“Just what—­do you mean by that?” stammered Natalie.

“I mean what I say.  I’m ready to marry your mother.”

“When?”

“At once.  You shall plead my cause for me.  You shall add your voice to mine—­”

“That isn’t necessary.  You know mother is only waiting for you.  It means so much to her that she couldn’t refuse.”

“Doesn’t it mean anything to you?”

Natalie nodded.  “It means more to me than to any one else, perhaps.  I have been carrying a great burden, almost more than I can bear.  Sometimes I’ve wished I were a man—­for just long enough to make you pay.  Oh yes,” she continued, as he started to protest.  “Don’t let us begin this new life with any false conceptions; you may as well know that I shall always hate you.  We shall see very little of each other.”

“Nonsense!  I can’t let you feel like that.  I sha’n’t rest until I win back your love and confidence.”

She eyed him searchingly for a moment, then opened her lips to speak, but closed them.

“Well?” he prompted her.  “Let us be frank with each other.”

“I’m merely wondering how greatly your decision has been influenced by the storm and the fight at the railroad crossing.  I understand how you feel toward Mr. O’Neil, and I know that he means to crush you.”

“Oh!” Gordon’s face lighted.

“Yes!  He has never said so, but I can feel it.  I wonder if you have snatched us up in your extremity as a defense.”

“Ridiculous!  Your suspicions are insulting.  I have nothing to fear from him, for he is broken, his credit is gone, he is in desperate straits.”

“Are you in any better condition?  How long can you fool your people with that pretense of a mine?”

Gordon flushed, but affected scorn.  “So!  Have you and Gloria begun to balance my wealth against my love?  If so—­”

“You know she would marry you if you were penniless.”

“I hope so—­and, indeed, I can’t believe her mercenary.  Well, I shall say good-by to Kyak, without idle regret, and we three shall return to Hope, where I can attack my problems with fresh courage.  I can well afford my loss here, if by doing so I gain the woman of my desires.”

“You want me to go with you?”

“Of course.  You can’t stay in Omar, knowing what you do about O’Neil.  Remember, I shall be in the position of a father to you.”

“Very well.  It is the least I can do.  Miss Appleton and I are returning to Omar in a few days.  Will you go with us?”

“I shall be delighted, my dear.”  He smiled upon her in his most fatherly fashion, but she was far from feeling the assurance he meant to convey.

The eighteen-hour train from Chicago bore Murray O’Neil into New York on time, and he hastened directly to the Holland House, where the clerk greeted him as if he had run in from Yonkers instead of from the wilderness of the far northwest.  His arrival was always the forerunner of great prosperity for the bell-boys, and there was the customary struggle for his baggage.