.

THE DAUGHTER OF WITHERSTEEN.
"Lassiter, will you be my rider ?" Jane had asked him.
"I reckon so," he had replied.
Few as the words were, Jane knew how infinitely much they implied.

She wanted him to take charge of her cattle and horse and ranges, and save them if that were possible.

Yet, though she could not have spoken aloud all she meant, she was perfectly honest with herself.

Whatever the price to be paid, she must keep Lassiter close to her; she must shield from him the man who had led Milly Erne to Cottonwoods.