Lee followed, and they faced each other in such intimacy as the shipwrecked feel after the rescue. The house was still astir with the feet of those to whom the noises of the night had been a terror or a lure, and their presence, so far from being a comfort, a protection, filled the girl's heart with fear and disgust. The ranger explained the outcome of the turmoil, and sent the excited folk to their beds with the assurance that all was quiet and that their landlady was asleep. When they were quite alone Lee said: "You must not go out into the streets to-night." "There's no danger. These hoodlums would not dare to attack me." "Nevertheless, you shall not go!" she declared. "Wait a moment," she commanded, and reentered her mother's room. As he stood there at Lize Wetherford's door, and his mind went back over her brave deed, which had gone far to atone for her vulgarity, his respect for her deepened. Her resolute insistence upon law showed a complete change of front. "There is more good in her than I thought," he admitted, and it gave him pleasure, for it made Lee Virginia's character just that much more dependable. He thrilled with a new and wistful tenderness as the girl opened the door and stepped out, close beside him. "Her breathing is quieter," she whispered. "I think she's going to sleep. It's been a terrible night! You must be horribly tired. I will find you some place to sleep." "It has been a strenuous campaign," he admitted. "I've been practically without sleep for three nights, but that's all in my job. I won't mind if Higley will 'soak' those fellows properly." She looked troubled. "I don't know what to do about a bed for you; everything is taken--except the couch in the front room." "Don't trouble, I beg of you. I can pitch down anywhere. I'm used to hard beds. I must be up early to-morrow, anyway." "Please don't go till after breakfast," she smiled, wanly, "I may need you." He understood. "What did the doctor say?" "He said mother was in a very low state of vitality and that she must be very careful, which was easy enough to say. But how can I get her to rest and to diet? You have seen how little she cares for the doctor's orders. He told her not to touch alcohol." "She is more like a man than a woman," he answered. She led the way into the small sitting-room which lay at the front of the house, and directly opposite the door of her own room. It was filled with shabby parlor furniture, and in one corner stood a worn couch. "I'm sorry, but I can offer nothing better," she said. "Every bed is taken, but I have plenty of blankets."