Keeping off the subject was difficult, for the two were so far apart, their viewpoints so widely removed, that they had little or no matter on which to converse, aside from Yavapai and its people; and of the community Bayard was the outstanding feature for them both. "How long have you been here, Nora?" Ann asked. "Three years; ever since Bruce got me my job." There you were! "Do you like it here?" "Well, folks have showed me a good time; Bruce especially." Again the talk was stalled. "Were you born out here?" "Yes; that's why I ain't got much education ... except what Bruce gave me." Once more; everything on which they could converse went directly back to Bayard and, finally, Ann abandoned the attempt to avoid the embarrassing subject and plunged resolutely into it, hoping to dissipate the intangible barrier that was between them. "Tell me about Bruce," she said. "He brought you here, he educated you; he must have been very kind to you. He must be unusual,"--looking at the other girl to detect, if she could, any misgiving sign. Nora stared straight ahead. "He's been good to me," she said slowly. "He's good to everybody, as I guess you know. The' ain't much to know about him. His name ain't Bayard; nobody knows what it is. He was picked up out of a railroad wreck a long time ago an' old Tim Bayard took him an' raised him. They never got track of his folks; th' wreck burnt. "Tim died four years ago an' Bruce's runnin' th' outfit. He's got a fine ranch!"--voice rising in unconscious enthusiasm. "He ain't rich, but he'll be well fixed some day. He don't care much about gettin' rich; says it takes too much time. He'd rather read an' fuss with horses an' things." "Isn't it unusual to find a man out here or anywhere who feels like that? Are there more like him in this country, Nora?" "God, no!"--with a roughness that startled her companion. "None of 'em are like him. He was born different; you can tell that by lookin' at him. He ain't their kind, but they all like him, you bet! _He's_ smarter'n they are. Feller from th' East, a perfesser, come out here with th' consumption once when Tim was alive an' stayed there; he taught Bruce lots. My!"--with a sigh of mingled pride and hopelessness--"he sure knows a lot. Just as if he was raised an' educated in th' East, only with none of th' frills you folks get." Then she was silent and refused to respond readily to Ann's advances, but rode looking at her pony's ears, her lips in a straight line. That was the beginning. Each day the two women rode together, Nora teaching Ann all she knew of horses and showing her, in her own way, the mighty beauty of that country. After the first time, they said little about Bruce; with a better acquaintance, more matters could be talked about and for that each was thankful.