the unquestioning confidence of the younger, the trace of almost patriarchal respe

at once instead of waiting until the day set." Puff, puff went the pipe as though the speaker were unc

no question was voiced; there was no probing of

ess to-morrow if y

it to the already glowing bowl; then thre

pretty strong now, but nevertheless I'm getting

actness he knocked the burned contents of the pipe into the grate and filled the bowl afresh. "Mary isn't used to having any res

ugh Landor wai

s usual peremptory self was the big rancher to-night, very obvious, pathetica

t hides itself to die alone he avoided direct mention of the fact, direct wording of the inevitable. But something in the attitude of the motionless figure before him prevented further dissimu

you think, How?" he

A pause. "What I do know is th

ry,

ir. Ver

d w

ans

tell you why." He returned to his place and stretched himself as before, his hands locked beneath his head. "You are a rich man, Mr. Landor, and Bess is human. She

the pipe bowl and lit it with a

e why, How,

, thoug

Tel

the other would not answer; then of a sudden he foun

e her." He paused, and into the tent there came the long-drawn-out wail of the baby prisoner. Silence returned. "As surely as that

now. The pipe had gon

e I ask w

d not shift, nor a

e and they are white

ger. It was true, as true as human nature; and he knew it was true. Other men, brothers of his own race, would do this thing-as they would do any

t himself inch by inch; battled against the knowledge of the inevitable that had been dogging him day by day, hour by ho

. What we have to do now is the best thing possible under the circumstances." He sat down in the chair again heavily, his hands still locked in his lap. "If wrong has been done I am to b

Lan

ble implication-and he was silent. For seconds likewise the Indian was still; but in them he was looking

menace; merely wonder, and, yes, pathos-terrible, gripping pathos. "I knew that everyone el

e bottom of his soul he wished to say something in refutation

ed in my life: the fact that you should trust me so, with all that was dear to you in the world." Just perceptibly he halted, but his eyes did not leave the white man's face. "But I see it all now. I was blind before, but I see at last. You are like the rest, like everyone with a white skin. The fact that we've lived together for half a generation makes no difference. You're square, square to the end. You even like me in a way. You've given your word an

ow much after all he had grown to depend upon this laconic human, how much he had lost. It was the last drop in his cup of bitterness, the crushing straw. His great ungainly body dropped forward until his face was hid in his hands. On the walls of the tent a distorted, exaggerated shadow marked the movement of his shoulders as they rose and fell with his deep, irregular breathing. Again silence fell upon them, silence that by word of mouth was to remain unbroken. In it from the stable there sounded again the wail of the lonely baby, and a moment later, muffled, echo-like from the distance, the answering call of one of its own kind free upon the infinite prairie; but apparently neither man noticed, neither man cared-and the silence returned. Long minutes passed. The fir

, was held back while he passed; t

ive. It was a kindred sound, an appealing sound, and at last the figure responded. Hatless as he was he left the tent, returned a minute later with something tagging at his heels: a woolly, grey, bright-eyed something, happy as a puppy at release and companionship. Methodically the man banked the coal fire and put out the lantern. He did not make a bed,