Everybody chatted then, except Nell, who had apparently lost her voice. Presently Dick remembered to speak of the matter of getting news to Thorne. "Senor, may I write to him? Will some one take a letter?... I shall hear from him!" she said; and her white hands emphasized her words. "Assuredly. I guess poor Thorne is almost crazy. I'll write to him.... No, I can't with this crippled hand." "That'll be all right, Gale," said Belding. "Nell will write for you. She writes all my letters." So Belding arranged it; and Mercedes flew away to her room to write, while Nell fetched pen and paper and seated herself beside Gale's bed to take his dictation. What with watching Nell and trying to catch her glance, and listening to Belding's talk with the cowboys, Dick was hard put to it to dictate any kind of a creditable letter. Nell met his gaze once, then no more. The color came and went in her cheeks, and sometimes, when he told her to write so and so, there was a demure smile on her lips. She was laughing at him. And Belding was talking over the risks involved in a trip to Casita. "Shore I'll ride in with the letters," Ladd said. "No you won't," replied Belding. "That bandit outfit will be laying for you." "Well, I reckon if they was I wouldn't be oncommon grieved." "I'll tell you, boys, I'll ride in myself with Carter. There's business I can see to, and I'm curious to know what the rebels are doing. Laddy, keep one eye open while I'm gone. See the horses are locked up.... Gale, I'm going to Casita myself. Ought to get back tomorrow some time. I'll be ready to start in an hour. Have your letter ready. And say--if you want to write home it's a chance. Sometimes we don't go to the P. O. in a month." He tramped out, followed by the tall cowboys, and then Dick was enabled to bring his letter to a close. Mercedes came back, and her eyes were shining. Dick imagined a letter received from her would be something of an event for a fellow. Then, remembering Belding's suggestion, he decided to profit by it. "May I trouble you to write another for me?" asked Dick, as he received the letter from Nell. "It's no trouble, I'm sure--I'd be pleased," she replied. That was altogether a wonderful speech of hers, Dick thought, because the words were the first coherent ones she had spoken to him. "May I stay?" asked Mercedes, smiling. "By all means," he answered, and then he settled back and began. Presently Gale paused, partly because of genuine emotion, and stole a look from under his hand at Nell. She wrote swiftly, and her downcast face seemed to be softer in its expression of sweetness. If she had in the very least been drawn to him-- But that was absurd--impossible!