"No," said Houston slowly, "that does not seem so probable as that she may have been some child that they were hired to take." "In that case," said Rutherford, "I should think the uncertainty regarding her family and origin, would be almost as bad as the certainty in the other case." "It might seem so to some people," Houston replied, adding with a smile, "especially to a Bostonian, who prided himself upon his 'blue blood'." "Oh," said Rutherford, coloring, "I'm not pursuing this inquiry on my own account at all, I was only thinking of her prospects generally. I'm not interested in that direction." "In what direction are you interested, if I may ask?" said Houston, experiencing, for the first time, a little twinge of jealousy. "In the direction of the 'Hub,' my dear boy," Rutherford replied, with another blush. "Spoken like a true Bostonian!" said Houston approvingly. "Yes, sir," continued Rutherford, "there's a little girl belongs back there in Boston, that's more to me than all the ladies you can produce in this part of the country, or any other, no matter how beautiful they may be; and she's not bad looking either. Her parents took her to Europe for a little trip this spring, and Boston seemed so lonesome, that was the reason I came west." "Good for you, Ned, you have my best wishes," said Houston, shaking hands with his friend, "but really, you and Lyle had seemed so fond of each other's society lately, that I thought perhaps it was to be your destiny to rescue her from her unhappy fate." "Well, as to each other's society," said Rutherford, very slowly, "of late we have been restricted to that or none, for you and Miss Gladden have been growing so unconscious of us, that we've had to console with each other; but then, I understood how 'twas, for I've been there myself, you know, and I'm ready to offer congratulations and all that sort of thing, whenever they are in order." Houston appeared very unconscious of Rutherford's meaning, as he inquired, "How does Lyle herself regard your attentions? There must be no trifling with her, I have too much regard for her myself, for that." "Miss Maverick is not a girl to be trifled with," replied Rutherford, "I think a good deal of her, since I am better acquainted with her, and respect her and she knows it, but I think she realizes the sort of anomalous position that she occupies, and that is why I say I am sorry for her. She is far too brilliant for her surroundings, and yet not fitted for a much higher place." "Not at present," replied Houston, "but with her natural endowments and her innate delicacy and refinement, comparatively little training and culture would be necessary to fit her for almost any position in life." "I wonder what will be her fate." "Time will tell," replied Houston, who had his own plans. CHAPTER XIX.