She returned to the kitchen, sitting at the table and watching the clock. A half hour had elapsed since Toban's departure when she heard the faint beat of hoofs in the distance, and with wildly beating heart got up and went out on the porch.
For a moment she could not determine the direction from which the sounds came, but presently she saw a rider approaching from the direction of the river, and she stepped down from the porch and advanced to meet him. She feared at first that it was Toban returning alone, and she halted and stood with clenched hands, but as the rider came closer she saw it was not Toban but an entire stranger. She retreated to the porch and watched his approach.
He was a cowboy and he rode up to the edge of the porch confidently, calling to her when he came close enough to make himself heard.
"My name's Miller," he said, taking his hat off and showing her the face of a man of thirty—"Harvey Miller. Me an' my side-kicker was drivin' a bunch of Three Bar beeves to Lazette an' we was fools enough to run afoul of that quicksand at Double Fork, about five miles down the crick. We've bogged down about forty head an' I've come for help. You got any men around here?"
"Oh," she said; "how careless you were! Didn't you know the quicksand was there?"
"I ain't been runnin' this range a whole lot," said the puncher uneasily; "but I reckon even then I ought to be able to nose out a quicksand. But I didn't, an' there's forty beeves that's goin' to cow-heaven pretty soon if somethin' ain't done. If you've got any men around here which could give us a lift, we'd be pleased to thank you."
"Of course," she said. "Wait!"
She went into the house and to the stairs where she called to Dade and Malcolm, and presently, rubbing their eyes, the two came down. They were eager to assist the puncher in his trouble and without delay they caught up the two horses that Calumet had bought soon after his coming to the ranch, saddled and bridled them and rode out of the yard.
The unfortunate puncher did not wait for them. When they had announced their intention of helping him, he had told them that he would ride on ahead to help his partner, leaving them to follow as soon as they could.
"I reckon you know where it is," was his parting word to them. "Double Fork. I reckon I'll know it again when I see it," he added, grimly joking.