<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III" />CHAPTER III</h2>
<h3>THE PURSUIT</h3>
<p>Straight across the prairie she galloped, not daring to stop for an
instant, with the voice pursuing her. For hours it seemed to ring in her
ears, and even after she was far beyond any possibility of hearing it she
could not be sure but there was now and then a faint echo of it ringing
yet, "Hello!"—ringing like some strange bird amid the silence of the
world.</p>
<p>There were cattle and sheep grazing on the bench, and the horse would fain
have stopped to dine with them; but the girl urged him on, seeming to make
him understand the danger that might be pursuing them.</p>
<p>It was hours before she dared stop for the much-needed rest. Her brain had
grown confused with the fright and weariness. She felt that she could not
much longer stay in the saddle. She might fall asleep. The afternoon sun
would soon be slipping down behind the mountains. When and where dared she
rest? Not in the night, for that would be almost certain death, with wild
beasts about.</p>
<p>A little group of greasewood offered a scanty shelter. As if the beast
understood her thoughts he stopped with a neigh, and looked around at her.
She scanned the surroundings. There were cattle all about. They had looked
up curiously from their grazing as the horse flew by, but were now going
quietly on about their business. They would serve as a screen if any
should be still pursuing her. One horse among the other animals in a
landscape would not be so noticeable as one alone against the sky. The
greasewood was not far from sloping ground where she might easily flee for
hiding if danger approached.</p>
<p>The horse had already begun to crop the tender grass at his feet as if his
life depended upon a good meal. The girl took some more beans from the
pack she carried, and mechanically ate them, though she felt no appetite,
and her dry throat almost refused to swallow. She found her eyes shutting
even against her will; and in desperation she folded the old coat into a
pillow, and with the horse's bridle fastened in her belt she lay down.</p>
<p>The sun went away; the horse ate his supper; and the girl slept. By and by
the horse drowsed off too, and the bleating sheep in the distance, the
lowing of the cattle, the sound of night-birds, came now and again from
the distance; but still the girl slept on. The moon rose full and round,
shining with flickering light through the cottonwoods; and the girl
stirred in a dream and thought some one was pursuing her, but slept on
again. Then out through the night rang a vivid human voice, "Hello!
Hello!" The horse roused from his sleep, and stamped his feet nervously,
twitching at his bridle; but the relaxed hand that lay across the leather
strap did not quicken, and the girl slept on. The horse listened, and
thought he heard a sound good to his ear. He neighed, and neighed again;
but the girl slept on.</p>
<p>The first ray of the rising sun at last shot through the gray of dawning,
and touched the girl full in the face as it slid under the branches of her
sheltering tree. The light brought her acutely to her senses. Before she
opened her eyes she seemed to be keenly and painfully aware of much that
had gone on during her sleep. With another flash her eyes flew open. Not
because she willed it, but rather as if the springs that held the lids
shut had unexpectedly been touched and they sprang back because they had
to.</p>
<p>She shrank, as her eyes opened, from a new day, and the memory of the old
one. Then before her she saw something which kept her motionless, and
almost froze the blood in her veins. She could not stir nor breathe, and
for a moment even thought was paralyzed. There before her but a few feet
away stood a man! Beyond him, a few feet from her own horse, stood his
horse. She could not see it without turning her head, and that she dared
not do; but she knew it was there, felt it even before she noticed the
double stamping and breathing of the animals. Her keen senses seemed to
make the whole surrounding landscape visible to her without the moving of
a muscle. She knew to a nicety exactly how her weapons lay, and what
movement would bring her hand to the trigger of her pistol; yet she
stirred not.</p>
<p>Gradually she grew calm enough to study the man before her. He stood
almost with his back turned toward her, his face just half turned so that
one cheek and a part of his brow were visible. He was broad-shouldered and
well built. There was strength in every line of his body. She felt how
powerless she would be in his grasp. Her only hope would be in taking him
unaware. Yet she moved not one atom.</p>
<p>He wore a brown flannel shirt, open at the throat, brown leather belt and
boots; in short, his whole costume was in harmonious shades of brown, and
looked new as if it had been worn but a few days. His soft felt sombrero
was rolled back from his face, and the young red sun tinged the short
brown curls to a ruddy gold. He was looking toward the rising sun. The
gleam of it shot across his brace of pistols in his belt, and flashed twin
rays into her eyes. Then all at once the man turned and looked at her.</p>
<p>Instantly the girl sprang to her feet, her hands upon her pistol, her eyes
meeting with calm, desperate defiance the blue ones that were turned to
her. She was braced against a tree, and her senses were measuring the
distance between her horse and herself, and deciding whether escape were
possible.</p>
<p>"Good morning," said the man politely. "I hope I haven't disturbed your
nap."</p>
<p>The girl eyed him solemnly, and said nothing. This was a new kind of man.
