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Mrs. Archer1 sat alone in the ranch2-house living-room, doing absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact, she had little use for those minor3 solaces4 of knitting or crocheting5 which soothe6 the waking hours of so many elderly women. More than once, indeed, she had been heard to state with mild emphasis that when she was no longer able to entertain herself with human nature, or, at the worst, with an interesting book, it would be high time to retire into a nunnery, or its modern equivalent.

Sitting there beside one of the sunny southern windows, her small, faintly wrinkled hands lying reposefully7 in her lap, she made a dainty, attractive picture of age which was yet not old. Her hair was frankly8 gray, but luxuriant and crisply waving. No one would have mistaken the soft, faded pink of her complexion9, well preserved though it was, for that of a young woman. But her eyes, bright, eager, humorous, changing with every mood, were full of the fire of eternal youth.

Just now there was a thoughtful retrospection in their clear depths. Occasionally she glanced interestedly out of the window, or turned her head questioningly toward the closed door of her niece's bedroom. But for the most part she sat quietly thinking, and the tolerant, humorous curve of her lips showed that her thoughts were far from disagreeable.

"Astonishing!" she murmured presently. "Really quite amazing! And yet things could scarcely have turned out more--" She paused, a faint wrinkle marring the smoothness of her forehead. "Really, I must guard against this habit of talking to myself," she went on with mild vexation. "They say it's one of the surest signs of age. Come in!"

The outer door opened and Buck10 Stratton entered. Pausing for an instant on the threshold, he glanced eagerly about the room, his face falling a little as he walked over to where Mrs. Archer sat.

She looked up at him for a moment in silence, surveying with frank approval his long length, his wide chest and lean flanks, the clean-cut face which showed such few signs of fatigue11 or strain. Then her glance grew quizzical.

"You give yourself away too quickly," she smiled. "Even an old woman scarcely feels complimented when a man looks downcast at the sight of her."

"Rubbish!" retorted Buck. "You know it wasn't that." Bending swiftly, he put an arm about her shoulders and kissed her. "You brought it on yourself," he told her, grinning, as he straightened up. "You've no business to look so--pretty."

The pink in Mrs. Archer's cheeks deepened faintly. "Aren't you rather lavish12 this morning?" she murmured teasingly. "Hadn't you better save those for--" Suddenly her face grew serious. "I do understand, of course. She hasn't come out yet, but she's dressing13. I made her eat her breakfast in bed."

"Good business," approved Buck. "How is she?"

"Very much better, physically14. Her nerves are practically all right again; but of course she's very much depressed15."

Stratton's face clouded. "She still persists--"

Mrs. Archer nodded. "Oh, dear me, yes! That is, she thinks she does. But there's no need to look as if all hope were lost. Indeed, I'm quite certain that a little pressure at the right moment--" She broke off, glancing at the bedroom door. "I've an idea it would be better for me to do a little missionary16 work first. Suppose you go now and come back later. Come back," she finished briskly, "when you see my handkerchief lying here on the window-ledge."

He nodded and was half way across the room when she called to him guardedly:

"Oh, Buck! There's a phrase I noticed in that rather lurid17 magazine Bud brought me two or three weeks ago." Her eyes twinkled. "'Cave-man stuff,' I think it was." Coming from her lips the words had an oddly bizarre sound. "It seemed descriptive. Of course one would want to use refinements18."

"I get you!" Stratton grinned as he departed.

His head had scarcely passed the window before the inner door opened and Mary Thorne appeared.

Her face was pale, with deep shadows under the eyes, and her slim, girlish figure drooped19 listlessly. She walked slowly over to the table, took up a book, fluttered the pages, and laid it down again. Then a pile of mail caught her eyes, and picking up the topmost letter, she tore it open and glanced through it indifferently.

"From Stella," she commented aloud, dropping it on the table. "They got home all right. She says she had a wonderful time, and asks after--"

"After me, I suppose," said Mrs. Archer, as Mary paused. "Give her my love when you write." She hesitated, glancing shrewdly at the girl. "Don't you want to hear the news, dear?" she asked.

Mary turned abruptly20, her eyes widening with sudden interest. "News? What news?"

"Why, about everything that's happened. They caught all of the men except that wretch21, Pedro. The sheriff's taken them to Perilla for trial. He says they'll surely be convicted. Better yet, one of them has turned State's evidence and implicated22 a swindler named Draper, who was at the bottom of everything."

"Everything?" repeated the girl in a slightly puzzled tone, as she dropped listlessly into a chair beside her aunt. "What do you mean, dear, by--everything?"

"How dull I am!" exclaimed Mrs. Archer. "I hope that isn't another sign of encroaching age. I quite forgot you hadn't heard what it was all about. It seems there's oil in the north pasture. Lynch found it and told this man Draper, and ever since then they've been trying to force you to sell the ranch so they could gobble it up themselves."

"Oil?" questioned Mary. "You mean oil wells, and that sort of thing?"

"There'll be wells in time, I presume; just now it's merely in the ground. I understand it's quite valuable."

She went on to explain in detail all she knew. Mary listened silently, head bent24 and hands absently plucking at the plaiting of her gown. When Mrs. Archer finally ceased speaking, the girl made no comment for a time, but sat quite motionless, with drooping25 face and nervously26 moving fingers.

"Did you hear about--about--" she began in an uncertain voice, and then stopped, unable to go on.

"Yes, dear," returned Mrs. Archer simply. "Bud told me. It's a--a terrible thing, of course, but I think--" She paused, choosing her words. "You mustn't spoil your life, my dear, by taking it--too seriously."

Mary turned suddenly and stared at her, surprise battling with the misery27 in her face.

"Too seriously!" she cried. "How can I possibly help taking it seriously? It's too dreadful and--and horrible, almost, to think of."

"It's dreadful, I admit," returned the old lady composedly. "But after all, it's your father's doings. You are not to blame."

The girl made a swift, dissenting28 gesture with both hands. "Perhaps not, in the way you mean. I didn't do the--stealing." Her voice was bitter. "I didn't even know about it. But I--profited. Oh, how could Dad ever have done such an awful thing? When I think of his--his deliberately29 robbing this man who--who had given his life bravely for his country, I could die of shame!"

Her lips quivered and she buried her face in her hands. Mrs. Archer reached out and patted her shoulder consolingly.

"But he didn't die for his country," she reminded her niece practically. "He's very much alive, and here. He's got his ranch back, with the addition of valuable oil deposits, or whatever you call them, which, Bud tells me, might not have been discovered for years but for this." She paused, her eyes fixed30 intently on the girl. "Do you--love him, Mary?" she asked abruptly.

The girl looked up at her, a slow flush creeping into her face. "What difference does that make?" she protested. "I could never make up to him for--for what--father did."