"I must tell it to you, dear--we have grown so close that I feel this is
all that remains between us. When you know this, we shall be sisters
indeed."

"We are that already and more," Alice urged. "Only think how near of an
age we really are."

"In years, yes; but sometimes I feel as if I had already lived
centuries."

"Will the telling of this take a few of those centuries from you?" the
girl inquired, smiling.

"I hope so; and that is one reason why I am asking you to share the
burden with me. All that I have told you so far has been unimportant
compared with what followed. Had it simply been a difference in
temperament, I have no doubt that I should have become accustomed to
the absence of these things I craved, and have adjusted my life to meet
the new conditions. But other and more serious difficulties soon arose.
With Ralph Buckner possession seemed to be enough. I have seen him
scheme for months to secure some high-bred horse or a fancy breed of
cattle, and after they became his property hardly care whether he ever
saw them again. So it was with his wife. Within six months he resumed
his fortnightly visits to Colorado Springs on alleged business, from
which he always returned worn out and ill-tempered. Until we were
married, I had no idea that his life on the ranch and his life in
Colorado Springs were so distinctly apart, but I was soon to learn it
with bitter clearness."

As the story progressed Alice could feel the increasing tenseness.