For a moment the blood left his heart and then returned so rapidly it left him quite pale.

“Larry said you were here. I came back on the train just now. I want to go to the ranch for—my things. Will you take me?”

“Yes,” he said abstractedly.


CHAPTER XVII

“Kurt!”

He looked up with a start. As on that first ride, long ago, his eyes had been fixed on the road ahead.

“Let’s talk a bit,” she said. “What did you think—”

“I was such a fool,” he replied bitterly. “I should have known that you were not what you pretended you were. You must believe me when I tell you that I loved you from that first night we were up here in the hills. I didn’t know how great my love was, though, until I knew I had lost you.”