we might possibly be able to continue our lives together for the child's
sake. But the novelty wore off from this new plaything, as it had from
the others, though it lasted longer than anything else ever had, and
then Ralph's absences from the ranch became more and more frequent and
of longer duration. I cared little for this, as it enabled me to take
Carina to my father's ranch, where I forgot for the time being the
emptiness of the home to which we must sooner or later return."

Alice glanced up tenderly. "Poor dear Eleanor," she said, softly; but
Mrs. Gorham went on without heeding:

"One day, when little Carina was three years old, we were visiting at my
father's. It was late in the afternoon, and we were playing some child's
game together when the door was suddenly thrown open and Ralph glowered
in at us, his face purple with drunken anger. Even the four-mile ride
had failed to sober him, and he leaned against the framework of the door
to steady himself. The child, startled by the sudden interruption and
terrified by the expression on her father's face, ran to me for
protection, burying her little face in my lap.

"'That's right,' he leered at her; 'that's what they teach you to do
here--make you hate your father, don't they? I'll give you a chance to
get acquainted with me.'

"Then he crossed the room and tore the child from my arms, in spite of
her shrieks of fear and our joint efforts to stop him. Even my father,
who did all he could, was helpless against the man's almost superhuman
strength. In a moment he had mounted his horse with Carina in front of
him, and was galloping at breakneck speed down the long trail which led
to our ranch. Father rushed to the barn, but I was there before him.