The Range Boss

a week after his talk with Uncle Jepson in the bunkhouse, he was thinking of the visit he int

right unneighborly," he

e dog Nig greeted him with vociferous

dly. And then, reproachfully: "Me an' d

d her garments from the distance that separated her from him-a neat house dress of striped gingham, high at the throat, the bottom hem reaching below her shoe-tops; a loose-fitting apron over the dress, drawn tightly at the waist, giving her figure graceful curves. He had never thought of Hagar in connection with beauty; he had been sorry for her,

hat glimpse he had had of her on the Flying W ranchhouse porch had made him think, but he

d ain't anywhere

'," she told him. "Shucks," she added, se

invitation-tickled to get a chance to dawdle a kid on my knee. But I reckon them dawdle-days is over. I wouldn't think of tryin' to dawdle a woman on my knee. But if

s conscious of the change in herself than he,

its edge and turning his hat over and over in his hands, lo

ile she talked, he sat and listened, and stole covert glances at her, and tried

onfided to her. "Folks grow up, don't they? Take you. Yesterday you was a kid, an' I dawdled you on my knee. Today you're a woman, an' it makes

, deep, abiding, embarrassed. They drooped from his when he tried to hold her gaze. He had always admired the frank directness of them-that told of unconsciousness of sex, of unquestioning trust. Today, it seemed to him, there was subtle knowledge in them. He was puzzled and dis

id. "You ain't a kid no more, an' it wouldn't be

the trail, still puzzled over th

eyes," he said as he rode. "But Hagar

o the plains above the river, when Willard Masten loped his

saw him. She stood, her eyes drooping with shy embarrassment as Masten dismounted and

little wo

looked up at him, p

out you wantin' me to marry you. But I thought of what you told m

earnestly. "No one-not even your father

Miss Ruth? Are you sure she

that I come here to see you she'd be jealous, you know. So it's better

said. "Once, I was afraid Rex Randerson could see it in my

said. "Are you sure he didn't try to do anything else-

used to kiss me. But he says I'm a woman, now, an' it wouldn't

gain, not receiving an answer. "Why, how red your face is!"

o him, her head on his shoulder, so that