All her brave plans, terror-stricken at the sound of the hoof-beats, fled from her utterly. She was stunned by the suddenness of the crisis. She had meant to stop McCloud and speak to him, but before she could summon her courage a tall, slender man on horseback dashed past within a few feet of her. She could almost have touched him as he flew by, and a horse less steady than Jim would have shied under her. Dicksie caught her breath. She did not know this man--she had seen only his eyes, oddly bright in the twilight as he passed--but he was not of the ranch. He must have come from the hill road, she concluded, down which she herself had just ridden. He was somewhere from the North, for he sat his horse like a statue and rode like the wind. But the encounter nerved her to her resolve. Some leaden moments passed, and McCloud, galloping at a far milder pace toward the fork of the roads, checked his speed as he approached. He saw a woman on horseback waiting in his path. "Mr. McCloud!" "Miss Dunning!" "I could not forgive myself if I waited too long to warn you that threats have been made against your life. Not of the kind you heard to-day. My cousin is not a murderer, and never could be, I am sure, in spite of his talk; but I was frightened at the thought that if anything dreadful should happen his name would be brought into it. There are enemies of yours in this country to be feared, and it is against these that I warn you. Good-night!" "Surely you won't ride away without giving me a chance to thank you!" exclaimed McCloud. Dicksie checked her horse. "I owe you a double debt of gratitude," he added, "and I am anxious to assure you that we desire nothing that will injure your interests in any way in crossing your lands." "I know nothing about those matters, because my cousin manages everything. It is growing late and you have a good way to go, so good-night." "But you will allow me to ride back to the house with you?" "Oh, no, indeed, thank you!" "It will soon be dark and you are alone." "No, no! I am quite safe and I have only a short ride. It is you who have far to go," and she spoke again to Jim, who started briskly. "Miss Dunning, won't you listen just a moment? Please don't run away!" McCloud was trying to come up with her. "Won't you hear me a moment? I have suffered some little humiliation to-day; I should really rather be shot up than have more put on me. I am a man and you are a woman, and it is already dark. Isn't it for me to see you safely to the house? Won't you at least pretend I can act as an escort and let me go with you? I should make a poor figure trying to catch you on horseback----" Dicksie nodded naively. "With that horse." "With any horse--I know that," said McCloud, keeping at her side. "But I _can't_ let you ride back with me," declared Dicksie, urging Jim and looking directly at McCloud for the first time. "How could I explain?" "Let me explain. I am famous for explaining," urged McCloud, spurring too.