“Good-morning, little miss. Or would you call it afternoon? I had stopped under the cottonwoods to graze my horse, and I couldn’t resist the temptation to accost you. Going to California?” “No; to Oregon.” “A God-forsaken country that. Rains thirteen months in every year.” “Have you ever been there?” The stranger shook his head. “I’ve had rain enough in England to do me for the rest of my life.” “A little of the Oregon rains we’ve read about would be a godsend if we could have it now,” said Jean, mopping her perspiring face with the curtain of her sunbonnet, and glancing ruefully at the brazen sky. “May I ride beside you for a little distance?” “If we keep in sight of the wagons, sir.” “You’re not afraid of me, I hope?” He was close beside her now, so close he could have grasped her bridle-rein. “Afraid? Of course not. I am not afraid of any gentleman.” “Do you belong to yonder camp?” “Yes, sir.” “And there are two ladies travelling with you,—a widow and her daughter?” “There are a grass widow and a nigger, sir.” “Now see here, little one,” and his voice grew harsh and loud, “you’ve been coached; that’s evident. Don’t be frightened. I don’t mean to harm you. But I am no longer deceived. Will you do me a favor?” He was reading her face anxiously. “What can I do for you, sir?” “Will you carry a note for me to Mrs. Benson?” “I don’t know, sir. See! They’re bringing in the cattle. I must hurry back to camp.” “Wait a little, miss. I must write a note.” “I haven’t promised to give it to anybody, sir.” “But you’ll do it,” he said, thrusting a few hastily written, unsealed lines into her hand. “Give that to the young lady’s mother. I feel that I can trust you. Here’s a dollar. You will not read the note, nor say a word about it to any one?” “You can trust me, sir, but I do not want your dollar.” “Keep it, child.” He wheeled and was gone. She watched him disappear in a cloud of dust, and hid the note away in the bosom of her dress. “He trusted me, and I won’t read it, though I’d be glad to know its contents,” she whispered to herself. “Why does Fate make me the depositary of other people’s affairs and then burden me with secrecy? I’m only an ignorant girl; but I know enough about the secrets of more than one of our fellow-travellers to explode bombs in several directions if I’d tell!” * * * * * “I am overjoyed at the success of my first practice as a veterinary doctor,” said Mrs. McAlpin the next day. “We’re all glad,” said the Captain. “Small use any man would have for this world if it weren’t for the women to help him out under difficulties.” “Poor Captain! How he misses his wife!” she thought, as she sought the wagon where Scotty lay. “I’d get well a great deal faster if I had you for a nurse, Daphne,” he said appealingly. “Nature is doing her best for you. She’s mending your bones thoroughly. If we patched you up in too big a hurry, we’d soon be in trouble again.”