Knowing who she was, he comprehended instantly the social gulf stretching unbridged between them.

An educated man himself, with family connections he had long ago ceased to discuss, he realized his present position more keenly than he otherwise might.

He had enlisted in the army with no misunderstanding as to what a private's uniform meant.

He had never heretofore supposed he regretted any loss in this respect, his nature apparently satisfied with the excitement of active frontier service, yet he vaguely knew there had been times when he longed for companionship with women of the class to which he had once belonged.

Fortunately his border stations offered little temptation in this respect, and he had grown to believe that he had actually forgotten.