She stood motionless watching the rider and the empty saddle descend the hill. She stood with the soft light of the evening sky making a halo about her, and saw him ride silently down into the shadow of the valley. Was it perhaps to him “the valley of the shadow,” for what was there left in life for him now except death?
Once he turned and saw the girl still standing on the crest enfolded in a flood of crimson light. As he looked, it faded swiftly into purple—and then to grey. He lifted his sombrero and rode on, on to the foot of the hill, and then turned once more. With an anguished cry she started forward.
“I cannot go—I cannot leave all this. I cannot live without you now! Henry—Henry West! I—have forgotten!”
[Transcriber’s Note]
Punctuation has been corrected silently.
Hyphenation has been standardized.
As in the original, the [Table of Contents] lists [Chapter XII] as beginning on [page 97]. Please note that in actuality, the chapter begins on [page 98]. The original error has been retained, however the link has been adjusted to redirect the reader to the correct page.
Throughout the book, [“breed”], [’breed] and [breed] are used as abbreviated versions of half-breed. These variations have been retained.
[Page 68], “nonchalent” changed to “nonchalant”. (She brushed her wet cheeks with her sleeve in her haste to appear nonchalant to the approaching horsemen, whom she could hear hastening after her.)