Lucy and Sheriff Tillinghurst were laughing and talking together in a running game of playful coquetry on her part and admiring badinage on his. "Now, Miss Lucy," he was saying, "if you-all are going to be my deputy, you'll have to learn to shoot with at least one eye open. I can't have my deputy shootin' around promiscuous with both eyes shut. It might be used against me in the campaign." "Oh, I'll keep both eyes open, just as Mr. Conrad says," she exclaimed, taking the Sheriff's revolver from his hand. "Just like this," she went on gayly, pointing the pistol straight at Curtis's face as he came toward them, saying, "Now you must have another chance, Miss Bancroft." Tillinghurst sprang forward as he saw her level the revolver and struck it up with his hand. Her pressure on the trigger had been light, but the contraction of her finger as the Sheriff knocked it upward discharged the weapon. The bullet sang through the air; and she paled and staggered backward, looking wildly from one to the other as she exclaimed: "Oh, I was sure it wasn't loaded!" "A gentleman's gun is always loaded, Miss Lucy," said the Sheriff, mild reproof in his tone. Lucy leaned, trembling, against Miss Dent's supporting arm. "I--I was sure we shot out all the bullets," she stammered, looking wistfully at Conrad. "I'll never, never touch a gun again." "Don't feel so worried, Miss Bancroft," urged Curtis, gently. "You weren't pressing the trigger, and I'd have ducked if you had, for I was watching your hand. I wasn't in the least danger, and you mustn't think about it again. It'll be your turn next, Miss Dent," he added jocosely. "Aleck had his the other day, and sent a bullet into the wall just above my head." "And you still have confidence in us, you reckless man!" Louise exclaimed with a little effort at gayety, but with eyes on the ground. "Perhaps he thinks he'll be in less danger if he teaches you-all how to handle your guns," the Sheriff commented, as Miss Dent led the way back to the house. CHAPTER XIV THREE LETTERS "Hello, Curt! When are you going back to the ranch?" Pendleton, the invalid from the East, accosted Conrad as he emerged from the physician's office, where he had gone for a last dressing of his wounds before returning to the round-up. "Right now, Mr. Pendleton. Anything I can do for you?" "Say, Curt, I've been wondering if I couldn't flirt gravel along with your bunch for a while. I want to take in everything that's going while I'm here. I've never been on a ranch, or seen a round-up, or a steer on the prod; and I'd like to see how things are done. Would a tenderfoot be in your way?" "Not a bit of it! Come right along, Pendy, if you think you can stand it. You'll have to rough it, you know; sleep on the ground with your saddle for a pillow, ride hard, and eat what comes."