He was not like the one from whom she had fled, nor like any she had ever
seen; but he might be a great deal worse. She had heard that the world was
full of wickedness.</p>
<p>"You see," went on the man with an apologetic smile, which lit up his eyes
in a wonderfully winning way, "you led me such a desperate race nearly all
day yesterday that I was obliged to keep you in sight when I finally
caught you."</p>
<p>He looked for an answering smile, but there was none. Instead, the girl's
dark eyes grew wide and purple with fear. He was the same one, then, that
she had seen in the afternoon, the voice who had cried to her; and he had
been pursuing her. He was an enemy, perhaps, sent by the man from whom she
fled. She grasped her pistol with trembling fingers, and tried to think
what to say or do.</p>
<p>The young man wondered at the formalities of the plains. Were all these
Western maidens so reticent?</p>
<p>"Why did you follow me? Who did you think I was?" she asked breathlessly
at last.</p>
<p>"Well, I thought you were a man," he said; "at least, you appeared to be a
human being, and not a wild animal. I hadn't seen anything but wild
animals for six hours, and very few of those; so I followed you."</p>
<p>The girl was silent. She was not reassured. It did not seem to her that
her question was directly answered. The young man was playing with her.</p>
<p>"What right had you to follow me?" she demanded fiercely.</p>
<p>"Well, now that you put it in that light, I'm not sure that I had any
right at all, unless it may be the claim that every human being has upon
all creation."</p>
<p>His arms were folded now across his broad brown flannel chest, and the
pistols gleamed in his belt below like fine ornaments. He wore a
philosophical expression, and looked at his companion as if she were a new
specimen of the human kind, and he was studying her variety, quite
impersonally, it is true, but interestedly. There was something in his
look that angered the girl.</p>
<p>"What do you want?" She had never heard of the divine claims of all the
human family. Her one instinct at present was fear.</p>
<p>An expression that was almost bitter flitted over the young man's face, as
of an unpleasant memory forgotten for the instant.</p>
<p>"It really wasn't of much consequence when you think of it," he said with
a shrug of his fine shoulders. "I was merely lost, and was wanting to
inquire where I was—and possibly the way to somewhere. But I don't know
as 'twas worth the trouble."</p>
<p>The girl was puzzled. She had never seen a man like this before. He was
not like her wild, reckless brother, nor any of his associates.</p>
<p>"This is Montana," she said, "or was, when I started," she added with
sudden thought.</p>
<p>"Yes? Well, it was Montana when I started, too; but it's as likely to be
the Desert of Sahara as anything else. I'm sure I've come far enough, and
found it barren enough."</p>
<p>"I never heard of that place," said the girl seriously; "is it in Canada?"</p>
<p>"I believe not," said the man with sudden gravity; "at least, not that I
know of. When I went to school, it was generally located somewhere in
Africa."</p>
<p>"I never went to school," said the girl wistfully; "but—" with a sudden
resolve—"I'll go now."</p>
<p>"Do!" said the man. "I'll go with you. Let's start at once; for, now that
I think of it, I haven't had anything to eat for over a day, and there
might be something in that line near a schoolhouse. Do you know the way?"</p>
<p>"No," said the girl, slowly studying him—she began to feel he was making
fun of her; "but I can give you something to eat."</p>
<p>"Thank you!" said the man. "I assure you I shall appreciate anything from
hardtack to bisque ice-cream."</p>
<p>"I haven't any of those," said the girl, "but there are plenty of beans
left; and, if you will get some wood for a fire, I'll make some coffee."</p>
<p>"Agreed," said the man. "That sounds better than anything I've heard for
forty-eight hours."</p>
<p>The girl watched him as he strode away to find wood, and frowned for an
instant; but his face was perfectly sober, and she turned to the business
of getting breakfast. For a little her fears were allayed. At least, he
would do her no immediate harm. Of course she might fly from him now
while his back was turned; but then of course he would pursue her again,
and she had little chance of getting away. Besides, he was hungry. She
could not leave him without something to eat.</p>
<p>"We can't make coffee without water," she said as he came back with a
bundle of sticks.</p>
<p>He whistled.</p>
<p>"Could you inform me where to look for water?" he asked.</p>
<p>She looked into his face, and saw how worn and gray he was about his eyes;
and a sudden compassion came upon her.</p>
<p>"You'd better eat something first," she said, "and then we'll go and hunt
for water. There's sure to be some in the valley. We'll cook some meat."</p>
<p>She took the sticks from him, and made the fire in a businesslike way. He
watched her, and wondered at her grace. Who was she, and how had she
wandered out into this waste place? Her face was both beautiful and
interesting. She would make a fine study if he were not so weary of all
human nature, and especially woman. He sighed as he thought again of
himself.</p>
<p>The girl caught the sound, and, turning with the quickness of a wild
creature, caught the sadness in his face. It seemed to drive away much of
her fear and resentment. A half-flicker of a smile came to her lips as
their eyes met. It seemed to recognize a comradeship in sorrow. But her
face hardened again almost at once into disapproval as he answered her
look.</p>
