"What do you know about conditions here ?" "They come to my camp," he said simply, "one after another to beg me to help them." "And you were not above it," she flashed back, "murderers and others!" An honest anger fired Ambrose's eyes.

"You're talking wildly," he said sternly.

"I'm trying to help you." Colina laughed.
With a great effort he commanded his temper, "What do you see yourself in your rides about the settlement ?" he asked.

"Poverty and wretchedness! How do you explain it when times are good--when this is known as the richest post in the north ?" Colina would have none of his reasoning.

"These are just the dangerous ideas my father warned me against!" she cried passionately.