Let me see your foot." Moore held out a bulky foot.

He wore a shoe, and it was slashed.
"I can't wear a boot," he explained.
"Oh, I see!" exclaimed Columbine, slowly, with her glad smile fading.
"You can't put that--that foot in a stirrup, can you ?" "No." "But--it--it will--you'll be able to wear a boot soon," she implored.
"Never again, Collie," he said, sadly.
And then Wade perceived that, like a flash, the old spirit leaped up in Columbine.

It was all he wanted to see.
"Now, folks," he said, "I reckon two's company an' three's a crowd.

I'll go off a little ways an' keep watch." "Ben, you stay here," replied Columbine, hurriedly.
"Why, Collie?
Are you afraid--or ashamed to be with me alone ?" asked Moore, bitterly.
Columbine's eyes flashed.

It was seldom they lost their sweet tranquillity.