<p>The man felt a passing disappointment. After a minute, during which the
girl had dropped her eyes to her work again, he said: "Now, why did you
look at me in that way? Ought I to be helping you in some way? I'm
awkward, I know, but I can obey if you'll just tell me how."</p>
<p>The girl seemed puzzled; then she replied almost sullenly:</p>
<p>"There's nothing more to do. It's ready to eat."</p>
<p>She gave him a piece of the meat and the last of the corn bread in the tin
cup, and placed the pan of beans beside him; but she did not attempt to
eat anything herself.</p>
<p>He took a hungry bite or two, and looked furtively at her.</p>
<p>"I insist upon knowing why you looked—" he paused and eyed her—"why you
look at me in that way. I'm not a wolf if I am hungry, and I'm not going
to eat you up."</p>
<p>The look of displeasure deepened on the girl's brow. In spite of his
hunger the man was compelled to watch her. She seemed to be looking at a
flock of birds in the sky. Her hand rested lightly at her belt. The birds
were coming towards them, flying almost over their heads.</p>
<p>Suddenly the girl's hand was raised with a quick motion, and something
gleamed in the sun across his sight. There was a loud report, and one of
the birds fell almost at his feet, dead. It was a sage-hen. Then the girl
turned and walked towards him with as haughty a carriage as ever a society
belle could boast.</p>
<p>"You were laughing at me," she said quietly.</p>
<p>It had all happened so suddenly that the man had not time to think.
Several distinct sensations of surprise passed over his countenance. Then,
as the meaning of the girl's act dawned upon him, and the full intention
of her rebuke, the color mounted in his nice, tanned face. He set down the
tin cup, and balanced the bit of corn bread on the rim, and arose.</p>
<p>"I beg your pardon," he said. "I never will do it again. I couldn't have
shot that bird to save my life," and he touched it with the tip of his tan
leather boot as if to make sure it was a real bird.</p>
<p>The girl was sitting on the ground, indifferently eating some of the
cooked pork. She did not answer. Somehow the young man felt uncomfortable.
He sat down, and took up his tin cup, and went at his breakfast again; but
his appetite seemed in abeyance.</p>
<p>"I've been trying myself to learn to shoot during the last week," he began
soberly. "I haven't been able yet to hit anything but the side of a barn.
Say, I'm wondering, suppose I had tried to shoot at those birds just now
and had missed, whether you wouldn't have laughed at me—quietly, all to
yourself, you know. Are you quite sure?"</p>
<p>The girl looked up at him solemnly without saying a word for a full
minute.</p>
<p>"Was what I said as bad as that?" she asked slowly.</p>
<p>"I'm afraid it was," he answered thoughtfully; "but I was a blamed idiot
for laughing at you. A girl that shoots like that may locate the Desert of
Sahara in Canada if she likes, and Canada ought to be proud of the honor."</p>
<p>She looked into his face for an instant, and noted his earnestness; and
all at once she broke into a clear ripple of laughter. The young man was
astonished anew that she had understood him enough to laugh. She must be
unusually keen-witted, this lady of the desert.</p>
<p>"If 'twas as bad as that," she said in quite another tone, "you c'n
laugh."</p>
<p>They looked at each other then in mutual understanding, and each fell to
eating his portion in silence. Suddenly the man spoke.</p>
<p>"I am eating your food that you had prepared for your journey, and I have
not even said, 'Thank you' yet, nor asked if you have enough to carry you
to a place where there is more. Where are you going?"</p>
<p>The girl did not answer at once; but, when she did, she spoke
thoughtfully, as if the words were a newly made vow from an impulse just
received.</p>
<p>"I am going to school," she said in her slow way, "to learn to 'sight' the
Desert of Sahara."</p>
<p>He looked at her, and his eyes gave her the homage he felt was her due;
but he said nothing. Here evidently was an indomitable spirit, but how did
she get out into the wilderness? Where did she come from, and why was she
alone? He had heard of the freedom of Western women, but surely such girls
as this did not frequent so vast a waste of uninhabited territory as his
experience led him to believe this was. He sat studying her.</p>
<p>The brow was sweet and thoughtful, with a certain keen inquisitiveness
about the eyes. The mouth was firm; yet there were gentle lines of grace
about it. In spite of her coarse, dark calico garb, made in no particular
fashion except with an eye to covering with the least possible fuss and
trouble, she was graceful. Every movement was alert and clean-cut. When
she turned to look full in his face, he decided that she had almost
beautiful eyes.</p>
<p>She had arisen while he was watching her, and seemed to be looking off
with sudden apprehension. He followed her gaze, and saw several dark
figures moving against the sky.</p>
<p>"It's a herd of antelope," she said with relief; "but it's time we hit the
trail." She turned, and put her things together with incredible swiftness,
giving him very little opportunity to help, and mounted her pony without
more words.</p>
<p>For an hour he followed her at high speed as she rode full tilt over rough
and smooth, casting furtive, anxious glances behind her now and then,
which only half included him. She seemed to know that he was there and was
following; that was all.</p>
<p>The young man felt rather amused and flattered. He reflected that most
women he knew would have ridden by his side, and tried to make him talk.
