look at his employer's daughter the others saw a very solemn and
sunburned visage.

"Oh, Hess!" cried Rhoda. "How are you? Is mother all right?"

The man stared unblinkingly at her and his facial muscles never
moved. He was thin-lipped, and his hawk nose made a high barrier
between his eyes. He did not seem unpleasant, only naturally grim.
And silent! Well, that word scarcely indicated the character of Mr.
Hesitation Kane.

"Come on!" shouted Rhoda, looking back at her friends, and
evidently not at all surprised that the driver of the buckboard did
not at once reply to her questions. "Mrs. Janeway, and Nan, and
Bess, and Gracie--you all crowd into the buckboard. Walter and I
are going to ride. Got my duds here, Hess?"

It was lucky Mr. Kane did not have to answer verbally. He thrust
forward a bundle. Rhoda seized it and started for the station where
there was a room in which she could change her clothes. Before she
quite reached the platform the driver spoke his first word:

"Thanky, Miss Rhody. I'm fine."

Rhoda nodded over her shoulder, laughing at the surprise and
amusement of her friends, and disappeared. Walter helped the girls
and Mrs. Janeway into the odd though comfortable vehicle. In a few
moments Rhoda reappeared in a rough costume that even Mrs. Janeway
had to admit did not make the Western girl any the less attractive.