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The Winning of Barbara Worth by Harold Bell Wright
page 67 of 495 (13%)

When Barbara had left the San Felipe trail and was riding toward the
hills, the man's eyes were attracted by the moving spot on the Mesa
and he stirred to take from the pocket of his coat a field glass,
while at his movement the horned-toad and the lizard scurried to
cover. Adjusting his glass he easily made out the figure of the girl
on horseback, who was coming in his direction. He turned again to
his study of the landscape, but later, when the horse and rider had
drawn nearer, lifted his glass for another look. This time he did
not turn away.

Rapidly, as Barbara drew nearer and nearer, the details of her dress
and equipment became more distinct until the man with the glass
could even make out the fringe on her gauntlets, the contour of her
face and the color of her hair. When she stopped and turned to look
over the desert below he forgot the scene that had so interested him
and continued to gaze at her, until, as the girl turned her face in
his direction and apparently looked straight at him, he dropped the
glass in embarrassed confusion, forgetting for the instant that at
that distance, with his gray and yellow clothing so matching the
ground and rock, he would not be noticed. With a low chuckle at his
absurd situation he recovered himself and again lifting the glass
turned it upon Barbara, who was now riding swiftly toward the mouth
of a little canyon that opened behind the hill where he sat.

Suddenly with an exclamation the young man sprang to his feet. The
running horse had stumbled and fallen. After a few struggling
efforts to rise the animal lay still. The girl did not move. With
long, leaping strides the man plunged down the rough, steep side of
the hill.
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