Carson was fast becoming interested in the girl at his side. Her calm poise, after the exciting adventures with the mountain lions, surprised him. Other women would have been hysterical, but here by his side sat a girl not yet out of her teens, as calm and collected as a veteran soldier after the battle. And Amos, the man he was going to see and intended to kill if he proved to be the villain he suspected him to be, was her uncle. The white billows rose rank on rank on the distant mountains, while the snow of the valley shrunk visibly away, leaving the grey rocks naked and protuberant. The newly-made acquaintances chatted gaily as the horse jogged along. "I was thinking of your remark awhile ago," said Carson, "that you would go to Del Norte tomorrow if you had an escort, and as I have some time to idle away it would give me pleasure to drive you over." "It would give me equal pleasure to have you do so," she replied with admirable frankness, "that is, if you are going there anyway." "I may need to purchase some new implements with which to work the Aberdeen--I mean the Jug Handle mine," he explained. "I have heard of a new drill they are working over there and it may be just the thing for the formation we are now in." "I see," said the girl, as a mischievous smile flitted about her lips, "and I am very glad you will accompany me. I shall make you acquainted with some of my very dear friends." Carson was forgetting his millions in the mine and letting his mind wander to the expected joys of entertaining and being entertained by people of real worth once more. He felt returning pride, and then the thought of the Frankenstein with the uplifted axe made him groan inwardly. But pshaw! she did not know--never would know, and what people do not know will not hurt them, he reasoned. He felt an increasing admiration for the girl beside him. They were alone in the wide expanse of valley and had known each other only an hour, yet this girl was willing to trust to his honor and manhood. And be it said for Carson, as it may be said for thousands of other men on the American frontier, he would have yielded his life rather than betray that sacred trust. Instances like this are common in the West. As they drove down the main street of Saguache, the passers looked curiously at the pair in the sleigh and at the dead lion strapped behind. When they stopped in front of the postoffice, a crowd gathered around the sleigh. A supple figure edged through the crowd and addressed the girl: "Kill it all by yourself, Annie?" The familiarity with which he spoke nettled the girl, and she turned her head without answering. The supple figure felt the rebuff and all the more because others noticed it. He stood his ground, however, until Carson returned and when he saw his face he quickly drew out of sight. "Tomorrow at seven," said Carson, as he bade her good-bye at her house.