For a moment King was silent as he weighed the full meaning of her words. He felt the pressure of her hand on his arm as she spoke, and there crept over him a strange feeling of fear. He liked the girl, he had the deepest sympathy for her, he would do anything in his power to make life more pleasant for her. And yet—he shrank slowly from her touch and was impatient to get away.
"I guess it'll be late enough when I get back," he said suddenly. "And I've got to make a good start for the hills to-morrow."
He turned and looked at her for a moment, and then laid his hand on her shoulder. "We've got to face a lot of things in life, Anne," he said; "a whole lot of things. It ain't always easy—but it pays to face up."
He stood before her in the doorway and looked directly into her face as he spoke. For a moment she returned the look and then suddenly bowed her head before him. Putting his arm about her shoulders he raised her head gently and looked at her.
"Anne, girl," he said slowly, "I'm coming to see you—if it would help any—when I get back. So long!"
She looked at him squarely and he knew she understood him. The fear he had entertained only a moment before was gone now. He was confident that everything between them was just as he wanted it to be. In her heart was a deep yearning for companionship—in his, a feeling of great pity for the girl who was struggling against the demon of loneliness.
"King," she said at last, "you're right—and I like that."
A sound of hoofs came suddenly from the trail only a few yards away. Anne stepped back quickly from the doorway and King turned to face Cherry McBain, who had brought her horse to a standstill and was already looking down at him from her place in the saddle. He was about to express his surprise, but the look she gave him caused the words to die on his lips.
"I'm looking for my father," she said in a voice that to King's ears sounded like the voice of a stranger.
The sound of men's voices came from farther up the street, and looking out, King saw Hugh Hurley and Keith McBain leaving the land-office. Cherry saw the men at the same moment and without a word rode away to join her father. Just once King called after her, but received no reply. He watched them till all three had vanished in the direction of Hurley's little house that stood under the poplars at the end of the street. Then he stepped out and went off down the trail to where his horse was tethered outside Hurley's office.