"I'm sorry I can't be of actual service, but I am a soldier with a work to do. Even if I were here, I could not help you as regards the townspeople--they all hate me quite cordially; but Redfield, and especially Mrs. Redfield, can be of greater aid and comfort. He's quite often here, and when you are lonely and discouraged let him take you up to Elk Lodge." "I've been working all the morning to make this room decent. It was rather fun. Don't you think it helped?" "I saw the mark of your hand the moment I entered the door," he earnestly replied. "I'm not one that laughs at the small field of woman's work. If you make this little hotel clean and homelike, you'll be doing a very considerable work in bringing about the New West which the Supervisor is spouting about." He extended his hand, and as she took it he thrilled to the soft strength of it. "Till next time," he said, "good luck!" She watched him go with a feeling of pain--as if in his going she were losing her best friend and most valiant protector. IV VIRGINIA TAKES ANOTHER MOTOR RIDE Lee Virginia's efforts to refine the little hotel produced an amazing change in Eliza Wetherford's affairs. The dining-room swarmed with those seeking food, and as the news of the girl's beauty went out upon the range, the cowboys sought excuse to ride in and get a square meal and a glimpse of the "Queen" whose hand had witched "the old shack" into a marvel of cleanliness. Say what you will, beauty is a sovereign appeal. These men, unspeakably profane, cruel, and obscene in their saddle-talk, were awed by the fresh linen, the burnished glass, and the well-ordered tables which they found in place of the flies, the dirt, and the disorder of aforetime. "It's worth a day's ride just to see that girl for a minute," declared one enthusiast. They did not all use the napkins, but they enjoyed having them there beside their plates, and the subdued light, the freedom from insects impressed them almost to decorum. They entered with awe, avid for a word with "Lize Wetherford's girl." Generally they failed of so much as a glance at her, for she kept away from the dining-room at meal-time. Lee Virginia was fully aware of this male curiosity, and vaguely conscious of the merciless light which shone in the eyes of some of them (men like Gregg), who went about their game with the shameless directness of the brute. She had begun to understand, too, that her mother's reputation was a barrier between the better class of folk and herself; but as they came now and again to take a meal, they permitted themselves a word in her praise, which she resented. "I don't want their friendship _now_," she declared, bitterly.