The man shifted himself in the saddle. "Well, I must be goin'," he said. "Good evenin'."
Patty bowed ever so slightly, as he replaced the Stetson upon his head and touched his horse lightly with a spur. "Come along, you Buck, you!"
As the horse started down the steep descent on the other side of the divide a feeling of loneliness that was very akin to terror gripped the girl. The sunlight showed only upon the higher levels, and the prospect of spending the night alone in the hills without food or shelter produced a sudden chilling sensation in the pit of her stomach.
"Oh! Please——"
The buckskin turned in his tracks, and once more the man was beside her upon the ridge.
"I am lost," she faltered. "Only, I hated to admit it."
"Folks always do. I've be'n lost a hundred times, an' I never would admit it."
"I started for the Watts's ranch. Do you know where it is?"
"Yes, it's over on Monte's Creek."
Patty smiled. "I could have told you that. The trouble is, someone seems to have removed all the signs."