passage money by some desperate economy, the woman left behind with
hardly enough to keep her a month or two, the man's fierce anxiety to
find some work! When I saw how he was watching me, I felt I had to
hire him."

"Just so," responded Edgar. "I suppose I ought to warn you that doing
things of the kind may get you into trouble some day; but cold-blooded
prudence never did appeal to me." He took one of the chairs in front
of the building and filled his pipe before he continued: "We'll sit
here a while, and then we might as well stroll across the plain. The
general-room doesn't strike me as an attractive place to spend the
evening in."

An hour later they left the tall elevators and straggling town behind,
and after brushing through a belt of crimson flowers, they followed the
torn-up black trail that led into the waste. After a mile or two it
broke into several divergent rows of ruts, and they went on toward a
winding line of bluff across the short grass. Reaching that, they
pushed through the thin wood of dwarf birch and poplar, skirting little
pools from which mallard rose: and then, crossing a long rise, they sat
down to smoke on its farther side. Sage Butte had disappeared, the sun
had dipped, and the air was growing wonderfully fresh and cool. Here
and there a house or barn rose from the sweep of grass; but for the
most part it ran back into the distance lonely and empty. It was
steeped in strong, cold coloring, but on its western rim there burned a
vivid flush of rose and saffron. Edgar was impressed by its vastness
and silence.

"This," he said thoughtfully, "makes up for a good deal. Once you get
clear of the railroad, it's a captivating country."