It swung open, and two whitened objects loaded with bags and packages strode into the room.

The blast that came in with them set the lamp flickering, and sent a chill through the girl, but she rose with a smile when rancher Alton stood, a shapeless figure, with the moisture on his bronzed face, beside the stove.
"Take those things through into the kitchen, Charley," he said.

"I think we've got them all, Miss Townshead.

I hope, sir, you are feeling pretty well." Townshead made some answer with a slight bend of his head, but Alton appeared a trifle dubious when the girl offered him hospitality.
"I'm afraid the beasts are used up, or I wouldn't think of it," he said.
Nellie Townshead's eyes twinkled as she glanced at him.

"Could you not have put it in another way ?" she said.
Alton laughed, and brushed his fingers across the top of the stove.
"Well, it doesn't sound quite right, but after all the meaning's the great thing," he said.