"The papers are not always accurate," she said quietly. "No, mom. But Mr. Smith here has interests in Cloverdale. He's just come from there, and he says it's even worse than this states it." Virginia looked toward Mr. Smith, who nodded assent. "The failure is complete. Fortunately, I lost but little," he said. "Why hasn't Mr. Aydelot been notified?" she demanded. "It does seem queer he wasn't," Thomas Smith assented. Something in his face made Virginia distrust him more than she distrusted Darley Champers. "Now, Mrs. Aydelot, seein' your last bridge is burned, I'm humane enough to help you. You said this mornin' you wanted to get away. Mr. Smith and I control some funds together, and he's willing to take Shirley's place and I'll give you a reasonable figger, not quite so good as I could 'a done previous to this calamity--but I'll take the Aydelot place off your hands." Champers smiled triumphantly. "The Aydelot place is not for sale. Good afternoon." And Virginia left the office without more words. When she was gone Champers turned to Smith with a growl. "It's danged hard to turn agin a woman like her. What made you so bitter?" Smith half grinned and half snarled in reply: "Oh, her neighbor, Shirley, you know." Hopeless and crushed, Virginia sat down on the bench before the Wyker House to wait for Juno to be brought to her from the stables. The afternoon sun was beginning to creep under the roof shading the doorway. Before her the dusty street ran into the dusty trail leading out to the colorless west. It was the saddest moment she had known in the conflict with the wilderness. "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass," ran the blessing of Asher through her mind. "It must be true today as in the desert long ago. And Asher lives by the memory of his mother's blessing." The drooping shoulders lifted. The dark eyes brightened. "I won't give up. I'm glad the money's gone," she declared to herself. "We did depend on it so long as we knew we had it." "What luck, Mrs. Aydelot?" It was John Jacobs who spoke as he sat down beside her. "All bad luck, but we are not discouraged," she replied bravely, and Jacobs read the whole story in the words. A silence fell. Virginia sat looking at the vacant street, while the young man studied her face. Then Juno was brought to the door and Virginia rose to mount her. "Mrs. Aydelot," John Jacob's sharp eyes seemed to pierce to her very soul as he said slowly, "I believe you are not discouraged. You believe in this country, you, and your neighbors. I believe in it, and I believe in you. Stewart and I had to dissolve partnership when Carey's Crossing dissolved. He took a claim. It was all he could do. I went back to Cincinnati, but only for a time. I'm ready to start again. I will organize a company of town builders, not brewery builders. You must not look for favors in a whisky-ridden place like this. There'll be no saloon to rule our town." Virginia listened interestedly but not understandingly.