Miss Adair was still looking down upon the town; and now Ford looked.  Instantly he saw that something unusual was going on.  Notwithstanding the number of men afield on the hills, the main street of the camp was restlessly alive.  Horsemen were galloping back and forth; in front of the outfitting stores freighters were hastily loading their pack animals; at every gathering place there were knots of excited men talking and gesticulating.

Ford was puzzled.  At another time he would quickly have put the obvious two and two together to make the equally obvious four.  But now he merely said:  “That’s curious; mighty curious.  Where do you suppose all those people came from?”

Alicia’s rejoinder was not an answer to the half-mechanical query.

“Mr. Ford, a little while ago I told you I must have time to consider:  I—­I have considered.  You must fight for your life and your good name.  You must make Uncle Sidney see things as they are—­that they are not as he thinks they are.”

“I can’t,” he said stubbornly.  “Your condition reverses your decision.  If I am to fight with any hope of winning, after what has transpired to-day, Mr. Colbrith will have to be eliminated.”

He had pulled the broncos down to a walk.  There was a soft thudding of hoofs on the yielding earth of the grade behind, but neither of them heard.

“You are disappointing me,” she protested, and now the hesitation was all gone.  “A few minutes ago, before this miserable thing happened, you were telling me of your ideal ... a woman may have an ideal, too, Mr. Ford.”

“Yes?” he said eagerly.

“My ideal is the knight without fear and without reproach—­and also without limitations.  He will never say, ‘I can not.’  He will say, ’I will,’ and not for my sake, but because his own sense of justice and mercy and loving-kindness will go hand in hand with his ambition.”

“One word,” he broke in passionately; and now the soft thudding of hoofs had drawn so near that the presence of the overtaking horseman might have been felt.  “My little allegory didn’t deceive you; you are the one woman, Alicia, dear.  I didn’t mean to tell you yet, though I think you have known it all along:  I had an idea that I wanted to do something worthy—­something big enough to be worth while—­before I spoke.  But you have given me leave; don’t say you haven’t given me leave!”

“You have taken it,” she said softly, adding:  “And that is what a woman likes, I think.  But you mustn’t spoil my ideal, Stuart—­indeed, you mustn’t.  You are young, strong, invincible, as my knight should be.  But when you strike you must also spare.  You say there is no way save the one you have indicated; you must find a way.”

He smiled ruefully.

“You give the cup of water only to take it away again.  I’d rather build ten railroads than to attempt to smash North and his confederates through your uncle.  You see, I’m frightfully handicapped right at the start—­with this mine business hanging over me.  But if you say it has to be done, it shall be.  I’ll win Mr. Colbrith over, in spite of all that has happened; and he shall fire North and the MacMorroghs first and prosecute them afterward.  I’ve said it.”