k the curtains with a little shiver, and turning towards the fire sat down on a little velvet footstool beside her aunt's knee. She had shaken out the coils of lustrous brown

as chiefly artistic, for no open fire could have dissipated the cold of the prairie,

rness; but the broad white forehead and straight nose became visible when she moved her head a trifle, and a faintly humorous sparkle crept into the c

aid. "You see, after leaving all that behind one, one feels, as i

et chair smiled down upon her, and laid a thin white

times when I count your birthdays I can't help a fancy that you are not young enough,"

kins brought by some of Colonel Barrington's younger neighbors from the Rockies. There were two basket chairs and a plain redwood table; but in contrast to them a cabinet of old French workmanship stood in one corner bearing books in dainty bindings, and two great silver candlesticks. The shaded lamp was also of the same metal, and the whole room with its faint resinou

joyed it all--and it was so

s Barrington's nod. "Tell me a little, my dear," she sai

know it all--the life I have only had glimpses of. Well, for the first few months I almost lost my head, a

ghed softly. "It is diffi

ad a brain since I had no heart. Still, at first I let myself go, and it was delightful--the opera, the dances, and the covered skating-rink with the music and the black ice flashing beneath

said the elde

spoiled it. Toinette was quite angry and I know her mother wrote you--but it was not my fault, aunt. How

ere was a closer confidence between Maud Barrington and her aunt than often exists between mother and daughte

ave the cachet that all the Courthornes wear. S

and did all the little things gracefully; but he had never done anything else, never would, and, I fancy, had never wanted to.

d of man woul

his fellows wherever he was placed. Secondly, one would naturally prefer a gentleman, though I do not like the word, and one would fancy the combination a trifle rare, because brains and birth do not necessarily tally, and the man educated by the struggle for existence is apt to be taught more than he ever

hich was still almost beautiful as wel

clever," she said, and dropped her voice a little. "As to th

past," said the girl, reaching up a rounded arm and patting her aunt's thin hand. "And now we will be practical. I f

falling and our granaries full, he has cause for anxiety. Then the fact that Lance Cour

in England, and so far as I can remember he had the face of an angel and the temper of a devil. But did not my unc

to trace it, not omitting, dainty in thought and speech as she was, one or two incidents which a mother might have kept back from her daughter's ears. Still, it was very seldom that Miss Barrington made a blunder. There was a

contempt. "How sickening!

arrington had spoken with an object she should have been contented. The girl was i

ther and myself were a trifle astonished at the report of the lawyer he sent to confer with La

nful. "Could a man with a pas

ance was, because I felt it was right that you should know; but none of us can tell what he may be, and if the man is honestly trying to lead a d

little transparent now and then," she said. "At least he shall have a fair trial without pre

lder lady, a tri

delicately molded that its slenderness was scarcely apparent, for Maud Barrington still wore a long somber dress that had assisted in her triumphs in the city. It emphasized the

ehind the throne at Silverdale, and what the boys

fire. "Princess of the Prairie--and it fits her well," she said and then sighed a little. "And if there

lish-made shotguns and rifles, while a row of silver-mounted riding crops, and some handled with ivory, stood in a corner. All these represented amusement, while two or three treatises on veterinary surgery and agriculture, lying amidst English stud-books and racing records, presumably stood for indu

anxiety he had concealed in his eyes, "I

ry much, Colonel. I'll take all your

and, though he had already unbent as far as he was capable of doing, he had no gr

n. I would not sell at the last market price.

wheat at it to-day. I was going to hold it myself, because I can occasionally get a little more from one or two

tle of the one he flung away. This was, of course, a trifle, but it is the trifles

told you so

bronzed man, and, since Barrington could

notion of what to do? As you know, farming, especially at Silverdale, costs money, and the bank

y expensive at Silverdale, and was, in recollection o

ght along for forward delivery

," said Barrington, with a little gesture of irritation

ry, and it isn't very difficult to figure out the profit on selling a thing for a dollar and then buying it, when you have to produce it, at ninety cents. Of

rse, it's a speculation, but presumably we couldn't be much wor

I have. We are wheat growers and not wheat stock jugglers. Our purpose is to farm, and not swindle an

, and Barrington stop

ion at Silverdale that the head of the settlement's lead is to be followed, that ne

eader had indulged in, for Colonel Barrington was a somewhat hot-tempered and vindictive man. He made a

ce of your opinion, sir," he said. "T

th dollars to spare who would value a hint from me," he said. "Still, as it doesn't seem to strike you the ri

lerably high, but I've seen what happens to

t at six o'clock, it's time I was asleep

own," he said. "I don't like the way things are going, Dane, and the fact is we must find accommodation somewhere, because now I have to pay out so much on my ward's

upon his leader's arm. "Keep yourself and Miss Barringt

ked at him sternly. "Are you not a tri

a little of mortgage jobbing. You must tr

go through," he said to the lad who shook the reins. "Graham made a very sensible suggestion, but our respected leader came down on him

are not many girls like Maud Barrington, but i

were fifty. The trouble is, that we spend half our time in play, and I'v

s way of putting it?

e amiss at Silverdale. Anyway, I hope she'll find him, for it's a man with grit and energy, who could put a little desirable pressure on the Colonel o

houghtfully. "That is, unless the man who offered

fatherly interest in Miss Barrington's affair. It's a misfo