But this girl of the wilderness rode straight ahead as if her life
depended upon it. She seemed to have nothing to say to him, and to be
anxious neither to impart her own history nor to know his.</p>
<p>Well, that suited his mood. He had come out into the wilderness to think
and to forget. Here was ample opportunity. There had been a little too
much of it yesterday, when he wandered from the rest of his party who had
come out to hunt; and for a time he had felt that he would rather be back
in his native city with a good breakfast and all his troubles than to be
alone in the vast waste forever. But now there was human company, and a
possibility of getting somewhere sometime. He was content.</p>
<p>The lithe, slender figure of the girl ahead seemed one with the horse it
rode. He tried to think what this ride would be if another woman he knew
were riding on that horse ahead, but there was very small satisfaction in
that. In the first place, it was highly improbable, and the young man was
of an intensely practical turn of mind. It was impossible to imagine the
haughty beauty in a brown calico riding a high-spirited horse of the
wilds. There was but one parallel. If she had been there, she would, in
her present state of mind, likely be riding imperiously and indifferently
ahead instead of by his side where he wanted her. Besides, he came out to
the plains to forget her. Why think of her?</p>
<p>The sky was exceedingly bright and wide. Why had he never noticed this
wideness in skies at home? There was another flock of birds. What if he
should try to shoot one? Idle talk. He would probably hit anything but the
birds. Why had that girl shot that bird, anyway? Was it entirely because
she might need it for food? She had picked it up significantly with the
other things, and fastened it to her saddle-bow without a word. He was too
ignorant to know whether it was an edible bird or not, or she was merely
carrying it to remind him of her skill.</p>
<p>And what sort of a girl was she? Perhaps she was escaping from justice.
She ran from him yesterday, and apparently stopped only when utterly
exhausted. She seemed startled and anxious when the antelopes came into
sight. There was no knowing whether her company meant safety, after all.
Yet his interest was so thoroughly aroused in her that he was willing to
risk it.</p>
<p>Of course he might go more slowly and gradually, let her get ahead, and he
slip out of sight. It was not likely he had wandered so many miles away
from human habitation but that he would reach one sometime; and, now that
he was re-enforced by food, perhaps it would be the part of wisdom to part
with this strange maiden. As he thought, he unconsciously slackened his
horse's pace. The girl was a rod or more ahead, and just vanishing behind
a clump of sage-brush. She vanished, and he stopped for an instant, and
looked about him on the desolation; and a great loneliness settled upon
him like a frenzy. He was glad to see the girl riding back toward him
with a smile of good fellowship on her face.</p>
<p>"What's the matter?" she called. "Come on! There's water in the valley."</p>
<p>The sound of water was good; and life seemed suddenly good for no reason
whatever but that the morning was bright, and the sky was wide, and there
was water in the valley. He rode forward, keeping close beside her now,
and in a moment there gleamed below in the hot sunshine the shining of a
sparkling stream.</p>
<p>"You seem to be running away from some one," he explained. "I thought you
wanted to get rid of me, and I would give you a chance."</p>
<p>She looked at him surprised.</p>
<p>"I am running away," she said, "but not from you."</p>
<p>"From whom, then, may I ask? It might be convenient to know, if we are to
travel in the same company."</p>
<p>She looked at him keenly.</p>
<p>"Who are you, and where do you belong?"</p>
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