"Ma'am, I'm a stranger in these woods an' I'm looking for an honest man or woman to guide me on my way," he said with a flashing smile. Instead of returning his smile with a gracious word of greeting, the girl regarded him gravely out of glowing, dark eyes. "Pretty!" he thought to himself. "Limping lizards, but she's pretty!" "Where are you from?" the girl asked soberly. "From yonder mountains, an' then some," he answered with a sweeping gesture. "You rode down this morning?" "I rode down this morning. Down from the toppermost top of the divide with the wind singing in my whiskers an' the birds warbling in my ears." He laughed gayly, for he appreciated her puzzled look. "I was wondering two things," he continued solemnly. "What might they be?" she asked doubtfully. "First: Why isn't there more travel on this good road?" he said. "I haven't seen a soul except yourself and a--a party in an automobile. Now on a road like this----" "Where did you meet the automobile?" she asked in a voice which he interpreted as eager. "Two hours an' some minutes back--and up. Near a truck which had had some trouble in the road. Perhaps you heard about it? Turned over on its side in collapse after some free-thinking gents turned their smoke wagons toward it." It was plain she was interested. "Did--is the automobile still there?" she inquired with a breathless catch in her voice. "Oh, no. After some of the passengers had had a little disrespectful conversation with me, it went on up the road. Are they scarce around here, ma'am--automobiles?" "Not exactly," she replied with a frown. "They truck ore and men and supplies to and from the mine every day. The reason you've seen so few people to-day is because it's Sunday." "Thank you," he said gallantly. "That answers my first question. You remember, I was wondering _two_ things?" Her lips trembled with a smile, but her eyes flashed with suspicion. "You will observe, ma'am, that I am not followed by any pack horses or heavily-laden burros," he went on gravely, although his eyes sparkled with good humor. "Nor is there anything much to speak of in this slicker pack on my saddle. I need some new smoking tobacco, some new shaving soap, some new hair cut, a bath, a dinner, and a bed--after I've put up my hoss." This time the girl laughed, and Rathburn was rewarded by the flashing gleam of two rows of pearls and eyes merry with mirth. But her reciprocating mood of cheerfulness was quickly spent. "You are only a mile and a half from High Point," she said hurriedly. "You can get what you want there." She retreated into the doorway, and Rathburn saw that the chance interview was at an end. "_Gracias_, as they say in the desert country," he said, saluting as he turned away. "It means thanks, ma'am." He looked back as he touched the mustang with his steel and saw her looking after him with a strange look in her eyes.