Just then a stage drawn by four splendid horses drove up the veranda steps.  Something was shouted.  Angela could not catch the announcement, for she had all she could do not to be carried off her feet in the general rush.  A dozen of the firm-faced men and resolute girls made a dash for the box seat.  With no malice in their eyes, they fought and wrestled with each other; and it was a case of the best man wins.  Those worsted in the struggle with the utmost good-nature contented themselves with the next best places; and so on to the back seat, into which the weakest fell, almost before the driver had brought his horses to a full stop.  Away tore the stage with its laughing load, and another vehicle whirled up to the hotel steps, to be filled in a breathless instant.

As Angela stood watching, fascinated yet appalled, Nick came out to her, with the air of a general who has lost a battle.

“How glad I am,” she whispered, “that we haven’t got to fight for our lives like that.  I simply couldn’t do it.”

“Mrs. May, we have got to!” he groaned.  “I’ve failed, after all my boastings of what I could do for you in the Yosemite.  A private carriage can’t be had, and they’ve made a rule that no one’s allowed to book a seat in advance.  When the stage for the Sentinel Hotel comes along, I shall swing you on to the box seat, if I kill ten men.”

Angela rebelled.  She pitied herself so intensely that she had no compassion left for Nick.  “What—­dash people away, and push ahead of them?  I’d rather—­yes, I’d rather turn back to San Francisco.”

“I don’t see myself letting you turn back,” said Nick.  And said it so firmly that Angela, never opposed by him before, looked up in surprise.  He was not smiling.  Evidently he was in earnest, deadly earnest.  She knew that what he told her she would have to do, and, oddly enough, she grew quite calm.

“When our stage comes along,” he said in a low voice, “I shall get in before any one else, and keep a place for you.  Don’t hesitate a second, but be ready for a jump.  I’ll have you up by my side before you know what’s happened.  Kate must be close behind, and I’ll try to swing her up to the next seat.”

“Why shouldn’t we have the back places, since somebody must?” Angela questioned meekly.

“Because I want you to have the best there is, and I’m going to get it for you, that’s the only reason,” Nick explained, leaving no room for further argument.  “It’s the least I owe you, after failing to keep my other promises.”

She said no more; and round her the fight for places went on, desperate, yet extraordinarily good-natured.  People tried with all their might to grab what they coveted, but if somebody else snatched it from under their noses, why, blame Kismet!  The rule of the game was to make no moan.