With a sudden gesture her two hands went up to her hat. At the same moment she jumped to her feet and came three steps into his cabin. As she brought the hat down to her side and turned toward him, the candle-light streamed across her face and Babe Deveril sat back on his box and with a sudden lighting up of his eyes collected his share of the obligation by letting his admiring glance rove across her disclosed features. Pretty; yes, far and away more than pretty. He was startled by an unexpected, soft loveliness; an alluring, seductive charm of line and expression. Just now it was her mood to smile at him; and she was one of those rare girls whose smile is sheer tenderness. He marked the curl in her soft brown hair; the sparkle in her big gray eyes; the curve of the lips; in another moment the red mouth would be laughing at him. She held herself erect under his frank inspection; her chin was up; her eyes did not waver; she challenged him with her glance to look his fill and shape his judgment of her. "I think you are mistaken on one point," he told her quickly. "I never saw you before, for I would not have forgotten." "The obvious remark nicely made," she laughed at him. He frowned. "Through no fault of mine. You are welcome to know that I have a memory for pretty girls. And that you are absolutely the prettiest girl I ever saw." "Thank you," she mocked him. She put her hat on again and went back to the door-step. "Nevertheless, it is true that we have met before. Of course," she amended hastily, "I am not going to claim any obligation on either side because of that. But it suggested that I should come to you now instead of taking my chances with utter strangers." "If you care to do me a very great favor," said Deveril, "you will tell me when you think you and I met." "Certainly. I have no desire to make a mystery of so common an occurrence. Last May you were in Carson?" "Yes." "There was a dance. You went with Mildred Darrel. When you called for her she was out on the porch. Another girl was with her and you were introduced." "After all, I was right!" he cried triumphantly. "You were in the shadows that the vines threw all over the porch. I don't believe I even heard your name. Most positively I did not catch a glimpse of your face." She dismissed the subject with indifference. "At least I have made my explanation. And now may I ask my question?" And, when he nodded: "Are they telling the truth when they say that Mexicali Joe stole his gold from Mr. Gallup's mine?" He had expected something like that; all along he had felt that this girl with the bright daring eyes and that eager confident carriage was in Big Pine because she, equally with himself, was concerned with the one occurrence which for the moment made the community a place of interest to such as found no lure in the humdrum. "Of course, you know that anything I could say in answer would be but one man's opinion?"