“You needn’t make any explanations,” she hastened to say, smiling up at him and gently disengaging the hand which he was only now remembering that he had forgotten to relinquish.  “Naturally, I inferred that you were in trouble, and that your safety depended in some sense upon my answer.  Were you in trouble?”

Blount perceived immediately how utterly impossible it would be to make her, or any one else, understand the boyish impulse which had prompted him to leave his train, or the curious difficulty into which the impulse had precipitated him.  So his explanation scarcely explained.

“I was on my way to a ranch—­that is, to the capital—­when these men held me up,” he stammered.  “They—­they mistook me for some one else, I think, and for reasons best known to themselves they brought me here.  If you could direct me to some place where I can get a night’s lodging—­”

“There is nothing like a tavern within twenty miles of here,” she broke in; “nor is there any house within that radius which would refuse you a night’s shelter, Mr.—­”

Blount made a quick dive for his card-case, found it, and hastened to introduce himself by name.  She took the bit of pasteboard, and, since she scarcely glanced at the engraved line on it, he found himself wholly unable to interpret her smile.

“The card is hardly necessary,” she said; and then, to his complete bewilderment:  “You are very much like your father, Mr. Blount.”

“You know my father?” he exclaimed.

She laughed softly.  “Every one knows the senator,” she returned, “and I can assure you that his son is heartily welcome under this roof.  Uncle Barnabas”—­to the ancient serving-man who was still hovering in the background—­“have Mr. Blount’s horse put up and the blue room made ready.”

Blount followed his still unnamed hostess obediently when she led the way to the lighted library in the wing of the great house.

“Uncle Barnabas will come for you in a little while,” she told him, playing the part of the gracious lady to the line and letter.  “In the meantime you must let me make you a cup of tea.  I am sure you must be needing it after having ridden so far.  Take the easy-chair, and we can talk comfortably while the kettle is boiling.  Are you new to the West, Mr. Blount, or is this only a return to your own?  The senator is always talking about you, you know; but he is so inordinately proud of you that he forgets to tell us all the really interesting things that we want to know.”

The serving-man took his own time about coming back; so long a time that Blount forgot that it was past midnight, that he was a guest in a strange house, and that he still had not learned the name of his entertainer.  For all this forgetfulness the little lady with the dark-brown eyes was directly responsible.  Almost before he realized it, Blount found himself chatting with her as if he had always known her, making rapid strides on the way to confidence and finding