She reached out her hands impulsively and Hooker started back. His eyes, which had been downcast, blazed suddenly as he gazed at her, and then they flitted to Phil. "No," he said, and his voice was lifeless and choked. "You will not?" she asked, after a pause. "No!" he said again, and she shrank away before his glance. "Then good-by," she murmured, turning away like one in a dream, and Bud heard the crunch of her steps as she went toward the horses with Phil. Then, as the tears welled to his eyes, he heard a resounding slap and a rush of approaching feet. "No!" came the voice of Gracia, vibrant with indignation. "I say _no_!" The spat of her hand rang out again and then, with a piteous sobbing, she came running back to Bud, halting with the stiffness of her long ride. "I hate you!" she screamed, as Phil came after her. "Oh, I hate you! No, you shall _never_ have the kiss! What! if Bud here has refused it, will I give a kiss to _you_? Ah, you poor, miserable creature!" she cried, wheeling upon him in a sudden fit of passion. "Where were _you_ when I was in danger? Where were _you_ when there was no one to save me? And did you think, then, to steal a kiss, when my heart was sore for Bud? Ah, coward! You are no fit pardner! No, I will never marry you--never! Well, go then! And hurry! Oh, how I hate you--to try to steal me from Bud!" She turned and threw her arms about Hooker's neck and drew his rough face down to hers. "You do love me, don't you, Bud?" she sobbed. "Oh, you are so good--so brave! And now will you take the kiss?" "Try me!" said Bud. Underwood Typewriter _Points of Merit:_ Award Grand Prize, Highest Honor Panama-Pacific International Exposition Holder International Speed and Accuracy Typewriter Trophy for Ten Years Elliott-Cresson Medal for Mechanical Supremacy Endorsed by World's Champions and all Great Typists "The Machine You Will Eventually Buy" STORIES OF WESTERN LIFE May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list. _RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE_, By Zane Grey. Illustrated by Douglas Duer. In this picturesque romance of Utah of some forty years ago, we are permitted to see the unscrupulous methods employed by the invisible hand of the Mormon Church to break the will of those refusing to conform to its rule. _FRIAR TUCK_, By Robert Alexander Wason. Illustrated by Stanley L. Wood. Happy Hawkins tells us, in his humorous way, how Friar Tuck lived among the Cowboys, how he adjusted their quarrels and love affairs and how he fought with them and for them when occasion required. _THE SKY PILOT_, By Ralph Connor. Illustrated by Louis Rhead. There is no novel, dealing with the rough existence of cowboys, so charming in the telling, abounding as it does with the freshest and the truest pathos. _THE EMIGRANT TRAIL_, By Geraldine Bonner. Colored frontispiece by John Rae.